Saul’s army had surrounded the house with the warrant
of authority to kill David. The event is recorded in 1 Samuel 19:11-18. He
cried out to God for deliverance: “Defend me from them that rise up against
me” (59:1). David was saved by his wife, Michal, who was also Saul’s
daughter. She let David down through a window, saving his life. It was in this
way that his prayer was answered - his faithful wife saved him.
David never failed to trust in God. He wrote: “Because
of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence” (59:9).
What does it take to “Wait upon the LORD”?
1. FAITH. Will you wait for someone whom you
know will not turn up? Faith is trusting God will do what He has promised. The
Scripture says in this wise: “God is faithful” (1 Corinthians 1:9). It
means God is true to His promises; He will not promised anything that He will
not perform. Waiting upon God is a demonstration of having faith in Him: “But
without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”
(Hebrews 11:6).
2. HOPE. Hope gives us strength to continue to
do the work that we are doing. Human being needs hope to keep them alive and a
purpose for living. Christians have one solid hope and that is heaven. Why do
we labour hard for the Lord and do righteousness? It is because we believe in
that sure and steadfast hope God has promised us (Hebrews 6:19).
Barnes commented on Hebrews 6:19: “Hope
accomplishes for the soul the same thing which an anchor does for a ship. It
makes it fast and secure. An anchor preserves a ship when the waves beat and
the wind blows, and as long as the anchor holds, so long the ship is safe, and
the mariner apprehends no danger. So with the soul of the Christian. In the
tempests and trials of life, his mind is calm as long as his hope of heaven is
firm.” (Barnes’ Notes e-sword).
3. PATIENCE. Patience is required while
waiting. The idea behind patience is endurance. The Christian race requires
endurance. You see, the reward is not down here. God has never promised those
who follow Him will be rich, famous, successful or happy here. What He has
promised is a crown of life to those who finish the race (Revelations 2:10).
Get it? The reward is in the next life. It means, if you are age twenty now and
if you were to live till age eighty, you have sixty more years to finish this
race. The one thing you must have is patience, or endurance (Hebrews
12:1-2).
4. WATCHFULNESS. Waiting means keeping watch
for that someone or something to appear. When you are at
a bus stop waiting for a bus, you want to look out for the bus to arrive. You don’t
want to be engrossed in doing something else and not keeping watch for the bus
that it zoom passes you and you miss the bus. Likewise, waiting for the Lord
requires for us to be watchful for His coming again: “Watch therefore: for
ye know not what hour your Lord doth come” (Matthew 24:42).
To be watchful for the coming of the Lord does not
mean we keep looking up to the sky for His coming. It means we be ready for His
coming. It means we are found faithful and righteous when He comes again. Then,
when He comes, He will receive us into His eternal abode: “Henceforth there
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also
that love his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).
Let us “Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit
the land” (Psalm 37:34).
Jimmy Lau
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