The Benefits of waiting upon the Lord
By Jay Wegter
The benefits of waiting upon the Lord are manifold. What is required of us runs head long up against our lack of personal strength and adequacy; the result is stress. Waiting upon God is the answer to stress. God answers our anxiety with His own Person —especially who God is toward us in Christ (our Heavenly Father—His ‘new covenant Name’). When we wait upon God, we first of all long for God. Out of longing for God comes listening to God. Out of listening to God comes living upon God. He is the answer to our lack of strength.
The evil one’s original lie in the Garden of Eden was an invitation to live independently of God. The devil offered an impossible dream that soon proved to be a nightmare: autonomy from God which is both impossible and eternally destructive.
Salvation from sin and darkness brings us with it a delight in our Father’s Person, care, will, direction and love. As waiting upon the Lord becomes a lifestyle, numerous positive changes in personal character take place. Consider some of the following changes to begin with:
- Waiting upon the Lord mortifies our demanding-ness. It assists in putting to death our demand to have our own way on our time schedule.
- Waiting on the Lord produces a greater trust in the Lord as Provider.
- Waiting makes us increasingly willing to practice positive resignation in the face of God’s providence. Waiting on God is the true test of our doctrine of God’s sovereignty.
- Waiting protects us from the often disastrous consequences of impetuosity.
- Waiting leaves room for God to work (remember, from our perspective, God is incredibly slow; waiting upon Him ‘adjusts us to His will’).
- Waiting cultivates holy expectation (as we walk in obedience, we learn to expect His blessing, and patiently look for it; this deepens our confidence that God is the Source of every good gift – James 1:17).
- Waiting teaches us to receive from the Lord instead of taking for ourselves. Our tendency to ‘grab’ dishonors the Giver. God gives to His own in an all-wise way that will keep their love to Him greater than their love for His gifts.
- Waiting allows God to leave the mark of His hand upon the blessings He sends (this is the opposite of saying, “I made it happen”).
- Waiting teaches us to please the Lord as our highest ambition (2 Cor 5:9).
- Waiting liberates us from the fear of losing what is most precious to us (because waiting reinforces the fact that God is the ultimate Giver; and that He is for us, and knows best).
- Waiting orders our spiritual priorities by causing us to place delight in the Lord ahead of the desires of our hearts – Ps 37:4-6.
As those appointed by God to subdue the earth; we like to make things happen. Our secret motto is -- if it’s going to be, it’s up to me. There us much “unsanctified ambition” in our flesh. Learning to wait upon the Lord is a spiritual discipline that must be cultivated and learned. For the world around us is preoccupied with what shall we eat, what shall we wear, where shall we dwell (Matt 6:31-32).
Waiting upon God is not the same as passivity, or letting go and doing nothing. We must therefore distinguish between passivity and waiting upon God.
First of all, waiting on the Lord is not antithetical to initiative. Waiting is a posture of heart that says in effect
God is the Giver; He does not need my striving to make things happen and fulfill His promise; I will trust in God and depend on Him more than upon my plans. By His Word, and His Spirit, and by wise counselors He is perfectly capable of making it clear what action I should take.
The Psalms speak continually of the posture of the godly man’s heart before the Lord; waiting upon God is one of the most common postures of heart described in the Psalms. It is the posture essential to meditation on the Word, prayer, and worship— therefore it is inseparable from heart religion. A. W. Pink rightly notes that,
When the eyes of our hearts are open to see something of God’s sovereign majesty, infinite dignity, superior glory, and we begin to rightly esteem Him, then we perceive how thoroughly right and just it that such a One should be held in the utmost reverence, and esteemed far above all others, and exulted in: “Sing unto the Lord all the earth” (Ps 96:1). A spiritual sight and sense of the supreme excellency and infinite glory of the Triune Jehovah will not only rejoice our hearts to know that He is King of kings, Governor of all worlds, but we are also thankful and glad that we live under His government and are His subjects and servants (A. W. Pink, The Doctrine of Sanctification, p. 127).
