Wait On the Lord While You Wait For the Lord
Posted: Sunday, May 31, 2009
by Mark Parsec
Wordcasters
My wife and I recently had a wonderfully relaxing vacation. We spent most of our time at a condo nestled among the great soaring pines of Big Trees, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. When we weren't eating or napping we would sit out on the balcony and watch the gorgeous gray squirrels as they scampered up and down the trees or the beautiful blue cardinals as they danced among the tree limbs all around us. The sounds of nature filled the air a gurgling mountain stream beside our retreat a gentle breeze wrestling through the tree tops and even the cry of the eagles as they soared high overhead above the giant forest.
Isaiah 40:28-31
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
Did you know that eagles can fly to an altitude of 10,000 feet? During level flight, they can achieve cruising speeds of about 35 to 45 mph. Their diving speed is estimated at 75 to 150 miles per hour. They can soar aloft for hours using natural wind currents and thermal updrafts. Eagles can even swim to shore with a heavy fish in their talons using their strong wings as paddles.
Eagles are powerful creatures. But, this sermon isn't about eagles. It is about waiting on the Lord. The Psalmist says
But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
Many of us are familiar with this popular verse out of the Bible. But, sadly, most people probably miss the significance of what this verse is really saying. Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.
How many of you are waiting on the Lord?
Notice the scripture says those who wait ON the Lord, shall renew their strength not those who wait FOR the Lord. And although this may seem like a matter of splitting hairs it is a matter of attitude that is significant not only in our expectations but in our behavior and relationship with the Lord.
The Hebrew word for wait is kaw-vaw which implies a binding together by twisting as in braiding. It implies a partnership. So, one might say he who is in partnership with the Lord shall renew his strength.
The word "wait", in this instance, does not simply imply just sitting around, twitteling one's thumbs hoping that someday God will do something.
The word "wait", in this case, implies the same meaning that we would find in the words "waiter" or "waitress" one that waits on customers. It is a word which describes a relationship between master and servant.
Psalm 52:9 clarifies this for us when the psalmist says
I will praise You forever, Because You have done it; And in the presence of Your saints I will wait on Your name, for it is good.
The psalmist is saying that he will serve the name of the Lord.
Again in Psalm 25:4-6 the psalmist says
4 Show me Your ways, O LORD;
Teach me Your paths.
5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day.
The psalmist here is describing a relationship between the master and the student Show me teach me lead me on You I wait all the day He could just as easily have said, You I serve all the day.
Proverbs 27:18 has a great illustration to help us. Here the Word of God says
Whoever keeps the fig tree will eat its fruit; So he who waits on his master will be honored.
So we see that the servant of the Lord waits upon the Lord like a waiter or waitress. But, being a waiter or waitress also requires a lot of patience. The servant must wait for the master to give his order or command before he can wait on the master. Do you see the difference? But, this does not mean that the servant does nothing between commands. The servant must remain faithful and obedient even when the master tarries.
Jesus provided a wonderful parable to illustrate this point for us.
Luke 12:35-37 The Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant
35 "Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; 36 and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. 38 And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and [ ] not allowed his house to be broken into. 40
Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."
41 Then Peter said to Him, "Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?"
42 And the Lord said, "Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.
45 But if that servant says in his heart, My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
47 And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
Oh, brothers and sisters let us be good and faithful servants. Let us remember to do according to His will. As we wait for the Lord let us continue to wait on the Lord. And let us remember that whatsoever we do, we should do it as unto the Lord.
Psalm 27:14
14 Wait on the LORD;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the LORD!
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Three sermons in one day? WOW! Don't forget that we have Bible study tonight also, so do wear yourself out.Love you,Michelle
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