I want to bring a message today that probably you've never heard preached upon before, although you have heard the terms used, read verses where these terms are used, but you've probably never heard an entire message on this subject. But the message is just simply entitled, Waiting Upon the Lord. So look in Psalm 123, and let's read all four verses. Psalm 123, beginning with verse 1. Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of the servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord, our God, until that He have mercy upon us. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the prayer. of the proud. Now notice if you would please, Psalm 123 is a prayer and involved in that prayer is waiting upon the Lord. It is a short psalm and therefore it is a short prayer. Let me give you a comment by Martin Luther, the reformer. commenting on Psalm 123, and he said this, it's very important. He said, This Psalm, as you see, is but short, and therefore a very fit example to show the force of prayer not to consist in many words, but in fervency of spirit. For great and weighty matters may be comprised in a few words, if they proceed from the spirit and the unspeakable groanings of the heart, especially when our necessity is such as we'll not suffer any long prayer. Every prayer is long enough if it be fervent and proceed from a heart that understandeth the necessity of the saints. So Luther is saying on Psalm 123, it's not necessarily the length of the prayer that matters, but certainly it is indeed the fervency of the prayer. And David is exceedingly fervent in Psalm 123. And notice, if you would please, he says, Unto thee lift up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of the servants look into the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of the maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God. Now, let me point out that waiting upon the Lord is a spiritual exercise that is commanded over and over in Scripture. Have you ever wondered what it is to wait upon the Lord? I mean, what does it mean? How do you do it? Have you ever waited upon the Lord? Now, if you haven't, then ask yourself why not? It could be basically because we've never studied the issue and therefore we're basically ignorant as to how to wait upon the Lord. I know that everyone in this room probably knows that there are a multitude of promises in the Bible given to those who wait upon the Lord. I suppose the most notable one would be found in Isaiah 14 verse 31. You remember that verse? But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as an eagle They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Now I don't know about you, but I'd certainly like to have my strength renewed. I'd like to be able to run and not be weary and walk and not faint. But notice what he said, they that wait upon the Lord. So this promise then of having your strength renewed, is based upon waiting upon the Lord. Now, I want you to hold Psalm 123. That's our text, and we're coming back there. But look in Psalm 27 and verse 14. Psalm 27 and verse 14, because here's another promise, and there are so multitudinous in Scripture. Psalm 27, verse 14, the Bible says this, Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Note once again, in this text, the promise is strength of heart. You think of men like William Wallace who had the nickname Brave Heart. You think of other men, the martyrs, that had strong, strong hearts. Notice He said, Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Now, the Hebrew word for wait in these passages is the word kavah, and it's translated in our Bibles as to wait for, to wait to look for, to look for eagerly, to hope, and to look for expectantly. In other words, when you use the word wait, as it is used in the Bible, it indicates anticipation. an expectation and an eagerness. If you would turn in your Bibles to Psalm 39, let me give you an example of this anticipation. Notice Psalm 37 and verse 9. Psalm 37 is a wonderful psalm, but notice verse 9, Psalm 37 verse 9, God says this, For evildoers shall be cut off, but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. Now what's going to happen to the evildoers? They're going to be cut off. What about those who wait for the Lord? They shall inherit the earth. Now skip down to verse 34. You'll see this again. Wait on the Lord and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. Now, what in the world is Psalm 37 talking about? Psalm 37 is talking about the victory that is ultimately going to be given to the saints of God. What's going to happen to the wicked? The wicked are going to be cut off. In other words, the world and everything in it will be delivered to the people of God. Can you eagerly anticipate that? Well, I don't see why you should not. You know, there's a song that many people sing, and I don't know the song, all the words, but the chorus, it goes something like this. I want to see Israel marching. I want to hear that kingdom call. I want to climb up Zion's mountain. I want to see old Babylon fall. And certainly that is exactly what this passage is talking about. It is talking about the fall of the wicked. We're to eagerly anticipate that so that we may inherit the earth. You know what Peter says in 2 Peter 3 and verse 13? Peter tells us that when this