Hovering over a verse in Isaiah this morning. More so, hovering over a particular word. An action word, a verb. A verb twice used. First about something that God is doing, then about something His people should be doing. And as I chew on it, it seems to me it’s a waiting game.

Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.

(Isaiah 30:18 ESV)

Context? Assyria is threatening and the people of God are calculating. Assyria is laying siege and about to strike, and God’s people are eyeing Egypt for safety (Isa. 30:1-2). “Don’t do it,” says the LORD through His prophet, “Don’t go there.” Salvation won’t be found in running to and realigning with Egypt, instead it will be realized in returning and resting in Me (Isa. 30:15).

How come? Because the LORD waits. So, wait for Him.

Seems like there’s a number of Hebrew words that are translated as “wait” in the Old Testament. The word used here has the sense of waiting as in tarrying, but it also has the sense of longing for, so much so that there’s a sense of lying in wait in order to ambush. So, God is longing to pounce with grace. And God’s people should be waiting to spring up and ambush grace in return. The LORD waits to be gracious . . . wait for Him.

Okay, think about it . . .

The LORD is longing to be gracious; He wants to rise up and show mercy. So what conditions are necessary for “unmerited favor” to spring forth? Unmeritting (not a word) behavior? I’m thinkin’. What’s needed for compassionate forgiveness to pounce? Transgressions needing compassion and forgiveness? Yup, thinkin’ that too. So, is the LORD waiting, tarrying, and longing for us to get our act together? I don’t think so.

Sure, His desire is that we be conformed to the image of His Son, and that works been started (Rom. 8:29). He has determined a day when the bride is presented to His Son “in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:27). But today isn’t that day. Today is the day of jars of clay figuring out how “to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2Cor. 4:7). Today’s the day of God patiently, yet anticipatorily (yeah, that’s a word) tarrying to be gracious. Today’s the day of God longing to show mercy. Because of the finished work on the cross of Christ, today’s the day when, where sin is still way too present, His limitless grace is waiting in ambush (Rom. 5:20b). The LORD waits . . .

So, what are we to do? Well, it’s a waiting game. Wait for Him . . .

Rather than longing and tarrying in readiness to ambush grace, we are going to be tempted to run to Egypt. Could be the Egypt of denial (not of de Nile). The pagan world that tells us what’s been done isn’t so bad, that being who we are is really what matters. Don’t go there.

Or we might want to find refuge in the Egypt of just trying harder and working at it more. The Egypt of slavery to self-righteousness which, it turns out, isn’t righteous enough. The religious world that tells us that it’s in getting our act together where we find the grace of God. That doesn’t make sense, does it? Paul makes it clear, “It is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace” (Rom. 11:6). Don’t go there either. Stay away from Egypt. Wait for Him . . .

I’m not waking up every morning planning on how to mess up. Not seeking out weakness and failure. Not inviting guilt and shame. But somehow, every day I seem to put on Nikes and I Just Do It. And the LORD’s waiting to be gracious, longing to show mercy. For the sake of His steadfast love towards those He has brought into covenant relationship and for the glory of His name, He waits.

Thus, I want to wake up every morning ready to ambush the grace of God that awaits. In those skirmishes with the old nature where victory in Jesus is not quite realized, I’m longingly waiting on the grace of Jesus. Ready to tread again that well-known and well-worn path to the foot of the cross where the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin (1John 1:7), and where triumphant power rests on thorn-infested weakness (2Cor. 12:7-9).

I’m waiting, with longing, for grace. He’s waiting, with longing, with grace. We are both, with longing, waiting.

Like I said, it’s a waiting game. Isn’t it? I’m thinkin’ . . .

Only by His grace. Always for His glory.

Amen?