Bible Verses About Patience and Waiting on God

Waiting on God is not wasted time. “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD” (Psalm 27:14).

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What the Bible says

Scripture often joins waiting with hope. “The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him” (Lamentations 3:25). The psalmist said, “I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope” (Psalm 130:5). To wait on God is not to sit idle but to keep looking to Him, holding to His word while the answer is unseen. Paul says, “if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it” (Romans 8:25).

Waiting is hard when others seem to prosper and we do not. David counsels, “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself” (Psalm 37:7). God’s timing is sure, even when it seems slow to us: “though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (Habakkuk 2:3). “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). What He has promised, He will do at the right hour.

David also tells how his waiting ended: “I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry” (Psalm 40:1). He was lifted from the pit and given a new song. Isaiah promises that “they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31). Waiting is where God builds patience in us, for “the trying of your faith worketh patience” (James 1:3), and patience leads on toward a faith that is mature and whole.

Our greatest waiting is for Christ Himself. James says, “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord” (James 5:7), as a farmer waits for the rain and the harvest. “Ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise” (Hebrews 10:36). So “let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9). The Lord is worth the wait.

14 verses, King James Version

  1. Psalms 40:1

    I waited patiently, and he heard my cry

    1I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

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  2. Habakkuk 2:3

    Though it tarry, wait for it

    3For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

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  3. Isaiah 40:31

    They that wait shall renew their strength

    31But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

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  4. Galatians 6:9

    In due season we shall reap

    9And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

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  5. Psalms 27:14

    Take heart while you wait

    14Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

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  6. Lamentations 3:25–26

    Good to wait quietly

    25The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. 26It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

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  7. Psalms 37:7

    Patient, not fretful

    7Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

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  8. Psalms 130:5–6

    Like watchmen waiting for morning

    5I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. 6My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.

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  9. Psalms 33:20–22

    Waiting with a glad heart

    20Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. 21For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. 22Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

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  10. Micah 7:7

    Looking to the Lord in dark days

    7Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.

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  11. Romans 8:24–25

    Hope waits for what is unseen

    24For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

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  12. James 5:7–8

    Patient like a farmer

    7Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 8Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

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  13. Hebrews 10:36

    Endurance to finish well

    36For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

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  14. Jeremiah 29:10–13

    Spoken to exiles facing seventy years in Babylon

    10For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

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Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (public domain). Read aloud by Anthony.