happens, there's going to be a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. What is he saying? He's saying that we're going to receive that which has been promised us in the Scripture. Now, it's not the promises that I want to deal with today concerning waiting upon the Lord. What I really want to deal with is the reality of waiting upon the Lord. You and I should know how to perform this spiritual exercise in order that we may obtain the promises. Let me ask you a simple question. What good are all the promises in the Bible if you do not have the means or know the means to obtain them and receive them and apply them? That's like someone giving a million bucks in your name and sticking it in the bank somewhere, but never puts your signature on the bank card. It's there, but it does you no good. because you can't receive it and you can't apply it. So the important questions that you have to ask yourself are these. First, what is waiting upon the Lord? And secondly, how do we do it? Now there's a perfect illustration given to us to answer those questions in Psalm 123 and verse 2. Look at it. Here's what David said, Behold, as the eyes of the servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that He have mercy upon us. So ask yourself these questions. How do servants look to the hand of their masters? How does a maiden look to her mistress? Now, let me just simply point out the fact that the Hebrew word for servant here is the Hebrew word ebed, which literally means a servant, a manservant, a bondservant, or a slave. The Hebrew word for master is the normal word which indicates a lord, a master, a superintendent or a king. And of course the maiden in this verse would be a female slave and the mistress then would be her lady or her queen or her mistress. Now here's what David is saying. David is telling us that there is a relationship that exists and that did exist between a master and his servant and a maiden and her mistress that will reflect light upon what it literally means to wait upon the Lord. David is telling us that unless we grasp in some degree this relationship we will not know what it means to wait upon the Lord. Now he said, as the servants look to the hand of their masters, and as a maiden looks to her mistress. What you and I do not comprehend in this day and age is the close bond and the love that actually existed between most masters and servants and ladies and their maidens. In fact, I want you to hold Psalm 123. But turn back in your Bibles, if you would please, Genesis chapter 15. You remember Abraham was a man of exceedingly great wealth. And Abraham had lots of cattle, silver, gold, but he had no children. Now don't you notice what Abraham says to the Lord in Genesis chapter 15, beginning with verse 1. After these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. So God speaks to Abraham, and Abraham answers. And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me seeing I go childless and the steward or the servant or the slave of my house is Eleazar of Damascus. Now let me stop there. Abraham had plenty of servants or slaves. He had 318 trained fighting men in his own house. Eliezer just happened to be the chief steward or the chief slave, so to speak. Now watch. And Abram said, Lord God, what will thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed, and lo, one born in mine house is mine heir. Now watch verse 4. And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowel shall be thine heir." You know what the Scripture is saying here? The Scripture is saying, here's a man who has a great deal of wealth, but he has no children. And Abram is saying, Lord, if I don't get a child, my chief servant, Eleazar of Damascus, he's going to get everything. Wow. And you know what God said? God says, no, He's not going to inherit everything. I'm going to give you a son. I'm going to give you a child. And certainly God did. But I'm just simply pointing out the fact In those days and times, it was the servants who would inherit if there were no children. For instance, did you know what the Bible says in Proverbs 17 in verse 2? Listen carefully. The Bible says a wise servant shall have rule over a son that causes shame and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren. So a wise servant, he said, is going to be treated as a family member and would have part of the family inheritance. And then the Bible declares in Proverbs 29 and verse 21, he that delicately bringeth up a servant from a child shall at length have him become his son. Huh, what is he saying? In other words, here's a slave, a little boy maybe, born in the house, and he brings the boy up as a slave, But sooner or later, the boy's going to be treated as a son. In other words, he's going to have part of the inheritance. Now, all I'm saying is this. If you and I do not understand the relationship that existed between masters and servants, and maidens and their mistresses, we cannot understand what it means to wait upon the Lord. And notice if you would in this verse, and I'm going to deal with it a little bit later, the eyes are mentioned. Do you realize in those days all it took for a master to communicate with his servant was the motion of a hand or the look in the eyes? Moving the eyes. And the servant was so in tune with the master, he