A God Who Acts for Those Who Wait for Him
From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.
Isaiah 64:4
Isaiah 64:4
When we gather for worship, it is helpful to remember that what we are experiencing on a Sunday morning when we worship God, and throughout our week as we commune with Him individually, is absolutely incredible. The God of the universe, the creator of all things and all people, the ruler over every nation, the owner of all the land in the world, all the seas—in fact, every planet, every star and every galaxy—the ONE all powerful, all knowing, all glorious GOD . . . weekly and daily (moment by moment even, if we're willing) chooses to meet with weak ones like us. Not only does he choose to meet with us; he delights to meet with us. He asks us to draw near to him. To see and talk with the most famous celebrities or most powerful leaders in our world, any of us would have to have either tremendous fame or influence or wealth ourselves. But to see and talk with the Lord of Hosts, we need no ticket, we need make no reservation, no phone call, we need not dress to the nines, we need not submit our resume in advance. HE. SEEKS. US. Amazing!
And before we mistakenly think that the fact that God seeks us as worshippers might mean that we are actually the main attraction, this verse, Isaiah 64:4, reminds us that this staggering truth only really points again to his greatness, not ours. All the other false gods of the world need their followers, actually depend on their followers. The powerful and influential of this world have all kinds of needs. They need our likes or our subscriptions or our money or our votes. But only one God, the true God, is so self-sufficient that he serves his followers. Our God needs nothing and has nothing to prove. And his all-sufficiency spills over to provide for our good. He acts for those who wait for him. You don't need to prove you're worth his time. Just ask him and wait for him, and he'll act on your behalf. That's how great a God he is.
Sometimes the trick is in the waiting. We don't always want to wait. We want to run ahead. We have our own plans, and we want to make them happen. But how foolish is it to get ahead of God? By waiting on Him, we instead trade our inadequacy for his adequacy, our weakness for his strength, our lack of understanding for his unequaled wisdom, our bad timing for his perfect plan. Let's wait for him and let HIM act. When we worship him, we are reminded how to wait and trust his goodness.
We hope these songs will point us to God's sovereign control of the whole world and our individual lives and will encourage us to depend on him for all things—our salvation, our secure position as children of a heavenly Father, our growth in holiness, our day-to-day well being, our freedom from sin and from craving lesser treasures that this world offers so that we can enjoy the enduring treasure of God himself.
Songs:
Only a Holy God
Before the Throne of God Above
Lord, I Need You
Be Thou My Vision
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
If you would like to listen to these songs, here is a playlist for these songs: