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. One of the oldest and best tried rules of religion is THE SACRED DUTY OF COMMUNION WITH GOD. The expression "wait upon" is a most felicitous one, because while it includes prayer it means and covers so much more. 1. To wait on the Lord is the drawing nigh unto Him, to pour out our wants before Him, though He knows them so well, to plead the necessities arising out of our own ignorance, waywardness, and poverty of soul, to ask for His light to shine in our darkness, to clear our minds of the mists and fogs of native prejudice and of traditional error, to make plain before us our path of duty, and to keep our feet steadfast therein, to take into His loving hands the discipline and correction of our hearts, and to make us willing to undergo it, to keep us from all vanity and lies, and from every form of subtle self-deception, so that we may ever be true to Him and to ourselves. But waiting on the Lord implies much more than this. Although we have a perfect right to go to God and pour out every wish and longing of our hearts, worthy and unworthy alike, yet this is not by any means the whole or the highest part of communion with Him. Poor and barren and diseased must that heart be which has no song of praise to sing, no gratitude to pour forth for past deliverances and for present mercies, which has no emotion of adoring love for a goodness so infinite and untiring. To make our religion a delight and a glory we must surely wait on the Lord with songs of gladness and joy, praising Him more for what He is, and for what He has taught us to know and believe Him to be, than for the good gifts which His bounty hath bestowed. 2. Yet, further, there is a waiting on the Lord which is neither prayer nor praise, but silent and serene contemplation, when the mind muses upon His wondrous works and ponders over the stupendous fact that the infinite and eternal God can and will and does come near to the soul of His finite and imperfect creature man, and permits the ineffable solace and privilege of communion with Himself. 3. But all forms of waiting on the Lord involve the personal, conscious, voluntary act of the mind or soul within us, for which no mere ceremony or ritual can be a substitute. All outward observances, whether private or public, have no meaning, and can have no avail without that conscious voluntary movement of the soul towards God. If public worship helps you to this direct personal communion with God, I need not say you are bound to attend it; you are sure to do so of your own free will without any pressure. Experience has proved that, to a great many souls, public worship is the greatest help they ever get, that it gives wings to their holiest prayers and brightness to their gladdest songs of praise, and that it does bring them nearer to God than any other external agency that they know of. But this is not true of all. 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. They do not know by experience the blessings of communion, and therefore these outward aids in public worship are of little use to them. 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. I turn now to dwell on THE NATURAL EFFECTS OF WAITING ON THE LORD, as stated by the prophet, and vouched for by myriads of the faithful and devout in all ages. 1. "They shall renew their strength." This is what we all need in this weary world, whose toils and cares and temptations perpetually remind us of our weakness and the need of invigorating grace. We renew our strength in the battle with our besetting sin, in the conquest of fierce passions and unruly tempers, and in the maintenance and steadfastness of high resolve. We renew our strength to meet misfortunes and to carry our load of grief or bereavement, to keep a cheerful heart under the depression of disease, and when chilled by the cold shadow of death. And we renew our strength for all enterprise which makes demand on our courage and truthfulness. 2. This leads us to notice the three degrees of moral and spiritual activity presented to us in the figurative language of the prophet:. "They shall mount up. on wings as eagles: they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (1) The first typifies lofty aspiration and heroic action. There is a type of soul which soars like the eagle, its daring eye not flinching from the dazzling sun itself but drawn by it higher and higher with steadfast gaze till it is lost to sight of those on earth below. These are the great seers of the human race whose absorbing love and adoration of God has filled them with light and knowledge of Him little dreamed of by the many who have feebler and lower aspiration. The brighter the light before them, the more eagerly and steadfastly they rise upwards to greet it and to bathe in its splendour. Yet the power of thus rising on eagle's wings is not the only quality to be noticed in this symbolism. There is also the heroic courage in speeding one's way as on eagle's wings in defiance of earth-born cries and warnings, and in lofty scorn of earthly interests and pursuits. To one who thus heroically soars towards God and His light, the things of time and earth seem trivial and contemptible. Such strength of rising as this can only come by closest communion with God. (2) While only the few can thus fly, many can only run. 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. Whatever it be in their power to do, that power will be increased and their strength renewed by waiting upon God. Running is undignified, say some, it is more stately to walk, more dignified even to sit still. They will run nimbly enough after pleasure, wealth and fame, but not after the things which God bids them run after. (3) But as only few can fly and only some can run, there are still some who can only walk. And for them, too, the promise holds good, "They shall renew their strength, they shall walk and not faint." God never expects more from us than He has already given. If we are not of the eagle type and have but feeble aspirations; if we are not of the active, zealous type and cannot run, we may yet be able to walk, to move as fast as our poor, weak, or crippled limbs carry us, and if we do not wish to faint by the way we shall surely wait on the Lord. For the less strength we feel we have, the more we shall need and ask from Him. Indeed I think we poor walkers sometimes make the most progress, for we lean more entirely on God and draw more constant supplies of His grace. (C. Voysey, B. 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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