For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him. (64:4).

As you read those words, did your heart leap? Did you have to stop to catch your breath thinking about God Acting In Our Behalf, thinking how Almighty God is moved to intervene with His support and care?

And did your heart’s desires swell, yearning to be that one? That one He moves for, He Acts for. And then maybe, like me, did you stop and wonder, what does it really mean to Wait for Him; and am I really doing it?

As Isaiah proceeds down memory lane, it becomes clear that none were waiting, at least not for Him.

You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness,
Who remembers You in Your ways.
Behold, You were angry, for we sinned,
We continued in them a long time;
And shall we be saved?
⁶ For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us wither like a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
⁷ There is no one who calls on Your name,
Who arouses himself to take hold of You;
For You have hidden Your face from us
And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities, (64:5-7).

And as though coming out of a coma, there is consciousness of Truth, a realization that their rush to pursue the gods of the pagans effected no help, no hope, no arbitration, no deliverance.

And as they recognized how far they had fallen and that it was their sin that had brought on His discipline, did they finally grasp the astounding benefits in being the people set apart unto the God of all creation, the matchless, incomparable God, the Only True God, the One Who is majestic in power? And did they finally understand that it was their sin that had withdrawn His protection?

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short
That it cannot save;
Nor is His ear so dull
That it cannot hear.
² But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear, (Isaiah 59:1-2).

Today, we must consider Him with our response in mind. It is the goal of The Planting Pace to consider some wonderful truth about Him each day, and after doing so, to respond to Him in light of that truth, trusting that He will strengthen and grow us through His Word. But today, our response must also be a part of our considering Him. For while He is sovereign and unchanging, He does choose to respond based on our response to Him. And today He tells us that He Acts In Our Behalf as We Wait for Him.

Consider Him Who Acts In Our Behalf as We Wait for Him

Wait: “2442. חָכָה ḥāḵāh: A verb indicating to wait, to tarry. It indicates delaying an action… It refers to longing or hoping for something to happen… But it means to wait in order to accomplish one’s purpose…” Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance

Waiting for Him is a call to believe He is good and to trust that He alone brings all we need. Waiting for Him means we don’t move ahead of Him but we look in eager anticipation for what He alone can do. Waiting for Him means we make our whole purpose in life to live for Him by faith.

For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him. (64:4).

And as We Wait for Him, He Acts in Our Behalf…

• … to send us His salvation
  • “My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,
    And My arms will judge the peoples;
    The coastlands will wait for Me,
    And for My arm they will wait expectantly,” (Isaiah 51:5).
• … to bestow on us the joy of His salvation
  • And it will be said in that day,
    “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.
    This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
    Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation,” (Isaiah 25:9).
• … to be gracious and merciful to us
  • 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, (Isaiah 30:18 NKJV).
• … to give us strength and perseverance
  • Yet those who wait for the Lord
    Will gain new strength;
    They will mount up with wings like eagles,
    They will run and not get tired,
    They will walk and not become weary, (Isaiah 40:31).
• … to grant us confidence and honor through knowing Him
  • “…And you will know that I am the Lord;
    Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame,” (Isaiah 49:23).
• … to teach us and lead us in His truth
  • Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
    For You are the God of my salvation;
    For You I wait all the day, (Psalm 25:5).
• … to be our help and shield
  • Our soul waits for the Lord;
    He is our help and our shield, (Psalm 33:20).
• … to exalt us in our inheritance
  • Wait for the Lord and keep His way,
    And He will exalt you to inherit the land;
    When the wicked are cut off, you will see it, (Psalm 37:34).
• … to incline towards us, to hear us, and deliver us
  • I waited patiently for the Lord;
    And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
    ² He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
    And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm, (Psalm 40:1).
• … to establish us in His lovingkindness
  • But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
    I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.
    ⁹ I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it,
    And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones, (Psalm 52:8-9).
• … to secure us in Him as our sure stronghold
  • My soul waits in silence for God only;
    From Him is my salvation.
    ² He only is my rock and my salvation,
    My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken, (Psalm 62:1).
• … to avenge the evil against us
  • Do not say, “I will repay evil”;
    Wait for the Lord, and He will save you, (Proverbs 20:22).
• … to be good to us
  • The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
    To the person who seeks Him.
    ²⁶ It is good that he waits silently
    For the salvation of the Lord, (Lamentations 3:25-26).
• … to be our light
  • But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord;
    I will wait for the God of my salvation.
    My God will hear me.
    ⁸ Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy.
    Though I fall I will rise;
    Though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me, (Micah 7:7-8).

How do we respond to Him Who Acts In Our Behalf as We Wait for Him?

He does not tell us that He Acts In Behalf of those who go to church, who get baptized, who read their Bibles, who serve on committees. Now all of these are good, but only as they are a part of Our Waiting, for Our Waiting is always a matter of the heart and a matter of faith.

As we Wait for Him, as we believe He is good, as we trust that He alone brings all we need, as we don’t move ahead of Him but we look in eager anticipation for what He alone can do, as we make our whole purpose in life to live for Him by faith and not by sight, we can trust Him to Act In Our Behalf.

for we walk by faith, not by sight, (2 Corinthians 5:7).

And in the Waiting, we find joy in obedience and doing righteousness.

You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness,
Who remembers You in Your ways… (64:5).

And in the waiting, we remember His ways. We remember that He is accomplishing His purpose as our Potter Who shapes and conforms us into the image of His Son.

But now, O Lord, You are our Father,
We are the clay, and You our potter;
And all of us are the work of Your hand.
⁹ Do not be angry beyond measure, O Lord,
Nor remember iniquity forever;
Behold, look now, all of us are Your people, (64:8-9).

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; ³⁰ and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified, (Romans 8:28-30).

Oh, let us never give up Waiting, even when we can’t seem to see Him. Let us eagerly look for Him in faith, assured that He Acts In Our Behalf as We Wait for Him.

And I will wait for the Lord who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him, (Isaiah 8:17).

And let us never give into despair, that we would find our strength and hope in believing we will see His goodness. Let us choose to Wait for Him, every day; for as We Wait for Him, our faith will be strengthened to believe and trust Him Who Acts In Our Behalf.

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
¹⁴ Wait for the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord, (Psalm 27:13-14).

Let’s Grow Together!