It is very easy to misunderstand this word "wait," and regard it as meaning inactive passivity. )Standing stillJ. He who cleaveth to created things will fall with their slipperiness; but he who embraceth Jesus will stand upright for ever. When the body is debilitated and needs to be strengthened, they spare no pains or expense to recover impaired health. Truth and holiness and right abide for ever. But whatever is done for right is done for God and endures eternally.3. How far this strength shall operate, and what noble effects it shall produce, may be seen by the following words. But he saith of a certain number, "My people." Then the engine and carriages of the detached front part of the train came back and all were coupled up. Ramsay.)Soul-growthH. )Recuperative powerF. Without warmth in our desires and feelings we shall be found sickly. Its faith is romantic, the thrill of its devotion is exquisite. When you go into your closet for your morning devotions, do not, as is very often done, read the Bible and think about it and pray about it, and then get up and go. Those who have not eagle's wings still have some power of motion, they can run on the earth and in the path of God's commandments. You throw a stone into the air. When exhausted renew your power.(R. If anything were needed to teach men the necessity for connecting their own spirits with the Divine, it is the quick exhaustion of individual resources. Do not newspapers? Why not logically carry the idea further, and say that standing still is the sublimest consummation of the Divine life in many Even so. All the men and women of power are men and women of prayer. III. H. Anderson.I. "Waiting" denotes a habit of mind-a devout habit that loves to call on God, a submissive habit that is ready to receive just what God sees fit to send, an obedient habit that is glad to do just what God commands, a stalwart habit of carrying such loads as duty lays upon our backs. He who has only seen the sorrow, the grief, the sin of the world has not penetrated to the depth of the problem. If a number of ships of war were sent out to sea, and were ready to start at any moment, and if the question were asked, what are they waiting for?, the answer would likely be one of two things: either that they were waiting for supplies, or waiting for orders. L. Wiseman, B. It means prayer much more than an occasional supplication, however real; it means persistent, persevering, continual prayer; it means an abiding attitude of trustful dependence upon God; it means all that is wrapped up in those beautiful words, "Oh, rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him"; it means trust in the Lord and do good; it means trust in the Lord at all times, for with Him is everlasting strength, and have no confidence in self.2. )Godly optimismF. If we try to rise by means of faith alone we shall be like a bird with one wing. WE SEE WHAT THE LORD'S WAITING PEOPLE NEED. The second great thing is to know ourselves, to be willing and determined to accept what God reveals about us. But there are other thoughts that come to us in the quietude of the Divine fellowship. (2) Our manifold afflictions (Hebrews 12:5). There are revelations made to men then, which prosperity never brings to them. I said "Oh yes, my brother, as long as we think it is our activity that must do it, then passivity robs us of time and strength. They do not know by experience the blessings of communion, and therefore these outward aids in public worship are of little use to them. Let us rejoice in the Lord evermore, and again we say, rejoice. xl. All the motives which the Gospel presents before him feed his hopefulness and increase his working power. WHAT A SWEET TITLE: "My people!" But I believe that the preaching of the high ideal, divorced from the preaching of its attainment by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, is the reason for more than one-half the cynicism that you find amongst men from thirty-five to forty at the present day. For those of you who are very strong, always able to cope and handle every situation. And we renew our strength for all enterprise which makes demand on our courage and truthfulness.2. (3) Here is the swiftness and agility of the motion. The Bible speaks about waiting patiently, and also about waiting quietly. Before you read, set yourself still that your soul may realise, I am waiting for God to come in and take possession of me for to-day. Your stalk may be a broken one, and your petals may be shrivelled, but by waiting upon the Lord you shall renew your strength.II. "They shall mount up with wings as eagles." Then I made a commitment and asked Jesus into my heart and I started to realize what a relationship with God through Jesus Christ was all about. know what it is to mount up. Truth and holiness and right abide for ever. A. To speak of a man as able to strengthen himself, so as to dispense with Divine aid, is as unreasonable as it is unscriptural As well might you talk of a leafless tree clothing itself with verdure without the vernal sun as well of an enfeebled body recovering tone and energy without the reviving air of heaven. II. The Cherubim and Seraphim show that images are not fit to represent divine mysteries. That Divine help is to be sought by prayer.4. My soul! A change from one measure of strength to another. They "wait for the Lord, and in His word do they hope" (Psalm 130:5). Horton, D. D.)The strength of a ChristianT. In so far as the spiritual life is one, it is a life in God. And I am bound to say that those who find the least pleasure and the least benefit from public worship are those who do not wait on the Lord in private. He comes down from the mount made ready, like