Waiting and looking.
"And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him." There is life in a look. It is so true that the eye is the window of the soul, even as speech is the door of the soul. "Look unto him, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth," teaches us how the whole nature of man can concentrate itself in a look.
I. DARK HOURS. The Lord "hides his face." This expression is used, because the face is the expression of character and feeling. It reveals our emotions of love and anger, of confidence and distrust. To hide it, is to turn away in disgust, in sorrow, in shame. God is ashamed of his people Israel, whom he had set apart for his glory. A hidden face is a terrible punishment. The child feels that, and longs for the returning smile of approval and love. How beautiful is the prayer, "God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us!"
II. DIVINE SUPPLICATION. "I will wait upon the Lord." Not with hurried petition does the prophet come, but with an attitude of soul that shall show depth of desire and earnestness of purpose. Prayer is a sign of renewed life. We cannot long continue to ask for blessings that we do not really desire. Hypocrisy soon fatigues, even where it is not found out; and our poor human nature, sinful as it is, wearies of subterfuges. In waiting upon God we have the surest evidence that our penitence is sincere and our faith vital.
III. UPLIFTED VISION. "I will look for him." Men look for so much, and not for God. For human approval, for earthly success, for ambition's tinsel crown. In looking for God his Savior, the prophet is looking for all that the house of Jacob needs. It is a wistful eye that we read of here. Anxious, but yet hopeful. Some had "sought unto familiar spirits, and wizards that peep and mutter;" and it seems as if the world had not yet grown wise enough to forsake all that kind of seeking today! "Should not a people seek unto their God?" asks the prophet; and in every age those who look alone unto him have never been disappointed. When the eyes are opened, and the heart is full, even if the lips be not eloquent, God can read deep meaning in the earnest gaze of faith; and he will return and bless his people Israel, according to his Word.—W.M.S.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON