Pr Joshua Yong

“Wait On the LORD”

Ps 27:14 – “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”

This phrase – “wait on the Lord” – is sometimes found uttered in our prayers. At other times, it is used when well-meaning and concerned friends want to encourage us when we are troubled. But what does it mean to wait on the Lord? What do we do when we are waiting? How is one to wait on the Lord, especially when our minds are already troubled, or when we are filled with uncertainty over the future; or when the expected deliverance has not come?

When David penned these words in Psalm 27, he was not speaking as one who was not facing any struggles. He was going through various trials and afflictions. The Bible does not record the exact nature or circumstances behind the writing of this Psalm but David spoke of “enemies” (v.2, 6) and “troubles” (v.6). He spoke of being “forsaken” (v.10) and of “false witnesses” (v.12). David faced very trying struggles. Yet, he did not speak of these things with an angry or bitter tone, neither was David filled with anxiety or care. Instead, David spoke about these struggles in light of the confidence and hope which he had in the Lord (v.3).

We can have the same confidence and hope when we learn to wait upon the Lord.

1)  What does it mean to wait?

The word “wait” is closely related to the idea of “hope.” Various times throughout the Bible, the word “wait” is used in connection with “hope.” For example, in Psalm 37:7, the psalmist writes,“And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.”In Psalm 130:5, the psalmist says,“I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.”These verses show us that waiting upon the Lord means to place our hope in the Lord. This was the confidence and the assurance which David had in the Lord in Psalm 27 too.

It is noteworthy that when David wrote this Psalm, he had not yet experienced the full deliverance of the Lord. He used the future tense to describe the deliverance which he will experience (v.3, 5, 6). This psalm was also an expression of David’s plea for deliverance (v.12). Though he has not experienced the complete deliverance yet, he spoke of this future deliverance with great certainty, as if he knew it was going to happen. This is the confident hope every believer must also have in the Lord when he waits upon the Lord.

At times, we may think of waiting as something which suggests a restlessness or uneasiness – as if it is an anxious and fretful sort of waiting. This is definitely not the case in David’s testimony.

But to wait on the Lord is to place our hope in the Lord. It is where we have confidence and boldness in the Lord. We will remain unmoved, because our confidence is in the Lord.

The word “wait” also has the idea of “looking eagerly for.” Psalm 130:6 says,“My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.”This portrays the idea of expectancy. It is where we trust the Lord to unfold His will in His own way and time. Our expectation is not of ourselves. It is not what we want to happen or how we want the future to unfold. But it is the expectancy of a waiting child, looking unto our heavenly Father, knowing and trusting that our heavenly Father knows what is best for us.

This brings us to the next very important truth, where David identified who we are to wait upon – it is the LORD.

2)  Who do we wait upon?

Our waiting is not upon a man – it is neither upon man’s timing, nor upon man’s will. It is also not merely the waiting for the change of circumstances. Our waiting is upon the Lord. When we do not see beyond this physical realm, we tend to see this waiting as merely a kind of waiting upon man. We may be waiting for help given by man, or we may be waiting for some kind of promotion from man. If we are going through suffering or are bearing trials, we may be waiting for the situation to change for the better. But this is not the waiting which David speaks of here. Our waiting must first and foremost be upon the LORD.

David refers to God here as the covenant keeping God – “LORD.” This name, “Jehovah”, speaks of the covenant relationship which God has with His people. God is a personal being who has condescended, revealed Himself to us, and continues to share in communion and fellowship with us.

Knowing who you are waiting upon matters a lot. When you wait on someone who does not have any personal relationship with you, you are waiting on someone who does not sincerely care for you. When you wait upon someone who is untrustworthy, you know your waiting will be in vain for that person will soon betray you. When you wait upon someone who is powerless or helpless, you know your waiting is useless, for the person will not be able to help you. When you wait upon someone who is cruel and unkind, your waiting will only be filled with disappointment. But our God is not like such men. Our God is a God who is full of lovingkindness, mercy, grace, wisdom, power, faithfulness, and goodness.

It is so wonderful to know that we have a faithful God whom we can wait upon. The more we know our God, the more confident our waiting will be. He will never betray our trust in Him.

3)  What do we do when waiting?

While we know what it means to wait upon the Lord and we know who we are to wait upon, yet another question must be asked: what do we do when we wait upon the Lord?

Waiting upon the Lord is not inaction; it is not an attitude of slothfulness or laziness. Waiting upon the Lord is not sitting around and waiting for something to happen.

In this psalm, David describes various things he continued to do as he waited upon the Lord.

a) We Must Seek the Lord

David continued to seek the Lord as he waited upon the Lord (v.8, 9). In practical terms, this means that we must continue to seek the Lord in prayer. Notice that verse 7 – 12 takes the form of a prayer – it was David’s cry unto the Lord. We wait upon the Lord by seeking the Lord. We turn our gaze away from the world and to look to Christ. We stop finding hope or confidence in man, and look only unto our God.

b) We Must Learn of the Lord

There are many lessons which can be learned while waiting upon the Lord. As David asked the Lord to “teach” him (v.11), so we must ask the Lord to teach us. This means to study the Bible while we wait patiently. In this way, the head knowledge we gain through studying will turn into experiential knowledge. Often times, it is through the process of waiting where we learn the lessons God wants to teach us. We often want to rush to the end and to arrive at the destination, but it is through this time of waiting where we learn valuable lessons. God will teach us lessons concerning Himself – we learn experientially who God is. God will teach us lessons concerning ourselves – we learn of our own helplessness and weakness. This is where we learn to humble ourselves before God. So often, we are not aware of our own weaknesses, or we may still be filled with pride and confidence in ourselves. It is through this process of waiting that the Lord will strip us of our own self-reliance and self-confidence. This waiting is to teach us to look away from ourselves and unto the Lord.

c) We Must Trust in the Lord

Instead of fretting about things which we have no control over, or worrying over things we cannot change, we must learn to trust in the Lord. David expressed this when he said in verse 13 that“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”Here, David spoke of the trust he had in the Lord. Notice how David said that he will see the goodness of the Lord in “land of the living.”This is another expression of his trust. Despite the enemies surrounding him, David knew that as long as the Lord still had a calling for him to fulfill, his enemies could not do anything against him. David would remain in the “land of the living” and he would patiently wait upon the Lord.

While we wait, we must trust in the Lord. As described earlier, the idea of waiting has the idea of looking unto the Lord. This means that we look upon the Lord with expectancy. But to trust in the Lord also means that we are also waiting for the Lord to unfold His will in His own time. We are not looking expectantly for our own desires and will to be carried out, but this is a waiting in submission where we wait eagerly for the Lord to unfold His will.

If we do not surrender our will to the Lord, and fully place our trust in Him, our waiting will be filled with restlessness and anxiousness.

Conclusion

Waiting upon the Lord comes with a promise: as we remain strong and courageous in the Lord, the Lord will strengthen our hearts –“and he shall strengthen thine heart.” We may often feel our heart, resolve and will failing us, but as we wait and rest upon the Lord, He will strengthen our hearts that we may continue to do God’s will.

Notice that these words were written in the third person, as if David was addressing someone else. Through this psalm, David reflected upon his struggles, but he placed his confidence and his trust in the Lord even in the midst of overwhelming troubles. By using the third person, David could have been reminding himself of the need to wait on the Lord. He spoke to himself to remind himself to wait upon the Lord. This is what we too must learn to do – to speak to ourselves, reminding ourselves to wait. When we grow impatient, or when thoughts of worry or doubt arise in our minds, we must immediately speak these words to our own hearts – “wait on the LORD.”