Moses, for work in the camp at large, or in the retirement of his tent. How is this renewing influence, then, to be obtained? The figure of one flying through the heavens, coupled strangely with the promise of running without being wearied, represents the godly man as ever having courage to entertain great hopes. The Gospel is for men and women who have lost their strength in living, and are losing it more and more, day by day, till they fear its utter extinction by the presence of thickening despairs, and the ceaseless gnawing of spiritual fibre by silent misery and unutterable grief. Desire.2. Greed, unrighteousness, sensuality, may appear to be more stable than granite. God means that every soul which waits on Him shall not creep in the muck and the mire, nor crouch in abject slavery to men or devils. These are the words of the African American poet Maya Angelou, offered at the Million Man March in 1995. A. The Cherubim and Seraphim show that images are not fit to represent divine mysteries. Fortitude and patience under affliction is also the effect of that renewing and increase of spiritual strength, which is received from waiting on the Lord. I said "Oh yes, my brother, as long as we think it is our activity that must do it, then passivity robs us of time and strength. )PeopleIsaiah, JacobPlacesJerusalem, Lebanon, ZionTopicsEagles, Expecting, Faint, Fatigued, Gain, Grow, Mount, Pass, Pinion, Power, Raise, Renew, Run, Running, Soar, Strength, Tire, Tired, Wait, Waiting, Walk, Walking, Weariness, Weary, Wings, YetOutline1. The corroding cares of the world should excite them to obtain the renewal of their strength.3. 1. They shall walk and not faint words which seem to denote consistency in common daily life. It puts forth its utmost strength in rising towards its Source when the Christian enters into fellowship with the Father and the Son.1. "They shall mount up with wings as eagles." We see the years move on, and the everlasting truth subdue all to itself. The elements of this strength are (1) Faith, founded on Divine illumination. Written in the book of inspiration? T. Harwood.God: I. (2) The continuance of this motion. Endeavour in every possible way to cultivate this holy, humble, dependent spirit.(H. 4. First, the purged ear of the prophet hears the divine command to him and to his brethren--Comfort Jerusalem with the message of the Alexander MaclarenExpositions of Holy ScriptureThe Shepherd and the Fold Thou hast guided them in Thy strength unto Thy holy habitation.' Voysey, B. The period of fresh, wild enthusiasms; the season of zeal without discretion, when all sorts of impossibilities are dreamed, all sorts of vain things attempted. A sense of our own weakness, and our need of Divine help. 1The HarbingerThe voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD , make straight in the desert a high-way for our God. It is like a banquet spread before one who has no appetite or whose habitual food is altogether different, or like a rich and perfect performance of music to one who is altogether destitute of any musical sense.II. So there is no word of truth, but it hath a season and time in which it is beautiful. "They shall mount up with wings" (Isa. Flying. Here is speciality. Impatience, too, weakens. Do not men in all the ten thousand struggles of business? (vers. Maybe in revolutions and bloodshed, for the wheels of God grind inexorably and small. Isaiah 40:31 In-Context. The meaning is obviously, They, all depend upon Thee; men and beasts alike.2. There is no weariness in love.(D. ALL RENEWAL OF STRENGTH SHOULD BE REGULAR. Write it on a card or . Not merely is help found for the weakness of believers, but a provision is also made for relieving and substituting for it a buoyancy and joyful exaltation of spirit, so that he is enabled to hold on his way with gladness as well as with constancy. Is thy walk less with God, thy frame less heavenly? Man goeth forth to his work and to his labour until the evening. This is the religion of the Bible: is it not a noble thing? It promoteth that humility which is our greatest security, and restrains that pride which goeth before a fall. Then there is the "running," that is ready obedience a mark of the true servant. This was the strength which was in Paul before his conversion. Walking is less than running, and fainting is more than weariness. When a soul has its inner life hid with Christ and lives a life of true consecration it is enabled to take wing, and its "citizenship is in heaven." II. Of those whom he hath chosen, whom he hath purchased to himself, he saith what he saith not of others. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.". The intellect is strengthened by holy exercises upon Divine themes. )The waiting Christian strengthenedH. Among all the names that reveal God, this, the "God of all comfort," seems to me one of the loveliest and the most absolutely comforting. But because the higher nature of some people is unfolded early, are we to make them the criterion for other people? In religious experience youth is the time of wings. Halsey. Luther changed the course of the centuries by faith. Renewal often comes to men in their extremity like this.3. But more than all, in view of the great work to which he is calling his countrymen, he writes for those who feel called upon to do something in the world, for those who are conscious of high powers, and are in the purest sense of the word ambitious.(T. I may be very busy in connection with the Church of Christ and the advancement of the knowledge of Christ. 