Thus to have this proper vision of God, we must still ourselves, removing all distractions, and wait upon Him as we attend to His Word. As one traces the theme of waiting upon God through the Psalms, it becomes clear that waiting is indispensable to godliness. Waiting upon the Lord is nothing less than the godly man letting God be God.
The following Psalms give ample demonstration that waiting upon the Lord honors God and places the believer in the best possible position to know God, to do God’s will, and to glorify Him by trust.
Professor Emeritus of Christian Education, Howard Hendricks of Dallas Theological Seminary offers the following insightful quote related to waiting on God.
“After 40 years in ministry, I can without equivocation that every major problem I brought on myself was due to getting ahead of God’s Spirit and not waiting upon the Lord.”
The following Psalms give us valuable insight into the necessity of waiting upon the Lord:
Ps 4:4-5 – Tremble and do not sin; meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and trust in the Lord.
Waiting settles our spirit – it keeps us from rash and passionate reactions. It reminds us that God is in charge and that life goes around Him and not me. What a powerful defense against anger, impatience and irritability!
Ps 27:13-14 – I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.
Fear and despair are conquered by waiting upon the Lord. Expectation from God is a function of personal holiness. Isn’t that interesting; those committed to personal holiness expect God to keep His promises.
Waiting deepens our personal expectation that God’s goodness will be poured out upon us. When we wait upon God, we become strong because our object of trust shifts from self to Almighty God. Fears evaporate because our confidence in God is tied to the following: He loves us too much to give us now what we are not yet ready to receive. His timing is perfect.
Ps 33:18-22 – Behold the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear Him, on those who hope for His lovingkindness, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart rejoices in Him, because we trust in His holy Name. Let Thy lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us, according as we have hoped in Thee.
Here the Psalmist places his trust solely in God and not in his own personal plans. The more we trust in God, the more it takes us off of self and allows us to rejoice in God. Verse 22 is the ‘clincher’ – it teaches that God requires holy expectation from us. The Psalmist even equates the ongoing experience of God’s lovingkindness to be a proportional function of how much he has hoped in God. (Holy expectation in God is part of holy living. What a contrast this is to the man who hurriedly rushes off a prayer, God bless my plan. It’s as if the man is trying to recruit God to join his plans.)
Ps 37:34 – Wait for the Lord and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
When our focus is waiting upon the Lord as our true source of every good gift, it will help keep us from unsanctified ambition. While waiting upon the Lord we must keep ourselves in a position to be blessed – that is by “keeping His way” (that is committing ourselves to obedience).
Ps 52:9 – I will give Thee thanks forever, because Thou has done it, and I will wait on Thy Name, for it is good, in the presence of Thy godly ones.
A lifestyle of waiting on God is joined to the power of our testimony. Those believers around us will see that we conduct our life by waiting upon God instead of impatiently prosecuting our own plans.
Ps 57:1-3 – Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in Thee; and in the shadow of Thy wings I will take refuge, until destruction passes by. I will cry to God Most High, to God who accomplishes all things for me. He will send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me. God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth.
Holy expectation in God is the fruit of a conscience that trusts in God and stays pure before Him.
Ps 62:1-2; 7-8 – My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken. On God my salvation and my glory rest; the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.
In verses one and two there is solitude and stability in waiting. In verses seven and eight there is hope, safety, and intimacy with God in waiting.
Ps 130:5-6 – I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His Word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than the watchmen for the morning; indeed more than the watchmen for the morning.
Waiting deepens our practical reliance upon the Word of God. Waiting proves that we regard God as trustworthy. Waiting makes us alert and sensitive as to when God is speaking to us and directing us.
Ps 147:10-11 – He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord favors those who fear Him, those who wait for His lovingkindness.
How clear this passage is. God desires that we keep our hearts in a posture of waiting and utter dependence upon Him. He makes His favor known to the man who waits expectantly upon Him. God delights in the man who waits and trusts.