It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
It is good for a person to hope and quietly wait with patient, hopeful trust for the Lord's deliverance and salvation, even in tribulation and sorrow. Jeremiah spoke this in triumph after recalling God's providences in his behalf, when in misery he was tempted to say his strength and hope had perished from the Lord. The quiet waiting the verse calls good belongs to those who take the Lord as their portion and seek Him, because the Lord is good to the soul that waits for Him. The Lord who is waited for is good and compassionate and full of tender compassion and does all things well, revealing Himself even in the night season to encourage trust.
Delay in answering prayer, especially prayer for healing, is for good because God by it tests whether faith is sincere or changeable, so wanting an immediate answer and becoming discouraged by delay is a great mistake. The duty is to remain tied to the altar by the cords of faith and hope and let patience finish its work, since faith is strengthened through exercise. Even when everything seems to be in confusion, it is good to wait because Jesus stands at the helm and has not left guidance to other hands and minds. This means trusting everything to Jesus, being firm in purpose to wait on the Lord and casting the burden on Him through annoyances and trials, and speaking no inconsiderate words because Jesus hears every word. For workers for God the verse means being of good courage and waiting on the Lord instead of hurrying through prayer and working all day and far into the night. By stopping, resting, dwelling together with Christ in heavenly places in companionship with Him, and giving time to thought, prayer, and waiting, the heart is strengthened and spiritual and physical strength are renewed, so the weary and heavily laden receive rest.
In long painful affliction and helplessness the verse means presenting the case to the Lord every day and believing help will come, refusing to murmur or complain, continuing to pray and believe and be cheerful even when it requires strong self-control. It means depending on the grace of God alone, remaining thankful for what can still be read and written when sewing and knitting and kneeling and standing are impossible, asking to be saved from greater suffering, and using much time for reflection while waiting for deliverance. In affliction when human help fails and the outcome is uncertain, waiting in patient trust in His love brings peace and calls for praise for His goodness and mercy in the heart and on the lips. It is good to trust and wait when left to be tempted and tried in days of trial and peculiar temptation, when weak, helpless, and worthless, with tired mind and tired body, without power to labor or to think, with failing memory, too weak even to exercise faith, and when darkness and uncertainty close about like a garment, because that very darkness may be God's means of communicating light.
It is good for a person to hope and quietly wait with patient, hopeful trust for the Lord's deliverance and salvation, even in tribulation and sorrow. Jeremiah spoke this in triumph after recalling God's providences in his behalf, when in misery he was tempted to say his strength and hope had perished from the Lord. The quiet waiting the verse calls good belongs to those who take the Lord as their portion and seek Him, because the Lord is good to the soul that waits for Him. The Lord who is waited for is good and compassionate and full of tender compassion and does all things well, revealing Himself even in the night season to encourage trust.
Delay in answering prayer, especially prayer for healing, is for good because God by it tests whether faith is sincere or changeable, so wanting an immediate answer and becoming discouraged by delay is a great mistake. The duty is to remain tied to the altar by the cords of faith and hope and let patience finish its work, since faith is strengthened through exercise. Even when everything seems to be in confusion, it is good to wait because Jesus stands at the helm and has not left guidance to other hands and minds. This means trusting everything to Jesus, being firm in purpose to wait on the Lord and casting the burden on Him through annoyances and trials, and speaking no inconsiderate words because Jesus hears every word. For workers for God the verse means being of good courage and waiting on the Lord instead of hurrying through prayer and working all day and far into the night. By stopping, resting, dwelling together with Christ in heavenly places in companionship with Him, and giving time to thought, prayer, and waiting, the heart is strengthened and spiritual and physical strength are renewed, so the weary and heavily laden receive rest.
In long painful affliction and helplessness the verse means presenting the case to the Lord every day and believing help will come, refusing to murmur or complain, continuing to pray and believe and be cheerful even when it requires strong self-control. It means depending on the grace of God alone, remaining thankful for what can still be read and written when sewing and knitting and kneeling and standing are impossible, asking to be saved from greater suffering, and using much time for reflection while waiting for deliverance. In affliction when human help fails and the outcome is uncertain, waiting in patient trust in His love brings peace and calls for praise for His goodness and mercy in the heart and on the lips. It is good to trust and wait when left to be tempted and tried in days of trial and peculiar temptation, when weak, helpless, and worthless, with tired mind and tired body, without power to labor or to think, with failing memory, too weak even to exercise faith, and when darkness and uncertainty close about like a garment, because that very darkness may be God's means of communicating light.