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; and they shall walk and not faint.' --ISAIAH xl. And what does God reveal in contrast with His great omnipotence? The Bible speaks about waiting patiently, and also about waiting quietly. THE HOPES THAT ARE BASED ON FAITH IN GOD GIVE STRENGTH ENOUGH TO APPROACH HIM. Faith can work miracles. I took a great deal away. Walking. It is to keep looking for the answer to our prayers. THE BLESSEDNESS OF WAITING UPON THE LORD. But there is one doctrine that is never out of season, Hugh BinningThe Works of the Rev. Health, hope, and desire pass quickly away together, and a loaded table becomes an object of revulsion. There are amateur and spasmodic philanthropists who dabble occasionally with the great social problems, and they feel their weight and cry out in despair. But the Christian has had that care upon his heart daffy, and he knows how to bear it, and before whom to lay it. Among all the names that reveal God, this, the "God of all comfort," seems to me one of the loveliest and the most absolutely comforting. But I believe that the preaching of the high ideal, divorced from the preaching of its attainment by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, is the reason for more than one-half the cynicism that you find amongst men from thirty-five to forty at the present day. )Despondency and hopefulnessW. Therefore He can never be puzzled with any difficulties, but must know how in every possible case to deliver the godly out of their temptations. Comforts the people.Dictionary of Bible ThemesIsaiah 40:314612birds4690wings5763attitudes, positive to God5767attitudes, in prayer8150revival, personal8463priority, of faith, hope and love9612hope, in God9615hope, results ofIsaiah 40:27-316233rejection, experienceIsaiah 40:28-315537sleeplessness8724doubt, dealing withIsaiah 40:29-315057rest, physicalIsaiah 40:30-315178running8145renewal, people of GodLibraryApril 18. But hope feeds upon every act to which it prompts, and it grows thereby.2. There had been no heaven-sent sign to assure them that there was any F. In point of comfort. Our whole future is mapped out with tests and trials, but we need not be afraid of these things if we are in the stream of the Divine supply. Now when he ceases from self and takes God as his strength, he changes his strength. Perhaps that is the commentary on this verse. THE DUTY ENJOINED. This is the mainspring of all spiritual exercises. Cultivate also the habit of waiting for orders. To think that we are labouring in vain is the thought that paralyses. "They that wait upon the Lord SHALL RENEW THEIR STRENGTH." We have found that after all we have to live on terra firma. THE PROMISE. Our utter impotence. (Andrew Murray. HOW SHOULD SPIRITUAL STRENGTH BE EXHIBITED? Horton, D. D.is amplified by a resemblance to a threefold motion.1. Then there is the "running," that is ready obedience a mark of the true servant. ALL RENEWAL OF STRENGTH SHOULD BE REGULAR. The flash of inspiration brings eager enthusiasm; you actively pursue your ideal for a time, and then, because of the steepness of the place, you come down to a painful walk. The men who were making themselves rich in those days in Eastern cities stayed there. The most vigorous pinion will never reach the sun, but yet it may reach so high that earth-bound creatures shall fail to track its flight, and lose it in the glare of the excellent glory.2. Cooke. The Philistines were utterly unable to find out in what the amazing strength of Samson consisted, until he revealed it to his espoused wife. Once more, the Christian is prompted to strenuous and persevering action by the appeal made to his desires. There are various kinds of hopefulness, which differ greatly in their nature and their effects. THE MANNER IN WHICH WE ARE TO WAIT UPON GOD.1. My soul! Wait for the power of the Holy Spirit every day. "THEY SHALL MOUNT UP WITH WINGS AS EAGLES." Here is speciality. They shall run, or march on, and not be weary. They are interlocked, as it were, by the recurrence in the latter of the emphatic words of the former. WE SEE WHAT THE LORD'S WAITING PEOPLE NEED. They shall walk and not faint words which seem to denote consistency in common daily life. He is making His will. "They shall mount up with wings as eagles." Before you read, set yourself still that your soul may realise, I am waiting for God to come in and take possession of me for to-day. This is not the strength spoken of here. )Untiring progressF. --ISAIAH xl. "He shall mount up." Thomas, D. D.)The highest strength derived from the highest serviceD. The expression denotes a feeling of need, and a sense of dependence upon the Almighty, without whom nothing is strong or holy. Purer air.2. The preaching of John Baptist foretold9. You must get deeper and deeper yet, and when you touch the Rock the pillars of the earth you will come to the fact that under all there is the eternal blessedness. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength.' It is like a river or a stream always passing away, and yet the power is always present; the power moving the mill-wheel, not by jerks, but by a continuous stream, always passing away, and yet ever flowing in; one measure of strength succeeding that which has been expended. The sails are unfurled to catch the heavenly breeze. )The privileges of those who wait upon GodS. But the Christian has had that care upon his heart daffy, and he knows how to bear it, and before whom to lay it. It pleases God, also, to employ the companionship of friends and neighbours in developing men in the direction of their higher manhood. Soaring High! --Isaiah 40:1. Our spiritual strength seems to include chiefly three things 1. And his incomparableness26. For one to wait upon another implies inferiority, and a desire of protection and assistance. 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