Home/Bible Studies/Waiting
in

Last week, I heard Pastor Paine talking about the three different kinds of "wait" in the Bible. It's the word after the word "wait" that tells you which kind it is. I didn't think much of it at the time, but fifteen minutes later I was asked to give the next Sunday afternoon Bible study. As soon as I could, I caught up with Pastor Paine and asked, "Can I steal your idea for the Bible study next week?" "Absolutely!" he replied. So it is with his blessing that I am giving this study.

Wait(ing) for the LORD

To "wait for" means to delay action until some future event takes place. Sometimes when we come to God in prayer, his answer is just "Wait," meaning that God wants us to wait for him, instead of trying to take care of things ourselves. So we wait for a sign, a knock on the door telling us that the time is right.

John 5:2-4
  1. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.
  2. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
  3. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
Luke 12:32-36
  1. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
  2. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
  3. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
  4. Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;
  5. And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.

Jesus paints a rosy picture, but sometimes it doesn't seem that way.

Psalms 69:3
  1. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
Isaiah 59:9
  1. Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.

We have to maintain patience and hope.

Psalms 37:7
  1. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
Psalms 130:5
  1. I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
Micah 7:7
  1. Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.
Romans 8:25
  1. But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Galatians 5:5
  1. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

God promises that if we do this, we'll be rewarded.

Isaiah 30:18
  1. And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
Isaiah 49:23
  1. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
Luke 2:25-32
  1. And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
  2. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
  3. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
  4. Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
  5. Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
  6. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
  7. Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
  8. A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

Wait(ing) on the LORD

To "wait on" means to pay attention, to attend, to make yourself available. This is what a waiter does when he "waits on" his customers. A good waiter constantly watches the entire area, even while seeming to devote his entire attention to a single customer.

Numbers 3:11
  1. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
1 Chronicles 23:28
  1. Because their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the LORD, in the courts, and in the chambers, and in the purifying of all holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God;
Romans 12:6-8
  1. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
  2. Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
  3. Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

(side note: the Biblical age of retirement was fifty! See Numbers 8:25)

The Bible says we should "wait on" God continually. We shouldn't ever be so involved in what we're doing that we aren't paying attention to God.

Hosea 12:6
  1. Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.
Psalms 25:5
  1. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.
1 Thessalonians 5:17
  1. Pray without ceasing.

Again, God says that if we do this, we won't regret it.

Psalms 25:3
  1. Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.
Psalms 69:6
  1. Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.

There is a reward in the end.

Proverbs 20:22
  1. Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.
Psalms 37:34
  1. Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.

Wait(ing) upon the LORD

To "wait upon" means to faithfully serve, as an employee or a servant.

Numbers 8:24
  1. This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation:
2 Chronicles 13:10
  1. But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the LORD, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business:

In The Bucket List, there is a guy who is filthy rich and has a personal assistant who literally waits on him hand and foot. Even though the assistant is unfailingly polite and courteous, the rich guy never ceases to verbally abuse him. In one scene, the rich guy says:

I'd tell you that you're irreplaceable, but you're not.

And the assistant answers:

I'd tell you that I do it because I really love and enjoy my job, but I don't.

So why does he do it? The answer comes in another scene when the rich guy just found out that he was going to die. The assistant asked how to handle his death, and the rich guy answers:

Treat it like it was your own.

So the assistant suggests:

So I should leave all my money to my assistant?

The assistant, like any servant, faithfully serves because he wants what his master has. And we serve God because we want what he has.

God made all things; we want some, too:

Psalms 37:9
  1. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
Jeremiah 14:22
  1. Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.

Sometimes we just want a paycheck:

Psalms 104:27
  1. These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.
Psalms 145:15
  1. The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.

We want God's strength:

Isaiah 40:31
  1. But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Psalms 59:9
  1. Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence.

Whatever kind of waiting you do, whether it's "waiting for", "waiting on", or "waiting upon", make sure you do it to the Lord.

Colossians 3:17
  1. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.