Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary… I. THE DUTY ENJOINED. To wait upon God. This implies the recognition of God as the supreme Arbiter and Disposer of all human events. It is the posture of expectancy for every blessing of which we stand in need, temporal and spiritual. II. THE MANNER IN WHICH WE ARE TO WAIT UPON GOD. 1. The way of public ordinances. 2. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper. 3. The exercise of domestic worship and private prayer. 4. Seeking to become wise unto salvation out of His written Word, and in meditation on its soul-inspiring contents. III. THE TEMPER AND FRAME OF MIND INVOLVED IN THE EXPRESSION, WAITING UPON GOD. 1. It implies the existence of an invincible faith, which nothing can destroy, although for a moment it may be disturbed. 2. This calls into action another principle closely connected with faith, and emanating from it, — the principle of patience and Christian resignation to the will of God. 3. Obedience. IV. THE ENCOURAGEMENT HERE BESTOWED ON THE FULFILMENT OF THE DUTY REQUIRED, — renewed strength shall be imparted. This implies a declension of strength, fainting, and fatigue; to all of which the Christian pilgrim is more or less exposed. 1. In consequence of the exhausted spirits of the weary traveller never being renewed, some who did run well are hindered, and halt in their career; while others adopt altogether a retrograde movement, return to the path of their former delights, apostatise from the faith, and become worse than infidels. 2. But here we have a direct promise from a covenant-keeping God, that our strength shall be renewed adequate to all the demands which a perilous enterprise can render necessary. 3. We must speak in the language of reproof to all those who are strangers to this operation in the soul; who never do humbly wait upon God, but when chastised and rebuked of the Lord are disposed to resist His authority, to impugn His character as merciful and gracious; who give utterance to all the outbreaks of a rebellious, unsanctified heart. They are both to be censured and pitied. 4. But we speak encouragement to those who have already assumed the waiting position, and are thus tarrying the Lord's leisure. Endeavour in every possible way to cultivate this holy, humble, dependent spirit. (H. S. Plumptre, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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