Waiting

Waiting is something we all have to do. We wait in grocery store lines, at stoplights, and at restaurants. We wait for the "next available phone representative," for lunch, for spring, for the weekend, for vacation, for the sun to come out, for a package to come, for a class to end, for water to boil, for a garden to grow and for _________________ (you fill in the blank). Sometimes we don't know what we are waiting for, but sense that something new is around the bend. Waiting patiently is a challenge.

Waiting is an important concept in the Bible; it is strewn throughout. I have collected here many verses regarding waiting on the Lord. They are here so I can read through and meditate on them. Maybe afterwards I'll write some of my thoughts on waiting.

Genesis 49:18 ESV

I wait for your salvation, O LORD

Exodus 24:12 ESV

The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction."

Numbers 9:8 ESV

And Moses said to them, "Wait, that I may hear what the LORD will command concerning you."

Psalms 25:3,5 ESV
Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. . . Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

Psalms 31:24 ESV

Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD!

Psalms 38:15 ESV

But for you, O LORD, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.

Psalms 130:6 ESV

my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

Isaiah 25:9 ESV

It will be said on that day, "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation."

Isaiah 26:8 ESV

In the path of your judgments, O LORD, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul.

Isaiah 40:31 ESV

but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Lamentations 3:25-26 ESV

The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

Micah 7:7 ESV

But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.

Hosea 12:6 ESV

"So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God."

Habakkuk 2:3 ESV

For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end--it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.

Luke 2:25 ESV

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

Romans 8:23 ESV

And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Hebrews 9:28 ESV

so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

James 5:7 ESV

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.

2 Peter 3:13 ESV

But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Jude 1:21 ESV

keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.