[Matthew Henry is greatly known for his magnificent commentary on the whole Bible.  He also wrote a book proposing A Method for Prayer, in between writing volumes of that commentary.  This series of articles is from that book.] A Study by Matthew Henry (1662-1714)   How to Spend Every Day with God, pt. 2   “…On Thee do I wait all the day.” (Psalm 25:5). Second.  It speaks a constant attendance upon him in a way of duty. And so we understand the day literally. It was David’s practice to wait upon God all the day:  it signifies both every day, and all the day long; it is the same with that command, “Be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.” (Prov. 23:17).  Doctrine:  It is not enough for us to begin every day with God, but on him we must wait every day, and all the day long. For the opening of this, I must show, (1.) What it is to wait upon God; and, (2.) That we must do this every day, and all the day long. For the First, Let us inquire, what it is to wait on God. You have heard how much it is our duty in the morning to speak to him in solemn prayer. But have we then done with him for all day? No: we must still be waiting on him, as one to whom we stand very nearly related, and very strongly obliged. To wait on God, is to live a life of desire towards him, delight in him, dependence on him, and devotedness to him. 1. It is to live a life of desire towards God; to wait on him as the beggar waits on his benefactor, with earnest desire to receive supplies from him; as the sick and sore in Bethesda’s pool waited for the stirring of the water, and attended in the porches with desire to be helped in and healed. When the prophet had said, “Lord, in the way of thy judgments we have waited for thee,” he explained himself thus in the next words, “The desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee; and with my soul have I desired thee” (Isa. 26:8-9). Our desire must be not only towards the good things that God gives, but towards God himself: his favour and love, the manifestation of his name to us, and the influences of his grace upon us. Then we wait on God, when our souls pant after him and his favour, when we thirst for God, for the living God. O that I may behold the beauty of the Lord! O that I may taste his goodness! O that I may bear his image, and be entirely conformed to his will! For there is none in heaven or earth that I can desire in comparison of him. O that I may know him more, and love him better, and be brought nearer to him, and made fitter for him. Thus, upon the wings of holy desire, should our souls be still soaring upwards towards God, still pressing forward, forward towards heaven. We must not only pray solemnly in the morning, but that desire, which is the life and soul of prayer, like the fire upon the altar, must be kept continually burning, ready for the sacrifices that are to be offered upon it. The bent and bias of the soul, in all its motions, must be towards God, the serving of him in all we do, and the enjoying of him in all we have. And this is principally intended in the commands given us to pray always, to pray without ceasing, to continue in prayer. Even when we are not making actual addresses to God, yet we must have habitual inclinations towards him; as a man in health, though he is not always eating, yet hath always a disposition in him towards the nourishment and delights of the body. Thus must we be always waiting on God, as our chief good, and moving towards him. 2. It is to live a life of delight in God, as the lover waits on his beloved. Desire is love in motion, as a bird upon the wing; delight is love at rest, as a bird upon the nest; now, though our desire must still be so towards God, as that we must be wishing for more of God, yet our delight must be so in God, as that we must never wish for more than God. Believing him to be a God all- sufficient, in him we must be entirely satisfied; let him be mine, and I have enough. Is it our delight to love God? Is it a pleasure to us to think that there is a God? That he is such a one as he has revealed himself to be? That he is our God by creation, to dispose of us as he pleaseth? Our God in covenant, to dispose of all for the best to us? This is waiting on our God, always looking up to him with pleasure. Something or other the soul has that it values itself by, something or other that it reposes itself in; and what is it? God or the world? What is it that we pride ourselves in? Which we make the matter of our boasting? It is the character of worldly people, that they boast themselves in the abundance of their riches (see Psalm 49:6), and of their own might, and the power of their own hands, which they think has gotten them this wealth. It is the character of godly people, that they boast all the day long, (see Psalm 44:8). To wait on God, is having our eye always upon him with a secret complacency, as men have on that which is their glory, and which they glory in. What is it that we please ourselves with, which we embrace with the greatest satisfaction, in the bosom of which we lay our heads, and in having which we hug ourselves, as having all we would have. The worldly man, when his barns are full of corn, saith, “Soul, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry”—the godly man can never say so until he finds his heart full of God, and Christ, and grace; and then, return unto thy