understood. Now that is why in verse 1, look in Psalm 123 verse 1, David says this, Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. What is David doing? David is taking the place and position of a servant. He says, I'm lifting up mine eyes, I'm looking to you, so that I may know what you would have me to do. Old John Trapp, one of the old Puritans, who was alive in the 1600s, said this concerning verse 1. praying by glances of the eye rather than by words, mine afflictions have swollen my heart too big for my mouth." In other words, he says, I can't speak, and so it's just the eyes glancing to the Lord in prayer. So the servant always looks to his masters. He uses his eyes to discern the master's every command. Now, let me ask you today, How does a servant wait upon his master? I'm going to give you five ways. And I'm going to show you these five ways, or exactly, I believe, what David is teaching us in verse 2, where he says, Behold, as the eyes of a servant look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden look unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until then ye have mercy upon us. So how do masters and servants relate to each other. How do servants wait upon their masters? First of all, they wait dependently. dependently. Servants are entirely and completely dependent upon their masters. It is the master who supplied them with their food and their clothing and every essential. It was their master who assigned them their duties and gave them their orders. A servant is not to act independently, he is to act dependently. A servant waits and he waits upon his master. Now, the waiting not only speaks of service, but it also speaks of the fact that he is to do absolutely nothing without the direction and permission of the master. It is the master who supplies everything for the servant, which means, again, the servant is dependent upon the master. Let me give you a few scriptures. For instance, the Bible says in Proverbs 27 and verse 27, And thou shalt have goats milking up for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance of thy maidens." In other words, it was the master who was responsible to supply food and clothing to all the servants. You remember that wise woman in Proverbs 31? That woman who is worth far more than rubies. Listen to what the Bible says in Proverbs 31 verse 15. She rises also while it is yet night and giveth meat to her household and a portion to her maidens. In other words, it's the woman then who is supplying the meat for the household, that is, she's making the preparations of it, dividing it out, apportioning it out, not only for her household but also for her maidens. So just like a servant is dependent upon his master, likewise we are to be entirely and completely dependent upon the Lord. It is our Lord who supplies our every need. It is our Lord who gives us His commands and directions for our lives. It is our Lord who assigns us our duties, our missions, and everything that He desires for us to accomplish. I want you to hold Psalm 123, but look in your Bibles to Psalm 145, and notice verse 15. Psalm 145. Notice what he says. Psalm 145 verse 15. The eyes of all wait upon Thee, and Thou givest them their meat in due season. Wait a minute. Verse 16. Thou openest Thine hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. Note verse 15. The eyes of all wait upon Thee, and Thou givest them their meat in due season. You know, it's amazing. When you stop and think how the Lord provides for every one of us, but not just for us, for all the animals. I tell you what, I'd like to challenge you to do something. I would like to challenge you with all of your wealth, all of your acquisition, everything that you have, just undertake one task. feed all the birds in the world for one week. Huh? Well, what if we just limited it to the crows? You see what I'm saying? The eyes of all wait upon thee. Somebody says, well, I'm not dependent upon the Lord. I work. Well, I got news for you folks. If you don't think you're dependent upon the Lord, you just try breathing without breathing His air. You try living without drinking His water. You try eating without using His soil to cultivate anything in. The truth of the matter is this, folks. We've got to come to the position that we recognize our complete and entire dependence upon the Lord. Everything that we have, He gave us whether you like it or not. You say, but I work. Yes, but He gave you life. He gave you health. He gave you strength. He gave you mental ability. He gave you everything. And you need to acknowledge that you're totally dependent upon Him. The Bible in Lamentations 3 in verse 25 declares, The Lord is good unto them that wait upon Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. Oh, John Gill, that great Baptist preacher, said this, Saints are servants, not of sin, nor of Satan, nor of men, but of the Lord, and not on the foot of creation only, but also on redemption, and are made so by the grace of God, and they are willing to work and are desirous to know what they should do. They inquire of God, They wait upon him in his word and ordinances for direction and being informed with all their might and follow the lamb, whether ever so ever he goes or directs them. and they look on Him for strength to assist them therein. Being conscious