Waiting on the Lord
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Our scripture reading this morning is Joshua 7: 1-12; 19-26. READ. PRAY.
As the Israelites under Joshua were receiving the good land in accordance with the promises of the Lord (1:1-9) they naturally met great resistance from the Canaanites. As they prepared to go into battle against Jericho God, through Joshua, had commanded them to take none of the items of the conquered peoples, rather they were to “go into the treasury of the Lord” (6:18-19). Achan took some of the devoted things and the “anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel” (7:1). As a result of the Lord’s anger they were defeated by the inhabitants of Ai. The reason for their defeat was revealed to Joshua (vss. 10-12). Achan was discovered; both he and his family were stoned to death and their bodies burned.
There are some lessons from the Lord to be learned from this account but before we can learn them we may need to get over an apparent injustice. I have read through the entire Bible numerous times and whenever I have read this chapter I felt it was not right that Achan should be killed. Worse, I felt terribly for his family, being put to death for the father’s sin.
This simply shows that we all need to stop relying on our feelings and, rather, base our assessments on knowledge and God’s revealed word. Things are not always as they seem in the Scripture if all you do is a cursory reading. If we are faithful to look into this matter carefully, we will discover that the actions of the community were fitting in light of all the facts.
- First, Achan’s theft was in direct disobedience to the word of the Lord.
- Second, it reflected putting himself in preeminence over God since the articles that he stole were to go into the treasury of the Lord.
- Third, his sin not only affected him and his family but the entire people of Israel and jeopardized their mission. There is corporate culpability to sin in reality, contrary to Western notions of solely individual accountability.
- Fourth, neither Achan nor his family repented (opposite to a cursory reading of his confession).
- Fifth, his family was certainly aware of what he had done (he hid the items in the earth in the family tent).
- Sixth, we must not confuse temporal punishment with eternal punishment. This capital punishment, as awful as it indeed is, should not be understood as demonstrative of eternal death to follow. Achan and his family were members of God’s covenant community and the Lord has much to say about his relationship with those in that community (Exodus 34:6-7; Psalm 57:10; Daniel 9:9).
- Last, the primary reason for the severe punishment should be understood as an example for the whole community so that they would not also disobey the Lord whose laws are good, just, beneficial, and perfect.
The last point is one of the main points in the passage. Sin has terrible consequences. This is a theme that appears with great frequency in Scripture. It must appear with great frequency because we are slow to learn. If we could only learn that sin has terrible consequences, even in this life, taking it to heart, then we would not need to learn it by the consequences of sin in our own lives.
But how do we most often learn this lesson? By sinning ourselves and then seeing what happens. That is why it is so important to read and meditate upon Scripture. It will save you much heartache.
The second point is the one I wish us to pay attention to this morning. To see this point we need to read two more verses. READ 8:1-2.
In some ways, is this rather not amazing? Attacking Jericho, the Lord had commanded that no articles be taken. Here, preparing to move against Ai, the Lord permits them to plunder the spoils of war. If Achan had only waited he would have received what he desired. Why did the Lord first command them not to take any, then he allowed them to take the spoils? He was teaching them to put God first above all but, especially, above oneself.
He was teaching them to put God first above all but, especially, above oneself.
If Achan had simply waited on the Lord he would have spared himself the terror he most certainly felt as they were discovering who the guilty party was: tribe by tribe, then clan by clan, then family by family. He would have spared himself the humiliation of confessing his sin before the whole congregation of Israel. He would have saved himself from being stoned to death. That has to be one of the more severe forms of capital punishment. He would have spared the life of his family. Not waiting on the Lord has consequences. That is a negative reason for waiting on the Lord. But there are positive reasons, as well.
[I] We should wait upon the Lord because he knows the future. We do not know what will happen in the next five minutes, let alone tomorrow, next week, or next year. But God does.
“for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
10 declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ (Isaiah 46:10)
It is not just that God knows what he is going to do in the future but he knows what people will do, even what they think. David wrote in Psalm 139:4 –
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
The Lord knows the thoughts of men before they speak. He knows their actions. He knows the results of their actions. And he knows what he will do in response to the actions of men. Simply put, God knows the future.
But what if God, knowing the future, wasn’t that interested in you? What if he did not care that much about what happens to you? Well, then his knowing the future would make very little difference with respect to waiting on the Lord’s timing to do things. This leads us to the second reason why we should wait upon the Lord.
[II] We should wait upon the Lord because he desires what is best for us. It is really these two reasons together that make it so eminently reasonable to wait upon the Lord. He both knows the future and he desires what is best for us.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. (Psalm 86:5)
His love for you is both steadfast and it is abounding. Because he loves you he desires what his best for you. So, David could also write under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly. (Psalm 84:11)
You see, waiting on the Lord is you withholding something from yourself that you deem good. And that thing that you desire is probably good…in its time. When the time is right, because the Lord both knows the future and loves you, he will grant that good thing. He bestows favor and honor! Amen! That is who he is!