rest, O my soul, here repose thyself. The gracious soul dwells in God, is at home in him, and there dwells at ease, is in him perpetually pleased; and whatever he meets with in the world to make him uneasy, he finds enough in God to balance it. 3. It is to live a life of dependence on God, as the child waits on his father whom he has confidence in, and on whom he casts all his care. To wait on God, is to expect all good to come to us from him, as the worker of all good for us, and in us, the giver of all good to us, and the protector of us from all evil. Thus David explains himself, “My soul, wait thou only upon God” (Ps. 42:5), and continue still to do so; “for my expectation is from him.” I look not to any other for the good I need; for I know that every creature is that to me, and no more, than he makes it to be, and from him every man’s judgment proceeds. Shall we lift up our eyes to the hills? Doth our help come from thence? Doth the dew that waters the valleys come no further than from the tops of the hills? Shall we go higher and lift up our eyes to the heavens, to the clouds? Can they of themselves give rain? No, if God hear not the heavens, they hear not the earth; we must therefore look above the hills, above the heavens; for all our help cometh from the Lord. It was the acknowledgment of a king, and no good one neither, if the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee, out of the barn-floor, or out of the wine-press. And our expectations from God, as far as they are guided by, and grounded upon, the word which he hath spoken, ought to be humbly confident, and with a full assurance of faith. We must know and be sure, that no word of God shall fall to the ground, that the expectation of the poor shall not perish. Worldly people say to their gold, thou art my hope, and to the fine gold, thou art my confidence; and the rich man’s wealth is his strong city; but God is the only refuge and portion of the godly man here in the land of the living; it is to him only that he saith, and he saith it with a holy boldness, thou art my hope and my confidence. The eyes of all things wait on him, for he is good to all; but the eyes of his saints especially, for he is in a peculiar manner good to Israel, good to them. They know his name, and therefore will trust and triumph in him, as those that know they shall not be made ashamed of their hope. 4. It is to live a life of devotedness to God, as the servant waits on his master, ready to observe his will, and to do his work, and in everything to consult his honour and interest. To wait on God, is entirely and unreservedly to refer ourselves to his wise and holy directions and disposals, and cheerfully to acquiesce in them, and comply with them. The servant that waits on his master chooseth not his own way, but follows his master step by step. Thus must we wait on God, as those that have no will of our own, but what is wholly resolved into his, and must therefore study to accommodate ourselves to his. It is the character of the redeemed of the Lord, that they follow the Lamb wheresoever he goes, with an implicit faith and obedience. As the eyes of a servant are to the hand of his master, and the eyes of a maiden to the hand of her mistress, so must our eyes wait on the Lord, to do what he appoints us, to take what he allots us. Father, thy will be done; Master, thy will be done.  The servant waits on his master, not only to do him service, but to do him honour; and thus must we wait on God, that we may be to him for a name and for a praise. His glory must be our ultimate end, to which we, and all we are, have, and can do, must be dedicated. We must wear his livery, attend in his courts, and follow his motions as his servants for this end, that he may in all things be glorified. To wait on God, is to make his will our rule. 1. To make the will of his precepts the rule of our practice, and to do every duty with an eye to that. We must wait on him to receive his commands, with a resolution to comply with them, how much soever they may contradict our corrupt inclinations or secular interests. We must wait on him, as the holy angels do, that always behold the face of their Father; as those that are at his beck, and are ready to go upon the least intimation of his will, though but by a wink of his eye, wherever he sends them. Thus must we do the will of God, as the angels do it that are in heaven, those ministers of his that do his pleasure, and are always about his throne in order to it; never out of the way. David here prays, that God would show him his way, and lead him, and teach him, and keep him, and forward him in the way of his duty; and so the text comes in as a plea to enforce that petition; “for on thee do I wait all the day,” ready to receive the law from thy mouth, and in everything to observe thine orders. And then it intimates this, that those, and those only, can expect to be taught of God, who are ready and willing to do as they are taught. If any man will do his will, be stedfastly resolved, in the strength of his grace, to comply with it, he shall know what his will is. David prays, “Lord, give me understanding;” and then promiseth himself, I shall keep thy law, yea, I shall observe it, as the servant that waits on his master (see Ps. 119:34). They that go up to the house of the Lord, with an expectation that he will teach them his