patience, and to endure every affliction with submission to
1. To make the will of His precepts the rule of our practice, and to perform every duty with an eye to that.
We must wait on God to receive His commands, resolving to obey them, no matter how much they may contradict our corrupt inclinations or worldly interests. We must wait on Him as the holy angels do, who always behold the face of their Father and stand ready to act at His slightest command, even at the wink of His eye, wherever He may send them. In this way, we must do the will of God, as the angels in heaven do it—those ministers of His who carry out His pleasure, ever at His throne, never out of step with His commands.
David prays here that God would show him His way, lead him, teach him, keep him, and guide him in the path of duty. The text then follows as a plea to enforce that petition: for on thee do I wait all the day, ready to receive the law from God's mouth and to obey His orders in everything. It implies that only those who are willing to do what they are taught can expect to be taught by God. If any man will do his will—if he is steadfastly resolved, through God's grace, to obey —then he shall know what his will is. David prays, Lord, give me understanding, and then confidently asserts, I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it, like a servant waiting on their master.
Those who go up to the house of the Lord expecting to be taught His ways must go with a humble resolution to walk in his paths (Isaiah 2:3). They must pray, Lord, let the pillar of cloud and fire go before me, with a heart determined to follow wherever God leads. This is how we are to wait on God all the day.
2. To make the will of His providence the rule of our patience, and to endure every affliction with submission to
that.
We know it is God who performeth all things for us, and that He performs the thing that is appointed for us. We can trust that everything God does is good and will work together for the good of those who love Him. In light of this, we ought to submit to and align ourselves with God's will. To wait on the Lord is to say, It is the Lord; let him do with me as seemeth good to him, because nothing seems good to Him except what is truly good—and this will become clear to us when God's purposes are fully revealed. Waiting on the Lord means saying, Not as I will, but as thou wilt; for who are we to expect things to be according to our mind?
This involves bringing our minds into alignment with our circumstances so that we remain calm and at peace, even when things around us threaten to disturb us.
We must bear every affliction, whatever it may be, because it is the will of God—something He has allotted to us, and He works all things according to the counsel of his own will. This is what Christian patience looks like: I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it (Psalm 39:9). David was silent not because it was pointless to complain, but because he understood that God's hand was in it, leaving no reason to protest.
This acceptance can reconcile us to every affliction, no matter how difficult, because it is the will of God. We must not only remain silent out of respect for God's sovereignty—Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!—but also find satisfaction in His wisdom and goodness. Whatever God's providence determines for those who wait on Him, we can rest assured that He does them no wrong and intends no harm.
Even when plagued all day long and chastened every morning, as the Psalmist was, we can still confidently say, God is good. We echo Job's words: Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him; yet will I wait on him.
I could expand on the duty of waiting on God by referencing other scriptural expressions that convey the same idea. These expressions encompass much of the honour we are bound to give Him and the fellowship we are privileged to maintain with Him. Truly, our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
To wait on God is to always set Him
before us.
I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved (Psalm 16:8). It means recognising Him as one who is always near us, always at our side, with His eye upon us, wherever we are and whatever we are doing. More than that, it is to acknowledge that in him we live, and move, and have our being, and that we have to do with Him and are accountable to Him.
This principle is central to gospel obedience: Walk before me, and be thou upright. True uprightness—our gospel perfection—consists in living every moment as though in God's presence, striving always to please Him and to seek His approval.
To wait on God is to have our eyes ever
towards the Lord.
Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net (Psalm 25:15). Even though, because of our distance from
Him and the darkness of this world, we cannot see Him clearly, we must still look towards Him. We must look towards the place where His honour dwells, as those who long to know Him and His will, directing everything we do toward His glory. Our aim must be this: that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
Waiting on God means fixing our eyes on Him in all the ways He reveals Himself and being attentive to the displays of His nature and attributes.
To wait on God is to acknowledge Him in
all our ways.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (Proverbs 3:6). In all our actions and in every aspect of life, we must place ourselves under His guidance and walk in His steps. In every undertaking, we should look to Him for direction and success, committing our way to Him through faith and prayer, trusting Him to act on our behalf. We must invite His presence into all that we do, praying as Moses did: If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
In every blessing we enjoy, we must recognise His hand as the giver. Likewise, in every trial we endure, we must see His hand as the one laying it upon us, learning to accept both good and adversity with grace. Like Job, we must bless the name of the Lord both when He gives and when He takes.
To wait on God is to follow Him fully.
But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land (Numbers 14:24). Following God fully means having regard for all His commandments and striving to be complete in obedience to His will. Wherever God leads us and wherever He goes before us, we must follow Him as dear children, walking in His steps. We must follow the Lamb wherever He goes and take Him as our guide in all our journeys.
To wait on God is to hope confidently in
Him.
This is what it means to wait on God, and those who do so can wait for Him with joy and expectation. In due time, He will surely reveal Himself to their joy. Solomon's words will hold true for them: He that waiteth on his master shall be honoured (Proverbs 27:18). For Christ has promised, Where I am, there shall also my servant be (John 12:26).
II. For the second point. Having shown you what it is to wait on God, I now move
on to show that this must be done every
day, and all day long.
A. We must wait on our God every day.
Omni die ("every day"), as some interpret it. This is the daily work to be done each day as the duty of that day requires. Servants in royal courts may have specific weeks or months assigned to them for service, and they are only obliged to attend at those times. But God's