Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary… I. WHAT IT IS TO WAIT UPON THE LORD. Three things make it: service, expectation, patience. We must be as those Eastern maidens, who as they ply their needle or their distaff, look to the eye and wait upon the hand of their mistress, as their guide which is to teach them, or their model which they are to copy. Our best lessons are always found in a Father's eye. "Therefore if you would wait upon the Lord, you must be always looking out for voices — those still small voices of the soul, — and you must expect them, and you must command them." But service, however devoted, or expectation, however intense, will not be waiting without patience. Here is where so many fail. II. THE ACTION. Elevation, rapid progress, a steady course — soar, run, walk. Is it not just what we want — to get higher, to go faster, and to be more calmly consistent? 1. Elevation. What are the wings? Beyond a doubt, faith, prayer; or, if you will, humility and confidence in a beautiful equipoise, balancing one another on either side, so that the soul sustains itself in mid-air and flies upward. 2. The servants of God in the Bible — from Abraham and David to Philip in the Acts — whenever they were told to do anything, always ran. It is the only way to do anything well. A thousand irksome duties become easy and pleasant if we do them with a ready mind, an affectionate zeal, and a happy alacrity. 3. To maintain a quiet sustained walk, day by day, in the common things of life, in the house and out of the house, not impulsive, not capricious, not changeable, — that is the hardest thing to do. Let me give four rules for this walk: (1) Start from Christ. (2) Walk with Christ. (3) Walk leaning on Christ. (4) Walk to Christ. (J. Vaughan, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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