Isa. 40 is a wonderful chapter which refers to God's people, Israel, and is a message of comfort unfolding His purposes of deliverance and blessing concerning them. It furnishes a graphic description of the greatness and majesty of God. The closing words, however, although addressed to God's ancient people, are equally applicable to us today.
Have we not all felt the preciousness of this passage in times when life's burdens and difficulties weighed heavily upon us? These promises recur most readily to our minds, and yet the blessings of which they speak are not often experienced in the lives of many Christians. As a matter of fact, we run and are weary, we walk and do faint. The wings of our souls do not habitually beat the upper air. On the face of it, it is very simple. The condition stated is within the reach of every child of God, and four resultant blessings are made sure by the "shall" of Almighty God. This being so, the absence of the blessing proves we do not fulfill the condition. Have we ever stopped to study the condition carefully? What is it to "wait upon the LORD"? Everything depends on this. It is not simply petitioning God for something; neither is it "worship" exactly. Worship includes the ascription of praise, the worship and adoration of the soul. In order to really ascertain what is meant by "waiting upon God," it is well to note that there are three Hebrew words translated "wait" in this connection, each with a distinctive significance; then by bringing them together we get the answer to our inquiry.
In Psalm 62 we read, "Truly my soul waiteth upon God." In the margin it is, "Is silent to God"; that is, there is no feeling of resentment to God's dealings in providence—no uprising of rebellion. It is as if, in perfect hush and quietness, the soul casts itself upon God. Silence implies waiting. But if I am restless, impatient, struggling, resisting Providence, shirking duties, I cannot expect the peace which brings strength, or the strength which brings peace, to come to me.
In Psalm 104:2727These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. (Psalm 104:27) we read, "These wait all upon Thee; that Thou mayest give them their meat in due season." Here the words are the same, but they imply dependence and expectation—a faith that knows no anxiety, but silently reaches out to take hold upon God, and which has its expectation from God, as in Psalm 62:55My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. (Psalm 62:5), "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him."
Once more, in Pro. 8:3434Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. (Proverbs 8:34) we read, "Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors." The servant here is waiting on his master. He has nothing to do at the moment, but he waits at the door. The master does not open the door immediately, but there the servant waits with his ears open—waits for the slightest sound from within, knowing that at any moment the door may be swung back and the master may say, "My servant, go do this, or do that." There can be no true waiting on God without willingness to obey.
By putting these passages together we learn that to wait upon God is to be silent that He may speak, and to remain so, in an attitude of dependence and expectation, ready for instant unquestioning obedience to the slightest indication of His will.
Now a rich and fourfold promise of blessing is declared to rest upon the fulfillment of this condition. Are we waiting upon God? Are we silent to Him? Is our expectation from Him? Do we yield instant obedience to His will as it is revealed to us? If these questions can be answered in the affirmative, then the four blessings of the rest of the verse must follow, because God says they shall.
Let us see what they are.
1. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. In the margin we see that the word rendered "renew" is "change"—they shall change their strength. It is a word used to denote change of garments. They shall lay aside the garment of their own strength and put on a garment of strength from God.
In the passage before us, a striking contrast is drawn between the unwearied God and the wearied man, and then the inspired writer goes on to say that He that "fainteth not, neither is weary... giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength." He bestows strength and increases it as the circumstances demand. What a comforting assurance to know that in all the vicissitudes of our lives, whether at home or on God's errands abroad, amid difficulties, discouragements and disappointments, we may be strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory (Col. 1:1111Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; (Colossians 1:11)).
2. Then "They that wait upon the LORD... shall mount up with wings as eagles." Why
wings as eagles? Why not wings as doves? I think it is because the eagle is the only bird that goes very high. No bird can stay still as long as the eagle; there is no restlessness in him; his is the repose of perfect power, and, as I have said, he has to do with immense heights. His eyrie is in the rocks among the mountains, and we are told that when the sun rises and his eye catches the first ray, you may see him stretch his mighty wings, launch out over the abyss and begin that tremendous spiral flight up-up higher and higher until he is lost to sight. The eagle mounts to immense heights, and it is even so with those who wait on God; and as the various needs arise, they are enabled to change their strength. In this connection there is a most illuminating word in Exod. 19:44Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. (Exodus 19:4), where in a message God gave to Moses for the children of Israel, He says, "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto Myself." And as with Israel, so with us. All who wait upon Him shall be brought as on eagles' wings unto Himself.
The two remaining blessings, "They shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and
not faint," sound like a strange anti-climax. After these eagles' flights above the cares and anxieties of this dim spot which men call earth, are we to descend to the lower plains to run and walk? Yes, precisely. The eagle's flight is to this very end. We ascend to the high altitude of communion with God that we may learn to serve down here according to His will. The psalmist said, "I will run the way of Thy commandments, when Thou shalt enlarge my heart."
Psalm 119:3232I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart. (Psalm 119:32).
Then in the crises of life calling for special, though brief exertion, whether in times of danger or distress, we shall prove that "The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." Pro. 18:1010The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. (Proverbs 18:10). "Shall walk, and not faint"—what is the walk? It is the everyday life, which is undoubtedly the severest test of all. Far easier is it to gather one's energies for a swift "run" than to "walk." They that wait upon the Lord shall find that notwithstanding the wear and tear and the monotony of the daily round and common task, they are not only kept from fainting, but on the contrary are enabled to find in these very things room to deny themselves and a road to bring them nearer to God.
In view of all this, well might the psalmist say, "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart." And then as one who has put his own advice to test and proved its value out of the richness of a wonderful experience of blessing, he repeats the exhortation and says, "Wait, I say on the LORD." Psalm 27:1414Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. (Psalm 27:14)