Isaiah 8:17

And I will wait upon the Lord

Waiting upon the Lord

In the practice of this becoming resolution, Jehovah is the object of--

1.

Intense desire.

2. Diligent attention.

3. Earnest expectation.

4. Constant dependence.

In this all-important exercise, humility and hope, patience and perseverance, are happily combined with an agreeable serenity of mind, which stands in direct opposition to turbulence of spirit and uneasy emotions of soul. It cheeks every opposite passion, and preserves the mind in a pleasing tranquillity, satisfied with the sovereign good pleasure of God, and attentive to the diligent improvement of all the means appointed for attaining the end in view. In every change, affliction, and trial it disposes wholly to rely upon God, for all the blessings He hath promised to bestow, in the season He sees most proper to confer them. Hence, in the last clause of this verse, the same resolution is thus expressed, “I will look for Him.” (R. Macculloch.)

Waiting on the Lord in desertion and gloom

I. THE CHARACTERISTIC APPELLATION OF JEHOVAH. “The God who hideth Himself.”

II. THE IMPLIED MYSTERIOUSNESS OF HIS DEALINGS WITH HIS PEOPLE.

III. THE RESOLVE OF THE BELIEVER UNDER THIS VISITATION. (G. Smith, D. D.)