While You Wait

“. . . His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: Great is thy faithfulness.” “For this God is our God forever and ever.”

Hi, this is Cynthia Dowling, and we have considered what it means to wait on the Lord, but have you ever wondered, “What do I do while I'm waiting on the Lord?” Did you know that God in His Word addresses that very thing: what to do and even what not to do while I'm waiting on the Lord. Isn't that exciting? We don't have to guess what God wants us to do while we wait on him. But first let's revisit what it means to “wait on the Lord.” We looked at the contrast between the lives of David and Saul, and we found that they both waited, but Saul didn't wait long enough. Why not? because he came up with a Plan B. He let his own fears and pressures and outside influences convince him to choose his own plan over waiting on God's plan, and 1 Samuel records the disastrous result.

David, however, had only one plan, and that was God's plan. Nothing could convince him otherwise; so he waited and waited and waited, knowing at the right time God would work out His full and perfect plan in his life. Was keeping a mindset of waiting on God easy for David? No, it wasn’t. Although it was simple and clear that God wanted him to wait, waiting was not easy. So, how could David wait like that? Because he feared displeasing God more than he feared anything else, including the loss of his own life. Maybe before we contemplate what to do while waiting on the Lord, we really ought to determine what we fear most. Is it dying, is it losing social standing, is it displeasing other people, is it feeling deprived—Saul feared all these things more than he feared displeasing God. On the other hand, David believed the truth that all power belongs to God—power over death, power over position, and even power over men's hearts and actions. Accordingly, David feared God and he trusted God, so he waited on God. Just think, God called David a man after God's own heart, and one of the hallmarks of David’s life was waiting on the Lord, so it must be a major component to pleasing God. Since waiting on the Lord was a life habit for David, let’s take a glimpse at David’s life in one of my favorite Psalms, Psalm 62, to find out what we should do while we’re waiting.

The first verse of Psalm 62 reads, “Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.” What is the first thing David does while he waits on the Lord? He fixes his trust fully on God and His promises. Listen to this word picture in Psalm 123 that illustrates this truth beautifully:

“Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.
-Psalm 123:1-2

David is watching and praying for God’s mercy; he doesn’t even take a glance toward any earthly aid; his eyes are fixed on God.

Verse two states, “He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.” David's hope is only in God; he is not shifting his gaze to consider any other source; God is his certain hope. How did David learn this truth? Let’s see what God gave David to record in Psalm 33 concerning his battle experience:

There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.
-Psalm 33:16-20

The second thing David does while he waits on the Lord is to credit God as the sole source of power. Do you remember the numberless Philistines and Goliath? David did. He totally embraced the truth that God is the deliverer, period. Other men may credit the victory to secondary causes, but not David. He credits God as the only source of power, remembering God’s faithful acts of the past; then, by wisdom, David extrapolates from that truth to his current circumstances. God did not have to keep proving himself to David. David wanted God’s Almighty eye on him, so David was keeping his eyes of trust on God!

As David waits trusting the Lord fully and crediting God as the single source of power, what do you think is going to happen next? Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, the opposition starts. Verses 3 and 4 read, “How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence. They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.” Many people sided against David for their own best interest, and many viciously opposed him. But others, even those in his large band of followers who were weak, also had a different agenda from waiting on God. So David's opposition came from many quarters, even from unexpected ones. But David knew that the worst of men flatter and deceive, and the best of men will fail. So, whether friend or foe, the result of listening to them or reacting to them would be the same: David would get his eyes off God, and God would take His Almighty eyes off David. Ps. 130:5 tells us that while David waits, he hopes in God's word, trusting God’s promise to make him king implicit in Samuel’s anointing. So, thirdly, he chooses to rely on God’s Word over man’s word and not follow any undermining counsel, which David compares to someone’s foolishly trusting in a bulging retaining wall that's about to collapse or in a fence that's already crumbling.

After resolving to rely on God’s Word over man’s word, David then reiterates his choice to trust the Lord’s promises completely, crediting God as the single source of power in verses 5-7. “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.”

David is firmly settled, established, and sure in his determination to wait on God. As a result, he can counsel others, including us! Listen to this next verse: “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.” David is trusting God’s promise, His Almighty power, and His Word alone, and now he is encouraging us fearful ones to pour out our hearts before God, our refuge, while not putting confidence in anyone or anything else. Then God defines what it truly means to put confidence in man and his deficient help in verse 9: “Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.” Can you imagine anything lighter than emptiness and lies? When God places worldly wise men in His eternal balance, there’s nothing there: nothing they've done, said, or been has any weight with God. Yikes! What a bad place to be when God opens His books. In verse 10, God has David identify their devices and warn others not to take up their worldly-wise, crooked ways: “Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.” So, what tactics do these vain, lying men employ? God says they oppress the weak; they are proud of their slick, robbing ways; and they have set their heart on uncertain riches. David will not listen to these earth-bound men, and he will not employ their vain stratagems. Also, he will not use their own tactics back on them to get revenge; God's business is vengeance, David’s business is pleasing God.

The Lord has been patiently working the “wait” principle into my own life for a long time. One vivid memory I have occurred during the time our children were middle-school aged. I remember feeling desperate to find a good piano teacher. We had just moved, they had a good foundation, and they were ready to blossom. We searched out the local options and found that none of them were a fit. My husband suggested we pray and ask the Lord to help us find a great teacher that would take them to the next level, so we prayed and asked the Lord what we should do next. Do you know what He showed us? “Wait.” So, while we waited, we kept praying and trusting the Lord for the right teacher. In the meantime, the Lord directed me to keep them moving forward by doing what I could. So, my limited knowledge of piano helped them to limp along, if you can believe it, for a year and a half. Then one of our sweet, older neighbors, who had been on the lookout for us, told us about a teacher that she had met in a music club, and that she was now accepting students. We met with her and could not have been happier; her credentials and her no-nonsense personality exceeded all our expectations. And do you know what the Lord did for us? For the few years our children had with her before they went to college, they excelled farther than I could have anticipated with the level of teacher I originally had in mind. What a lesson to me of waiting on the Lord! Did I wait? Yes. Did I wait patiently? Not really. Was I frustrated with my situation? Yes, I was. But how kind and merciful the Lord was to give me the desire of my heart, that my children would be able to enjoy the piano and glorify the Lord with music all their lives. A total gift from our gracious Lord!

Now comes the finale of Psalm 62: God speaks. Whoa! This must be important! What does He say? “God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.” Did you know that earthly men can have influence, but without God they have no real power? They can appear to have power by throwing their influence around, but only God has true power. And do you know what true power is in a man? Pleasing God and letting Him work His heavenly, powerful plan through you, like David did. Just listen to the wonderful end of this psalm: Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work.” Wow! True mercy comes only from God; He has the final word on the value of what is done in this life, no matter how paltry or imperfect. God graciously renders to every man the worth of what he has done in this life. What great mercy! God not only delivers us, but He also rewards us. Amazingly, pleasing God, while we wait, produces eternal dividends. God is so good!

Let’s give up our own plans and fears and shut our ears to false counsel and vengeful thoughts. Instead, while we wait, let’s trust God and His promises, credit Him as the only source of power, rely on God’s Word over man’s word, and pour out our hearts before God, our refuge. “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.”