God Will Wait For Those Who Wait For Him

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. Isaiah 30:18

Here the prophet Isaiah cuts straight to the heart of how Israel can dig itself out of the hole it has dug itself into.

God will act for those who wait for him, he will deal kindly with those who put aside their own agenda to take time to listen to him.

The preceding verses speak of the Israelites own perceived need to be doing, to be making their own way in the world, and so failing to place their trust in the God who had chosen them to be his own.

For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. But you refused and said, “No! We will flee upon horses”— therefore you shall flee! and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”— therefore your pursuers shall be swift! Isaiah 30:15-16

We have a tendency to associate the Old Testament with the Mosaic Law and its burden on the people, but here we look back and see that God’s message through the prophet Isaiah is not one of wanting people to work hard, but rather to wait on him. How much more today do we need to heed this message?

The Israelites felt the need to flee upon strong horses, to find their own way of surviving, rejecting the peace and security with God had available for them. Today do the worries and concern of the world we live in have us too running to survive? Striving in our own strength to succeed, to avoid trouble, to once again reject God’s peace and security?

The prophet Isaiah would remind us of God’s gracious and merciful nature, that God looks for opportunities to bless those who wait on him and give them justice.

So today let’s cut through the clutter and busyness of our lives and take time to wait on God, to get to know the one who loves us more than words can say.