of their own weakness, they apply unto Him and wait upon Him for strength, and do all that they do in His name in strength. They look on Him for protection from all their enemies, which are many and mighty, and are stronger than they, and for food, both temporal and spiritual, and for all the necessaries and comforts, both of a corporeal and spiritual life, and likewise for the recompensive reward the reward of the inheritance, which is of grace and not of debt." Now notice what he is saying. Every one of us must learn to wait dependently. Do you realize if God does not provide for us, we're not provided for? I don't care if that's physically or spiritually, it is still the truth. Do you realize even in preaching, What does the Bible say? It's not Him that planteth, nor Him that watereth, but it's God who giveth the increase. So how do we wait upon the Lord? First of all, we wait dependently. Just like a servant is dependent upon his master. Secondly, We wait expectantly. Now the Bible says in Psalm 123 verse 2, look at it. Behold, as the eyes of the servants look into the hand of their masters. And as the eyes of a maiden into the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until that he have mercy upon us. When we wait, we must not only wait dependently, we must wait expectantly. That is, we must actually expect to receive our petitions, our desires, our needs, and our orders. Why in the world would you wait for someone if you didn't expect them to deliver or to arrive? You know what I could do? I could stand out on this corner and someone says, well, why are you standing here? Well, I expect President Bush to drive by. Do you? How long do you think I'm going to be standing on that corner? The truth is I don't really expect him to drive by. And since I don't expect him to drive by, I'm not going to stand out there and look for it. I wouldn't stand out there and look for the king of England. You say, well, we don't have a king in England, we have a queen. Well, I wouldn't wait for the queen either. She's not driving by. Why would you wait for someone expectantly if you know they're not going to show? Now, let me just underline what I'm trying to show you. Look in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 10. whole Psalm 123. Look in Hebrews chapter 10. I want you to see that our Lord waited with full expectation and in one sense of the word, He is still waiting. And look if you would, Hebrews chapter 10, beginning there with verse 12. Hebrews 10 verse 12. Watch carefully. But this man, and we're talking about Jesus Christ, but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. for by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." Notice when our Lord offered Himself a sacrifice once and for all, He sat down at the right hand of God henceforth expecting till His enemies would be made His footstool. Let me ask you a question. Do you think that our Lord is going to expect and wait in vain? Or do you really believe that all of His enemies are going to be subdued and placed under His feet? I've got news for you folks. They shall be subdued and they shall be placed under His feet. He will not wait in vain. Likewise, what does the Scripture teach concerning us? Are you listening? Hebrews 11 verse 6, But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that cometh to God must first believe that He is, and secondly, that He is rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. So when we wait, we not only are waiting dependently, we're waiting expectantly. David said in Psalm 62 in verse 5, My soul wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from Him. Why is David waiting upon God? For he expects Him to answer. He expects Him to supply his needs. He expects Him to deliver him. He expects God to bless him. In Psalm 113, verse 5, David states this, I wait for the Lord. My soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. Now, I want you to note something. In His Word do I hope. It is the Word of God that gives us hope. What do we have in the Bible? We have His covenant. We have His promises. We have His warnings. We have His directives. We have His blessings. Why would I wait upon the Lord expectantly because I know in His book, I know in His Bible, I know in His covenant what He has promised. And I expect Him to answer. Do you realize, and it's amazing, when you comprehend this, that in one sense of the word, in reality, everyone and everything waits upon the Lord, in one sense of the word, even animals. Look in your Bibles to Psalm 104, Psalm 104, and look at verse 27. Psalm 124, verse 27. Yeah, I'm sorry. Psalm 104. I'm sorry. Psalm 104 verse 27. Thank you. Psalm 104 verse 27. Psalm 104 verse 27. These wait all upon thee that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. Now look at the context. Go back to verse 24. O LORD, how manifold are Thy works, and wisdom Thou hast made them all! The earth is full of Thy riches. So is this great and wide sea, wherein all things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the ships, there is that Leviathan, whom Thou hast made to play therein. These wait all upon Thee, that Thou mayest give them their meat in due season." So even the animals wait upon God. that He may give them their meat in due season. And Psalm 145 verse 15, you don't have to turn there, but again the scripture says, "...the eyes of all wait upon thee, thou givest them their meat in due season." So those that truly, genuinely wait upon the Lord, must wait not only independently, but expectantly. Now, look in your Bibles to Psalm 25. Psalm 25 verse 3, And let me show you that that expectation shall not be disappointed. Psalm 25 and verse 3. Psalm 25 verse 3. Yea, let none that wait upon thee be ashamed. Let them be ashamed which transgress without cause. Yea, let none that wait upon thee be ashamed. Now wait a minute, stop and think about that. If I am waiting dependently upon the Lord, if I'm waiting expectantly upon the Lord, what's the scripture saying? Let not them that wait upon the Lord be ashamed of the Lord. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. There's nothing to be ashamed of in the sense that You don't sit there saying, well, I waited, but nothing happened. He never came. He never showed. He never gave me wisdom. He never answered my petition. No, no. We'll not be ashamed for waiting upon the Lord. Those who are going to be ashamed are those who transgress without cause. Those who sin and violate His law. In Psalm 69 and verse 6, you'll see the same truth again. Psalm 69 and verse 6. Look at it. Psalm 69 verse 6. Again, David says this, Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake. Let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. So he says, once again, we're not going to be ashamed or confounded because we wait upon the Lord. We will not be disappointed. No one has ever biblically waited upon the Lord in vain. No one has ever biblically waited upon the Lord and had to be ashamed because he never answered. No, our expectation shall be rewarded by the grace and mercy of God. On the other hand, that is not so with the wicked. Let me just quote Proverbs 10 in verse 28. There the Bible says the hope of the righteous shall be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. Wow. The expectation of the wicked shall perish, but the hope of the righteous shall be gladness. So we shall not wait in vain. How do we wait on the Lord? We must wait dependently, we must wait expectantly, and thirdly, we must wait lovingly. Now, I want you to hold Psalm 123, but I want you to turn in your Bibles to the New Testament, Luke chapter 7. I want you to see this because I told you earlier that we don't understand the relationship that often existed between a master and his servant, or between a maiden and her mistress. And I gave you all of those Scriptures that showed you how that a servant most often times would even receive an inheritance among the children. So notice if you would please in Luke chapter 7, in verse 1, the Bible says this, Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum. And a certain centurion servant, and translate that as slave, a certain centurion servant or slave who was dear unto him was sick and ready to die. And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his slave. Notice, if you would, a certain centurion servant or slave was sick and ready to die. But this slave was dear unto this centurion, dear unto the master. The centurion loved his servant. In other words, there was a bond that existed between the servant and the master. Now, I can assure you that there were ungodly masters in times past. I can assure you of that. But just because there were ungodly masters does not mean that every master was ungodly. There have been ungodly husbands. That does not mean that every husband is ungodly. There have been ungodly wives. But that does not mean that every wife is ungodly. Here was a servant who was dearly loved by his master. Now let me show you something. Do you realize that even Hebrew slaves, and everyone in this room probably knows that if a Hebrew became a slave to another Hebrew, he would serve him for six years, and after that, the seventh year, he must go out free. You remember that? But do you realize even in Hebrew servitude, there was a procedure for a Hebrew to become a permanent slave. Why would anyone want to become a permanent slave? The answer is because he loved his master. Look in your Bibles to the book of Exodus 21. Let me show it to you. Exodus 21. And notice if you would please beginning there with verse 1. Exodus 21, verse 1. Exodus 21, verse 1. Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them. If thou bind Hebrew servants six years, he shall serve. And at the seventh, he shall go out free for nothing. Now watch carefully. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master hath given him a wife, and she hath borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her masters. and he shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go out free. Then his master shall bring him unto the judges. He shall also bring him to the door and to the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be, and he shall serve him forever. Now, boring the ear through, Having your ear pierced was a sign that you were a slave. You'll read the same thing in Deuteronomy 15 verses 12 through 17. Now, what did the servant say? I love my master. I love my family. I will not go out free. So the master then brings him to the judges. They take him to the doorpost. They bore a hole in his ear, which means he is now a permanent