“From of old, no one has heard or perceived by the ear. No eye has seen a God besides you who acts for those who wait for Him.”
– Isaiah 64:4
Wow. What a verse of encouragement. What a confession of faith for those who find themselves waiting on God. I don’t know, obviously, what’s going on in your life right now, but I’m guessing many people who are listening to this right now are waiting for God in some way, waiting for God to provide in this way or that way, waiting for this or that situation to resolve. I know that’s true in my own life, in my own family. Without going into details here, I feel like the last couple of years and recent months have involved so much waiting, and I’ve actually grown to love the way God’s word talks about waiting.
Isaiah 64:4 Encourages Us to Rest Trustfully in God
So one Bible scholar described how this word in the original language of the Old Testament, in the Hebrew, could be translated to rest trustfully in God that this is what it means to wait on God, to wait for God. It means to rest trustfully in God, in his goodness, in his wisdom, in His love, in his sovereignty, in his power. When we are waiting, we long for this or that to happen, for God to move in this or that way. And it is good to know that we can rest trustfully in the goodness of God, in the wisdom of God. He sees things, knows things we don’t know. He loves us. We can trust in his love. We can trust in His purpose, that he’s promised to work all these things together for the good of those who love him and who wait on him.
That’s the whole picture here in Isaiah 64:4. If no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you who acts for those who wait for Him? So for all who find ourselves waiting now or in the future, let’s pray together. God, we wait on you. We rest trustfully in your goodness, that everything you do is good and right. That it is your nature to only do that which is good and righteous and wise. We praise you for your wisdom. We trust your wisdom.
This Verse Calls Us to Trust the Love of God
That you see things and know things we don’t know. We trust your love. Lord, we trust that you’re our good father and you give good gifts to those who ask you. We trust your sovereignty and your power. That you are not limited in your ability to bring about good. We trust in your purposes. That you will bring about good for all those who look to you and trust in you and wait on you.
So we say in faith today, we wait on you. We praise you as the God who acts for those who wait for you. We pray for everything we need in the waiting. I pray this for my own life and family. I pray this over every single person who’s listening to this right now, based on Isaiah 64:4, God, that you would give patience, strength, joy, hope, perseverance, everything we need in the waiting, and that you would do what you have promised to do. That you would work all this together for good. That you would work all of this together for your glory. And so we wait on you, oh God, even as we praise you as the one who acts for those who wait for you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
