Waiting
Isaiah 40
27. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and the justice due to me is passed away from my God?
28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard? The everlasting God, The Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding.
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might he increaseth strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 but 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; they shall walk, and not faint.
Long Waiting
The Jews waited centuries for the Messiah. They waited through famine, through bondage, through persecution, through every kind of hardship. They never gave up hope, though sometimes they did wonder what God was doing and why it was taking so long.
Over and over we hear the Israelites saying:
Psalms 13
1. How long, O The Lord? wilt thou forget me for ever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
Psalms 35
17. Lord, how long wilt thou look on? Rescue my soul from their destructions, My darling from the lions.
Psalms 89
46 How long, O The Lord? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? How long shall thy wrath burn like fire?
Psalms 94
3 The Lord, how long shall the wicked, How long shall the wicked triumph?
Habakkuk 1
2 O The Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save.
The prophet counsels – stop complaining.
27. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and the justice due to me is passed away from my God?
Then he remind them of the greatness of the Lord.
28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding.
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might he increaseth strength.
Then he counsels them how to remain faithful and stand strong.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 but 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; they shall walk, and not faint.
They that wait upon the Lord…
The Hebrew word translated here to ‘wait’ means "to bind together by twisting".
That’s an insightful and very descriptive definition. Much better than our translation "to wait". We see waiting as reactive and passive. Biblical waiting is proactive and aggressive.
They that ‘twist themselves up with the Lord’, or they that ‘hook up with Him’. They that interweave their lives with the Lord shall find renewed strength.
Moses found it in the wilderness. 40 years he led Israel in the wilderness and he strength did not fail him (or the people), his clothes didn’t even wear out. HE didn’t burn out – he kept going ‘ in the strength of the Lord’.
We are never told to go in our own strength. We are told to be strong in the Lord.
You’ve got to so mesh your life with the Lord that you lose your self identity and become one with Him – in His image. That’s why salvation is compared to marriage in Ephesians. It’s the same becoming one.
Jesus said similarly –
Matthew 11
28 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Jesus knew how to fit the yoke perfectly to the ox. He smoothed it and honed it and molded it until it was a perfect fit and would not wear the animal out. He can do the same for us.
When we take on his burden and his yoke, it is easy because it is His and not ours. Then your strength is renewed.
The eagle represents strength. We renew ours like the Eagle. When his wings are tired, he glides and renews his strength.