slave. Now, watch this. I want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 40 and to Isaiah 50. Let me show you how this is applied to Jesus Christ. Do you remember that Jesus Christ was the sent one of the Father? Jesus Christ came to do the Father's will. He said over and over, I came not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. So if you look, first of all, in Psalm 40, beginning there with verse six, here's the passage. And of course, this passage is applied to our Lord in the new Testament, but notice in Psalm 40 and verse six. Scripture says this, Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire, but mine ear hast thou opened, or digged. Burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, lo, I come in the volume of the book that is written of me. I delight to do thy will, O my God, yea, thy law is within my heart. In the book of Hebrews, this passage is applied directly to Jesus Christ. Note, he says in verse 6, Mine ears hast thou opened." Look in your Bible to Isaiah 50 and verse 5. Notice again what is said of Christ. Isaiah 50 verse 5, The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. And then he goes on to say, I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off my hair. I hid not my face from shame or spitting. What does he mean when he says, The Lord God, my God, hath opened mine ear? It's not that he just opened his ear so that he could hear. No, he bore a hole in it. in the sense that Jesus Christ was the permanent servant of the Father. Over and over, as I pointed out earlier, I come to do Thy will. That's what He said in Hebrews 10, verses 5 through verse 8, where you get Psalm 40 there, He says, Lo, it is written to me in the volume of this book, I come to do Thy will, O God. So the Son was saying, I love the Father, and I'm going to serve Him. He was the sent one. Do you realize that in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul delighted to refer to himself as the servant of Jesus Christ. The interesting thing is when you look at the Greek word for servant and see what the Greek word really is, it's the word doulos, which literally means slave. Paul says, I'm the slave of Jesus Christ. He was admitting that he was the slave of Christ. Clearly the Bible teaches that every believer is indeed the slave of Christ. For instance, in 1 Corinthians 6, let me just quote it, verses 19 and 20, the Apostle Paul writes, What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is given you, which is in you, which you have of God? You are not your own, for you are bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." He said, you've been bought with a price, you're not your own. You belong to someone else. You belong to Christ. In 1 Corinthians 7 and verse 23, we read this, you are bought with a price, but you're not the servants of men. Why in the world should we be the servants or slaves of men when we are the slaves of Jesus Christ? And may I point out the fact that our servitude is based upon love. Help me out now. We love Him because He first loved us. In other words, we serve Him because of His great love and mercy that He has manifested in our hearts and lives. It is easy to wait upon someone that you love. David said in Psalm 25 and verse 21, let integrity and uprightness preserve me for I wait upon thee. In the same Psalm in verse five, he said, lead me in my truth and teach me for the God of my salvation on thee do I wait all the day. David said, I can wait upon you because I love you. Now, let me ask you a question. Because we're talking about waiting upon the Lord. Have you ever wondered, well, why does God make us wait? Why do we have to wait? There are a multitude of answers to that question. But I want you to see one directly from the Bible. I want you to turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 30 and look at verse 18. Isaiah 30, verse 18. Isaiah 30, verse 18. Look what the Bible says concerning God. Why do we have to wait? Here it is, Isaiah 30, verse 18. And therefore will the Lord wait. In other words, the Lord is waiting because we're waiting. Therefore will the Lord wait that He may be gracious unto you. And therefore will He be exalted that He may have mercy upon you. For the Lord is a God of judgment. Blessed are all they that wait upon Him. He makes us wait. And He waits. Why? That He may be merciful unto us. I don't know about you, but I believe I prefer to wait and have mercy than not to be waited on and have judgment. In other words, the Lord is going to be gracious and kind to us. So how do we wait? We wait dependently. Yes. We wait expectantly. We wait lovingly. We love Him because He first loved us. And fourthly, we wait patiently. Now, David said in Psalm 123, as the eyes of the servant look unto the hand of the master, and as the eyes of the maiden looks unto the eyes of her mistress, let's suppose that you were my servants and I was an extremely, extremely wealthy man. And your assignment was to stand still and just wait upon my direction. Remember now I'm supplying everything for you. You have no needs. You're being taken care of. You don't have to go out and work for your food. I'm supplying it. You don't have to go buy clothes. I'm supplying them. If I'm supplying everything, And all you have to do is stand and wait for me to say, do this or do that. And if I don't say anything to you, you just simply wait. Now, could you be patient with that? Let me ask it another way. Do servants hurry their masters? Do maidens demand things of their mistress? The answer is no. Servants wait and they wait patiently. The truth of the matter is their entire life is given to waiting. I want to tell you what one of our biggest sins really is. It's one of my sins and I'll guarantee it's one of your sins. That's the sin of impatience. Each of us wants God to move, but we want Him to move in our time and in our way. What we forget is this, that we are limited by time, but He is not. We are temporal. He is eternal. One day is as a thousand years with the Lord. We have to learn to wait upon the Lord. You know what our Lord said in Luke 21 in verse 19? Now listen, in patience possess ye your souls. And I'm quite afraid that most of us do not really truly possess our souls in patience. Scripture asserts that one reason that we experience all the tests and all the trials and tribulations that we go through is to teach us patience. Romans five and verse three says, and not only so, but we glory in tribulations also knowing that tribulation worketh patience. In second Corinthians six and verse four, the Bible tells us that we're to prove ourselves as the ministers of God in much patience. You know what the Bible says in Hebrews 10 in verse 36, and by the way, you talk about a verse. Here it is, for you have need of patience. Let me finish it. He says, for you have need of patience that after you've done the will of God, you might receive the promise. What does God say? Even after you've done my will, you have to wait. You have to wait until my time. So he says you have need of patience. How does a servant wait upon his master? He waits patiently. In Hebrews 12 and verse 1, the Bible says, wherefore seeing that we're encompassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. And James 1 and verse 4, but let patience have her perfect work, that you may be mature and complete, wanting nothing. And the Bible says in Revelation 14 and verse 12, here is the patience of the saints. Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ. The patience of the saints. In other words, we wait upon the Lord. We know that He's going to work. He's going to do things in His time and in His way. I have people say all the time, Brother Weaver, Do you think that we'll see victory in our lifetime, or it'll be in the lifetime of our children, our grandchildren? All I can say is, look, I sure hope it's in my lifetime, but I don't know. I do know this, we have to wait upon the Lord, and I got news for you, when the Lord moves, He will not be one day late, He will not be one second late, He will be right on time. But we have to learn to wait patiently. Fifthly and finally, here's how we wait upon the Lord. We must wait obediently. It is true we must wait dependently, expectantly, lovingly and patiently, but it is equally true that we must wait obediently. Waiting does not imply idleness. Waiting does not mean that we sit around doing absolutely nothing. Waiting does not imply inactivity. Let me show you. Look in your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 1. Acts chapter 1. And notice if you would please at verse 4. Now you're going to say, now wait a minute, Brother Weaver. You've just told me that waiting does not imply inactivity. It does not imply doing nothing. Well, look at the commandment that is given in Acts 1 in verse 4, our Lord tells his disciples. And being assembled together with them, commanded them they should not depart out of Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father which saith thee, you have heard of me. Ah, well, they weren't doing anything but waiting right there. Well, the answer is very simple. First, their waiting was obedient since that's what God commanded them to do. Secondly, if you read the context, they did not sit idly by. They were not only praying, but they even gave themselves to carrying out the business at hand, which was appointing a replacement for Judas Iscariot. In other words, they were waiting. They didn't leave the city, but they weren't sitting there idle. It is inconceivable that someone would be waiting for an answer from God or a blessing from God. And at the same time acting disobediently toward him, whatever God called us to do, whatever business he's appointed us, whatever vocation we have as Christ, we must be about our father's ministry. You know, I've said this before, you've heard me say it. Most of us are parents. Many of us are grandparents. Which are you going to bless more quickly, an obedient child or disobedient child? I know the answer to that. You're going to bless an obedient child. You've heard me say this too. I've told my children, I've told my grandchildren. If you do right, I will help you till I'm blue in the faith. I will die helping you. But if you're going to do wickedly and wrongly and you think I'm going to help you, you're mistaken. I'm not going to subsidize sin and rebellion. Our Father is not going to subsidize sin and rebellion. So if we wait upon Him, we must learn to wait obediently. If we want to please our Heavenly Father, we must serve Him in the area that He has appointed us. We must do whatever we can do. The