"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." Psalm 27:14
We, as student-patients of the living God's voice, have one assignment, and that is to wait on His voice.
What kind of "waiting" are we talking about?
Is this "waiting" the kind of waiting we do when in a line at a bank, or when waiting in line for food?
In this kind of waiting, we patiently stand in a line awaiting our turn to be served, and to help the time go by, we may lend our ear to conversations around us, we may take out our phone for amusement, or we may simply wander off in thought.
If the Bible is referencing this kind of lethargic waiting, then what are we waiting for?
Maybe we wait for some supernatural demonstration to confirm that God sees us.
Maybe we wait for some thing to occur in life to help us confirm some belief we have in God, to the end we may take courage in that belief, to never let it go.
If the Bible is counseling its student to simply stand idle, waiting for some thing to somehow occur for strengthening some ideal or image we have of God, then what good is His Bible and that Spirit forwarding it? Let us then (I say sarcastically) stand and wait for the revelation of our image of God to appear and confess to us a reason to believe on whatever we believe on.
But I should not think that the mind of the Bible would have its student inactive, and this I know because "the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed," 1 Samuel 2:3.
The "waiting" referenced by the living God is no inactive service, like as we wait for food to cook in an oven or in a microwave; this is contrary to His religious character.
The "waiting" spoken of should rather be thought of as a waiter waiting on a table.
Is a waiter lazy? Is a waitress inactive? Is a waiter idle? A waiter serves the individual they wait on, and when it comes to the living God's voice, we ought to also carry our conversation as the waiter, that is, "rightly dividing the word of truth," 2 Timothy 2:15.
There is no physical God to wait on; there is no natural man to worship; there is no literal temple to go in to; how then do we wait on the living God? Paul just told us, saying, "Rightly dividing the word of truth," 2 Timothy 2:15, which means, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God," 2 Timothy 2:15.
Our assignment is to match the same spiritual wisdom of the Bible's mind; nothing matters but that our conversation's face dawns the same face as the living God's religious character. Our conversation learns "the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding," Colossians 1:9, by waiting on His words, for by examining and proving His words, we wait on them. Herein is the reason why we are counseled, "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God," Romans 12:2.
Paul plainly tells us the definition of "waiting," and of what kind of waiting we are to do, that it is a type of waiting wherein the mind of our faith's confidence is transformed. This transformation is what is meant in the saying, "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart," Psalm 27:14.
By mentally and actively waiting on His words, our heart is to receive strength, making it well for us to know that "wisdom strengtheneth," Ecclesiastes 7:19. This is the logic behind "waiting" on His voice, even the hope of better comprehending His voice to capture wisdom to live by.
The living God's religious character is not inactive or without intelligence; an unintelligent and inactive religion is one that encourages the use of idols, doctrines, ceremonies, and religious laws to bless the conversation. But the living God's course of learning is higher than what we know and accept. There are therefore two types of "waiting" we may entertain: the first is found in meditating on His words to edify our faith's heart and mind; the second is on aimlessly resting on the philosophical opinion of religious speculation to satisfy the self-cultivated or inherited belief we have of God. To the one, we improve our faith's cognition by investigating and proving His voice; to the other we weaken our faith's cognition "through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men," Colossians 2:8; the course that we choose is ours to make.
But for us who actually care to have our heart lifted, refreshed, and edified on heavenly things, it is well for us to say, "I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways," Psalm 129:15.
We chase the living God's religion; not the religion of pastor so and so, of mother and father, or of self's spiritual ideal. We give our confidence to the Bible's wisdom not to compare it with what we believe, or to pick and choose what of it makes sense to what we believe, but to edify what we think we know, to the end we may have a sober spiritual understanding kindly directing who we are, and who we care to be. If we will open this book, and if we will bless the understanding of this book's wisdom, we ought to therefore exercise humility, willingly casting self into the dust that His words may regenerate it.
We have no physical realm or dimension to enter in to, therefore it takes very great humility to quiet the mind for actually acknowledging His words. In this age of self-gratification and misinformation, it is easy, because we do not quickly grasp Scripture's language, to lend our energy to the spiritual opinion of others, but this is not what the living God counsels us to do. Every individual conversation is to wait on His voice for a personal revelation of His face, and although we all think differently, and although we all possess our own essence of being, His face remains the same; there is no misinterpreting His voice if we are diligently and patiently examining His words.
Our realm and dimension for drawing nearer to His name is mental and spiritual; the only way to commune with this wisdom is through edifying the heart of our inward person. As we, according to how we are counseled by His wisdom, wait on His voice, we will receive knowledge of His will for our heart and mind, by an experimental faith, to chase the hope of His intention, strengthening who are for others who may not yet know who they are. And this is the blessing behind waiting on His voice, for we do not simply wait on His understanding for self's good, but it says, "Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification," Romans 15:2.
We therefore ought to wait on His voice, because wisdom is the end of His understanding's higher education, and wisdom is meant to be shared. We fail as human beings, and as stewards of the living God's religious character, because we have no benevolent wisdom revealing the living God's will and intention. But counsel is given to change how we operate: "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD," Psalm 27:14, we are instructed.
Let us then patiently wait on the revelation of the living God's new covenant science. We have breath in our lungs to improve our personal and devotional character, and to help us in this task, "we have received a commandment from the Father," 2 John 1:4. Therefore "be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves," James 1:22. "Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ," 1 Peter 1:13.