Wait on the Lord Part II

When we think of waiting on the Lord, there are a number of important questions that need to be answered and understood in light of the principles and promises of Scripture. Why? Because without these answers, we become like a long-tailed cat scurrying around in a room full of rocking chairs. We become fidgety, fearful, frustrated, anxious, and even angry. However, because the Lord tells us to wait, and since it has some wonderful benefits, we need to know what it means to wait and how that is to be done.

Some key questions we might ask are:

• What does it mean to wait? What’s involved?
• How are we to wait?
• Who and what are we waiting for?
• Why should we wait?
• How long do we wait?

In the NASB the word most often translated “wait” in the sense of waiting on the Lord is the Hebrew qavah.Qavah means (1) “to bind together” (perhaps by twisting strands as in making a rope), (2) “look patiently,” (3) “tarry or wait,” and (4) “hope, expect, look eagerly.”

The second most frequently used word translated “wait” is yachal. Yachal means “to wait,” or “hope, wait expectantly,” and is so translated in our English Bibles. The KJV sometimes translates yachal as “trust” as in Isaiah 51:5, but the NASB has “wait expectantly” and the NIV “wait in hope.”

A third word sometimes translated “wait” is damam. Damam means “to be dumb, grow silent, be still,” but it is sometimes translated “wait, tarry, rest” ( Psalms. 62:5).

A fourth word for waiting is chakah, “to wait, tarry,” or “long for” ( Psalms. 33:20; 106:13)  (Isaiah. 30:18).

The Old Testament emphasis is clearly on the daily walk and the need to wait on the Lord and His providential care in the pressures of life. As we will see, in the New Testament, the focus is on the promise of Christ’s return. The emphasis, however, in most contexts where the words for waiting occur, is on the impact waiting on the Lord’s return should have on our daily walk.