[Illus] A grandfather found his grandson, jumping up and down in his playpen, crying at the top of his voice. When Johnnie saw his grandfather, he reached up his little chubby hands and said, “Out, Gramp, out.” It was only natural for Grandfather to reach down to lift the little fellow out of his predicament; but as he did, the mother of the child stepped up and said, “No, Johnnie, you are being punished, so you must stay in.” The grandfather was at a loss to know what to do. The child’s tears and chubby hands reached deep into his heart, but the mother’s firmness in correcting her son for misbehavior must not be lightly taken. Here was a problem of love versus law, but love found a way. The grandfather could not take the youngster out of the playpen, so he crawled in with him. God did not spare Paul and Silas the suffering and imprisonment, but He did come down into the prison with them. God did not keep the three Hebrew children out of the fiery furnace, but He went into the furnace with them.
[III] We should wait upon the Lord because it demonstrates our trust in Him.
There are some things that please our God above other things. What pleases him greatly is when we trust him. It is easy to trust the Lord when things are going well. When circumstances arise that we do not like or that are trying, that is when trusting him matters most. Will you trust him in the hard times?
Withholding from yourself those things that you desire is a kind of a trial. It is a test whether or not you trust him.
This matter of waiting on the Lord is not only a test but it is a good test. In other words, it accurately reflects how much we trust him. Consider, most of us do not have a problem believing that God knows the future. We sometimes think that God is not for us. We will always affirm that with our mouths because it is too clear of a doctrine in the scriptures to deny. But do we really believe it? Do we believe it in the depths of our heart?
If doubt enters, and it may, that is the time to exercise your will and to decide to trust him. Our souls are constituted with our mind, our emotion, and our will. The way the inner working of our souls sometimes work is that our emotions are affected by something first. Then our mind begins to formulate thoughts to satisfy our emotions – either to quell them or increase them. If that process is leading you away from the will of God it is time to exercise your will to put stop to it. I am not speaking of raw will power. I mean you must call upon the Lord first then exercise a Spirit-empowered will to trust him.
If we wait upon the Lord, even against our desires, it is a demonstration of our trust in his goodness towards us. By waiting we are saying, “I trust that the Lord will provide this thing in his time if it for my good.”
We should wait upon the Lord because it demonstrates our trust in him. And that pleases him.
[IV] How do we determine whether we should wait on the Lord in a certain proposed course of action?
First, is it in accordance with God’s revealed will? Yet, how will we know what God’s revealed will is unless we are familiar with it. Many Christians have been led into deception simply because they did not know the scriptures, which are God’s revealed will. Look, consider , and meditate upon the word of God in order to determine whether your action is in accordance with it.
Second, is it expedient? Put another way, does it promote the will of God? There are some things that are permitted but which do not advance anything.
Perhaps the most important question I must ask is: is love served? In more practical terms, who will benefit from what I am about to do besides me? If the answer is “no one” this does not necessarily exclude the action (as if we can never do anything just for ourself), but it should give me pause and reconsideration. If we are honest, most of us do things for ourselves often enough already.
Finally, are the resources available to obtain what you wish? Many of us have a track record of getting things through borrowing. The Lord is sovereign which means he controls all things, including our finances. I suspect that he directs through the availability of funds and the lack thereof more often than we wish to admit. If the funds are not available then we may wish to consider deterring our efforts to obtain what we wish until they are available.
Conclusion: We should wait upon the Lord because he knows the future.
We should wait upon the Lord because he desires what is best for us.
We should wait upon the Lord because it demonstrates our trust in Him.
When we wait upon Him, when we wait for his timing, we will avoid heartache and find that we will receive our desire at a better time, the right time.
This matter of waiting applies to any wholesome desire that we may have. But it is very applicable to our seeking of the Spirit in our lives. We learned last week that we ought to persistently, even with shameless boldness (Luke 11:8; CSB), ask for the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, for those who wish for more gladness, more contentment, and the boldness to speak the truth, seek and ask to be endowed with a greater supply of the precious Spirit. That is, keep seeking, keep on asking, keep on knocking.
When I have an important request of the Lord, I will sometimes pray many times a day about it. I will literally start knocking on something and say “Lord, I’m knocking on the door to the throne room of your grace. I am bothering you because I need this answer.” If I’m driving in my car I’ll knock on the steering wheel. If I’m at home I’ll knock on a table or nightstand, letting the Lord know I am like that neighbor in Luke 11.
Don’t expect an immediate answer (sometimes the Lord answers immediately, but often not). Remember Achan. If he had waited he would have received what he desired.
Wait upon the Lord for your own desires (Psalm 37:4-5). Also, wait upon the Lord for the wonder of the Spirit in your life.
