By James Smith
By James Smith, of Cheltenham, New York, Published 1869.
"Lead me in your truth, and teach me; for you are the God of my salvation; on you do I wait all the day." Psalm 25:5
The Lord intends to keep his people dependent upon himself. He has everything they can need. He intends to supply all their needs; but he will be applied to. He will have his people wait on him, and wait for him. In doing so, he will try their faith, fortitude, patience, and perseverance. He will sometimes put them to a severe test, but he will never fail them, forsake them, or leave them destitute. If they trust in him, plead with him, and wait on him, they will be raised to a state of comparative security, for they need not fear any man, or any circumstance, or any state they can be in. The Lord will be to them their God. He will do for them all that God can do; and that is, all they can require, all that is consistent with their welfare and his own glory.
Believer, you may be independent of all creation by realizing your dependence upon your God, and waiting upon him continually. You must believe the love he has to you, his watchful care over you, his delight in you, the promises he has given you, the provision he has made for you, the glory he will get by you, and the honor to which he intends to raise you. In so doing, the fear of man will die, joy in God will spring up, the peace of God will fill your heart and mind, your dependence on creatures will cease, and you will be happy in looking only to the Lord. "My soul, wait only upon God; for my expectation is from him." "Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt you to inherit the land- when the wicked are cut off, you shall see it"
Wait in all CIRCUMSTANCES.
You can be in no circumstances in which the Lord can not help you, in which he will not help you, if you look simply to him, rest on him, and wait for him. For every condition in which you may be placed, there is a promise; by that promise the Lord stands pledged to appear for you and help you; he is ever ready to deliverer you; only he will have you believe his word, exercise confidence in him, plead the promise at his throne, and wait for its fulfillment. Wait, then, on the Lord at all times. Times will change, creatures will vary, but the Lord remains always the same. In youth and health, in manhood and prosperity, in old age and its infirmities, we should wait on the Lord. He will adapt his mercies to us, make all his goodness pass before us, and cause all things to work together for our good. He will never leave us, change his views of us, or withhold his tender mercies from us. He is faithful to his word, true to his character, and full of love to his people.
Whatever change there may be in creatures, there is no change in him. Health may give way to sickness, plenty to poverty, strength to weakness, and life to death, but he is the same. With him there is no variableness, neither shadow of a turn. Therefore, "wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord."
Wait for LIGHT IN DARKNESS.
Dark seasons you will have, for it is the lot of all Christians. A cloud may come over your prospects, and the sentence of death may be passed on many of your comforts. Your gourd may be smitten and wither, and the Lord may take away the desire of your eyes with a stroke. He may seem to turn against you, to turn his hand against you all the day. There may be no sweet intimations of his love, no pleasant communion with him at his throne, no sensible communion with him in his ordinances- all within may be cold, cheerless, and dreary; and all without disheartening and discouraging. Instead of success, there may be losses; instead of comfort, trouble; instead of friendship, enmity and alienation. Business may decline; employment may fail; health may give way; all things may seem to be against you.
