(this is from one of our blogposts in 2010)
"Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired
His understanding is inscrutable.
He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary." (Is 40:28-31, NASB, emphasis added)
In the Hebrew Scriptures (aka Old Testament), there are three different words that have all been translated into the same English word "wait". Each one of the Hebrew terms has a slightly different tone or shade of meaning that brings so much more depth and understanding to both the verses and the contexts in which it is used.
The first one is "dumiyah", which means "silently waiting with a quiet trust." Selah on that for a moment. It is this tone of quiet confidence, calmness, strength and hope conveyed by the king and psalmist David in the following verse:
"My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken." (Ps 62:1, 2).
This is the sense that I feel when I am resting fully in my faith and trust in the Lord that I know is totally in charge. No anxiety, no worry...only peace, calm, and absolute and utter confidence in the love, will and timing of the Lord who directs me. A quiet, calm time of waiting. Like a well-fed and contented babe, resting peacefully in the arms of his mother, waiting without concern for whatever...knowing she will take care of everything...not even considering anything more than the wonderful moment at hand. Happy, at peace, content. What a lovely quality to the feel of this type of "waiting"!
The second word is "chakah," which means "adhere to", or "long for." When David said "My soul thirsts for God" (Ps 42:2; 63:1), he was describing a deep longing for God's company--he was "chakah"...waiting, longing, yearning for something palpably missing, yet fully knowing that it will be coming.
"Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield" (Ps 33:20)
This is the sense that I feel when I plead in intercession for wisdom and understanding in something hard to accept in His Permissive will...like the devastation in Haiti, or the seemingly untimely death of a child, or the onslaught of "attacks" in the life of a single person. It's when I get down on my knees and prostrate myself before my God, fighting against the despair of grief, blinding hurt, senseless confusion and the angry bitterness of resentment, guilt, and blame. A truly rich word for "wait", implying deep emotion and a desperate grappling Trust. "chakah"... i just love the depth of humanness of this type of "waiting".
But, the last word is one of my favorites. It is "qavah" and means "to wait for...with eager expectation." It also means "to bind something together by twisting" or braiding. wow...somehow "wait" now becomes a dynamic action verb, implying that we are actively being prepared--actively 'doing something WITH and IN Him' even as we await the moment of God's time to move/arrive/call upon us. The main thought, therefore, for "qavah" is "eager expectation and ONENESS; a joining, or a braiding together." It's the excited, anticipatory tone of gathering strength as preparations are rapidly being made:
"Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord."(Ps 27:14)
"Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary." (Is 40:31)
This is the sense that I get when I am confident of a divine task or "munus", and with bold assurance and faith in the Lord who has given it to me, I begin to set aside myself and allow the Holy Spirit to take over and guide me in every step, every breath, every thought, every act that I take from that moment on. In this type of "waiting", I am eagerly anticipating the arrival of God's time and fully realize that with each passing moment, HE is preparing me for "kairos". In this type of "waiting", I can watch, without distraction, distortion or alarm, seemingly unrelated situations develop and come to pass, knowing with all of my heart that somehow, some way they will all come together for the good of whoever is involved--all because of the faith we have in the all-loving God we serve!
Pondering the strong images and feelings conjured up by the different Hebrew words, we can come up with a much fuller sense of the word "wait"...something like:
"Silently waiting with a strong, calm trust, longing for His presence and eagerly expecting Him...anticipating, stepping aside to prepare, and then experiencing the oneness that results as our hearts become entwined into one with and in Him." Wow. Now THAT's what I call 'getting a better sense of the word'!!
Even the English definitions for "wait" has much meaning for us here: let us "wait" for the Lord (in obedience, diligence in study and discernment of Truth, in attendance to and service for) while we "wait" (resting in anticipation and readiness) for Him. Think about these very different senses of the English definitions for "wait" as we reread the following verses from Isaiah 40:
"Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary."
So totally cool, isn't it??
Every word, every verse, every story, every Truth in the bible is meant to teach us something amazing and wondrous--something only the Holy Spirit can fully understand and explain! No wonder Paul wrote:
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Tim 3:16, NIV, emphasis added)
Imagine how deeply the Holy Spirit can take us, if we are willing to follow Him where He would go!
Selah!