ways, it must be with a humble resolution that they will walk in his paths (see Isa. 2:3). Lord, let the pillar of cloud and fire go before me; for I am determined, with full purpose of heart, to follow it, and thus to wait on my God all the day. 2. To make the will of his Providence the rule of our patience, and to bear every affliction with an eye to that. We are sure it is God that performeth all things for us; and he performeth the thing that is appointed for us; we are sure that all is well that God doth, and shall be made to work for good to all that love him; and in order to that, we ought to acquiesce in, and accommodate ourselves to, the whole will of God. To wait on the Lord, is to say, it is the Lord, let him do with me as seemeth good to him; because nothing seemeth good to him but what is really good; and so we shall see when God’s work appears in a full light. It is to say, “Not as I will, but as thou wilt;” for should it be according to my mind? It is to bring our mind to our condition in everything, so as to keep that calm and easy, whatever happens to make us uneasy. And we must therefore bear the affliction, whatever it is, because it is the will of God; it is what he has allotted us, who doth all according to the council of his own will. This is Christian patience: I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, not because it was to no purpose to complain, but because thou didst it, and therefore I had no reason to complain. And this will reconcile us to every affliction, one as well as another, because whatever it is, it is the will of God; and in compliance with that, we must not only be silent because of the sovereignty of his will, but we must be satisfied, because of the wisdom and goodness of it. Woe unto him that strives with his Maker. Whatever the disposals of God’s providence may be concerning those that wait on him, we may be sure, that as he doth them no wrong, so he means them no hurt: Nay, they may say as the Psalmist did, even then when he was plagued all the day long, and chastened every morning, however it be, yet God is good; and therefore, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him, yet will I wait on him. I might open this duty, of waiting on God, by other scripture expressions which speak the same thing, and are as this, comprehensive of a great part of that homage which we are bound to pay to him, and that communion which it is our interest to keep up with him. Truly thus our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. It is to set God always before us (see Psalm 16:8). To look upon him as one always near us, always at our right hand, and who has his eye upon us, wherever we are, and whatever we are doing; nay, as one in whom we live, and move, and have our being, with whom we have to do, and to whom we are accountable. This is pressed upon us as the great principle of gospel obedience; “walk before me, and be thou upright.” Herein consists that uprightness which is our evangelical perfection, in walking at all times as before God, and studying to approve ourselves to him. It is to have our eyes ever towards the Lord, as it follows here (see Psalm 25:15). Though we cannot see him by reason of our present distance and darkness, yet we must look towards him, towards the place where his honour dwells; as those that desire the knowledge of him and his will, and direct all to his honour as the mark we aim at, labouring in this, that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. To wait on him, is to follow him with our eye in all those things wherein he is pleased to manifest himself, and to admit the discoveries of his being and perfections. It is to acknowledge God in all our ways (see Prov. 3:6); in all the actions of life, and in all the affairs of life, we must walk in his hand, and set ourselves in the way of his steps. In all our undertakings we must wait upon him for direction and success, and by faith and prayer commit our way to him to undertake for us; and him we must take with us wherever we go: “If thy presence go not up with us, carry us not up hence.” In all our comforts we must see his hand giving them out to us; and in all our crosses we must see the same hand laying them upon us—that we may learn to receive both good and evil, and to bless the name of the Lord both when he gives and when he takes. It is to follow the Lord fully, as Caleb did (see Num. 14:24). It is to follow after the Lord, so the word is; to have respect to all his commandments, and to study to stand complete in his whole will. Wherever God leads us, and goes before us, we must be followers of him as dear children, must follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes, and take him for our guide whithersoever we go. This is to wait on God, and those that do so may cheerfully wait for him; for he will without fail appear in due time to their joy; and that word of Solomon shall be made good to them, “he that waits on his master shall be honoured” (Prov. 27:18), for Christ hath said, where I am, there shall also my servant be.  [This study will continue in the next issue, D. V.]  —————————————————————— This article is taken from:  Henry, Matthew.  A Method for Prayer. Glasgow: D. Mackenzie, 1834. (Originally published in 1710).  A PDF file of this book can be downloaded, free of charge, at: http://www.ClassicChristianLibrary.com