Day 7—A Plea in Prayer

Psalm 25:21 - May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for You.

The prayer in connection with which the plea is put forth here is one of great importance in the spiritual life. If we draw close to God, it must be with a true heart. There must be perfect integrity in our dealing with God. As we read in the next Psalm (26:1, 11). "Judge me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity," "As for me, I walk in my integrity," there must be perfect uprightness or single-heartedness before God, as it is written, "His righteousness is for the upright in heart." The soul must know that it allows nothing sinful, nothing doubtful; if it is indeed to meet the Holy One, and receive His full blessing, it must be with a heart wholly and singly given up to His will.

"For I wait for You" - it is not only in connection with the prayer of our text but with every prayer that this plea may be used. To use it often will be a great blessing to ourselves. It must be clear to us what we are waiting for. It may be waiting for God in our times of prayer to take his place as God, and to work in us the sense of His holy presence and nearness. It may be a special petition, to which we are expecting an answer. It may be our whole inner life, in which we are on the lookout for God's putting forth of His power. It is good that we sometimes count up to ourselves exactly what the things are we are waiting for, and as we say definitely of each of them, "On You do I wait," we shall be able to claim the answer, "For on You do I wait."


It must also be clear to us, on Whom we are waiting. Not an idol, a God of whom we have made an image by our conceptions of what He is. No, but the living God, such as He really is in His great glory, His infinite holiness, His power, wisdom, and goodness, in His love and nearness. It is the presence of a beloved or a dreaded master that wakens up the whole attention of the servant who waits on him. It is the presence of God, as He can in Christ by His Holy Spirit make Himself known, and keep the soul under its covering and shadow, that will waken and strengthen the true waiting spirit. Let us be still and wait and worship till we know how near He is, and then say, "On You I wait."

We are waiting. Let that become so much our consciousness that the words comes spontaneously, "On You I wait all the day; I wait on You." This will indeed imply sacrifice and separation, a soul entirely given up to God as its all, its only joy. This waiting on God has hardly yet been acknowledged as the only true Christianity. And yet, if it be true that God alone is goodness and joy and love; if it be true that our highest blessedness is in having as much of God as we can; if it be true that Christ has redeemed us wholly for God, and made a life of continual abiding in His presence possible, nothing less ought to satisfy than to be ever breathing this blessed atmosphere, "I wait on You."

"My soul, wait only upon God!"