Isaiah 49:23 - Homilies By R. Tuck

No shame in waiting for God.

"For they shall not be ashamed that wait for me." Those who wait for him, in a dependence upon his promise and a resignation to his will, shall not be made ashamed of their hope. Quaintly stating the reasons for God's withholding his blessings from us awhile, Thomas Brookes says, " God oftentimes delays, that his people may come to him with greater strength and importunity. He puts them off, that they may put on with more life and vigour. God seems to be cold, that he may make us the more hot; he seems to be slack, that he may make us the more earnest; he seems to be backward, that he may make us the more forward in pressing upon him." The particular shame here referred to is that which comes from disappointment of expectations and hopes.

"The hope that's built upon his word

Can ne'er be overthrown."

The line of thought suggested is this: Find the various sources whence comes our disappointment with men, and show, in each case, that they cannot possibly apply to God.

I. MEN PROMISE MORE THAN THEY CAN PERFORM . Often they do this in

Such people are not thoroughly true; and we learn by experience never to trust their promises. We give them credit for meaning well, and then forget what they said. God's promises are strictly true to his intentions and his power.

II. MEN PROMISE WHAT THEY NEVER INTEND TO PERFORM . A man who had just parted from a female friend was overheard to say, "I told her more in a minute than she will find come true in a twelvemonth." Men intentionally deceive, and then we cannot but be ashamed and disappointed in them. Of this we may be quite sure—God intends to fulfil everything he promises. "Hath he said, and shall he not do it?" "If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself."

III. MEN PROMISE WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES NEVER ALLOW THEM TO PERFORM . With the best intentions, and the best ability at the time of promising, men cannot anticipate the changes of life, and may disappoint us through force of circumstances. But he who sees the end from the beginning makes his promises in view of every possible contingency; and

"His very word of grace is strong

As that which built the skies;

The voice that moves the stars along

Speaks all the promises"'

R.T.