A call to trust in God’s timing
Isaiah 30:18
Therefore the LORD will wait,
that He may be gracious to you;
and therefore He will be exalted,
that He may have mercy on you.
For the LORD is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for Him.
Therefore the LORD will wait,
that He may be gracious to you;
and therefore He will be exalted,
that He may have mercy on you.
For the LORD is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for Him.
a. Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you: We often wonder why the LORD waits to do things in our lives. Isaiah tells us plainly that it is so He may be gracious to you. Whenever the LORD waits or seems to delay, it always has a loving purpose behind it. We can trust that even when we don’t understand it.
b. And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on us: When God has mercy on us, it exalts Him. Mercy does nothing to exalt the person who receives it; mercy recognizes the guilt of the one who deserves the punishment. But mercy exalts the goodness of the person who gives it. It shows them to be loving, generous, and full of mercy.
c. For the LORD is a God of justice: On the surface, mercy and justice seem to oppose each other. If a guilty criminal stands before the judge, he has the choice to show eithermercy or justice. But God is so great, He can show both at the same time. Because on the cross, Jesus took the punishment we deserve, God’s justice is satisfied. At the same time, He shows mercy by extending the work of Jesus to us as payment for our sins. Only God can reconcile mercy and justice, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:26).
d. Blessed are all those who wait for Him: Because God is so great, there is a built-in blessing for those who wait for Him. Isaiah doesn’t mean wait just in the sense of passing time, but in the sense of patiently waiting for and trusting God’s promise.
i. “Certain of God’s people are in trouble and distress, and they are eager for immediate rescue. They cannot wait God’s time, nor exercise submission to his will. He will surely deliver them in due season; but they cannot tarry till the hour cometh; like children, they snatch at unripe fruit. ‘To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven’; but their one season is the present; they cannot, they will not wait. They must have their desire instantaneously fulfilled, or else they are ready to take wrong means of attaining it. If in poverty, they are in haste to be rich; and they shall not long be innocent. If under reproach, their heart ferments towards revenge. They would sooner rush under the guidance of Satan into some questionable policy, than in childlike simplicity trust in the Lord and do good. It must not be so with you, my brethren, you must learn a better way.” (Spurgeon)
Commentaries by Guzik
b. And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on us: When God has mercy on us, it exalts Him. Mercy does nothing to exalt the person who receives it; mercy recognizes the guilt of the one who deserves the punishment. But mercy exalts the goodness of the person who gives it. It shows them to be loving, generous, and full of mercy.
c. For the LORD is a God of justice: On the surface, mercy and justice seem to oppose each other. If a guilty criminal stands before the judge, he has the choice to show eithermercy or justice. But God is so great, He can show both at the same time. Because on the cross, Jesus took the punishment we deserve, God’s justice is satisfied. At the same time, He shows mercy by extending the work of Jesus to us as payment for our sins. Only God can reconcile mercy and justice, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:26).
d. Blessed are all those who wait for Him: Because God is so great, there is a built-in blessing for those who wait for Him. Isaiah doesn’t mean wait just in the sense of passing time, but in the sense of patiently waiting for and trusting God’s promise.
i. “Certain of God’s people are in trouble and distress, and they are eager for immediate rescue. They cannot wait God’s time, nor exercise submission to his will. He will surely deliver them in due season; but they cannot tarry till the hour cometh; like children, they snatch at unripe fruit. ‘To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven’; but their one season is the present; they cannot, they will not wait. They must have their desire instantaneously fulfilled, or else they are ready to take wrong means of attaining it. If in poverty, they are in haste to be rich; and they shall not long be innocent. If under reproach, their heart ferments towards revenge. They would sooner rush under the guidance of Satan into some questionable policy, than in childlike simplicity trust in the Lord and do good. It must not be so with you, my brethren, you must learn a better way.” (Spurgeon)
Commentaries by Guzik
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