Bible says in Romans 12 and verse 7, or ministry, let us wait on our ministering, he that teacheth on teaching. What is he saying? He is saying here when the word wait is used, We're to be diligent in doing whatever God has called us to do. It doesn't matter if you're a minister. It doesn't matter if you're a businessman. It doesn't matter if you're a doctor. It doesn't matter whatever you are. If you're waiting upon Him, you have to give diligence and work and effort and activity in being obedient. We may be waiting upon the Lord for wisdom or discernment or direction. And we may be waiting for a very complicated or complex problem. But we know this. Whatever it is, we have to be obedient while we wait. You know what the Bible says in James 4 verse 17? Listen carefully. Therefore to him that doeth it good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. If you know what you're supposed to do and you don't do it, to you it's sin. We may not know everything about what we're supposed to do, but I'll guarantee you a lot of us know a lot of things that we're supposed to be doing. So if we don't obey in the areas that we do know, to us it is sin. David said, as a servant looketh unto his master. and as the eyes of a maiden to her mistress. So our eyes wait upon Thee. Our eyes should be fixed upon the Lord in the sense that we're waiting upon Him. And as we wait, we're being obedient in every area of our lives. Let me give you a quote by Matthew Henry, the great commentator. He said, the eyes of a servant must And here are five things. The eyes of a servant must, number one, look to his master's directing hand, expecting him that he will appoint him his work and cut it out for him and show him how he must do it. Lord, what will thou have me to do? Number two, Must look to his supplying hand. Servants look to their masters or to their mistress for their portion of meat in due season. And to God we must look for our daily bread for grace sufficient from him and we must receive it thankfully. Number three, we must look to his assisting hand. If the servant cannot do his work himself, where must he look for help but to his master? And in the strength of the Lord, we must go forth and go on. Fourth, we must look to his protecting hand. If the servant meets with opposition in his work, if he be questioned for what he does, if he be wronged and injured, who should bear him out and right him but his master that set him on the work? The people of God, when they are persecuted, may appeal to their master, We are thine, O Lord, save us. And fifthly, we must look to his correcting hand. If the servant hath provoked his master to beat him, he does not call for help against his master, but looks at the hand that strikes him till it say, It is enough, I will not contend forever. So Matthew Henry says we must look to our Lord in all of these things. Now, let me make just a couple of applications. What is waiting upon the Lord? How do we do it? We must learn to wait dependently, expectantly, lovingly, all. And may I point out the fact, and I trust that you will remember this too, it's not just patiently, but obediently. We cannot expect the blessings of the Lord if we're disobedient unto Him. We must understand that biblical waiting upon the Lord is not useless, idle, inactivity. No one waits upon the Lord but those who love Him and trust Him. And those who will wait upon the Lord are those who have some understanding of the relationship between a servant and his master, because we learn to look to him. Secondly, we must learn to lift up our eyes unto the Lord. We must learn to watch as well as wait. We must learn that every blessing that God has promised is in reality to those who wait upon Him, those who love Him and trust Him. In Isaiah 40, verse 31 again, 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. They shall walk and not faint. You know, many of you have seen eagles soar. Eagles fly higher than probably any other bird. And it's amazing how effortlessly they soar in those airstreams. You remember how Elijah ran and outran a chariot? Hmm. He surely did with the hand of the Lord upon him. So He says, they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as an eagle. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. If we really and truly want the blessings of God in our lives, we need to learn to wait upon the Lord. He is the Master. He is King of Kings and God of Gods and Lord of Lords. And we should bow before Him and say, Here I am. Teach me. Build me up in the most holy faith. Make me obedient. Make me holy. Make me godly. Let's pray. Father, we're so thankful today for Jesus Christ. We're thankful for Thy so great salvation. We're thankful, Lord, that we can, by Your grace and by Your mercy, wait upon You. And we never, ever wait in vain. Thou art the one true and the living God. Give us grace, give us repentance, give us faith that we may serve Thee. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray. Amen. This program was produced by Dominion Ministry. For more information about Pastor Weaver's sermons, You may contact Dominion Ministry by mail at 7400 Abercorn, that's A-B-E-R-C-O-R-N Street, Suite 705, P-M-B 175, Sylvana, Georgia, 31406. Or give us a call at 912-925-7000. You can also visit our website at www.dominionministry.com