What Does It Mean To "Wait on the Lord?"

If you have attended Christian worship services or read the Bible with any frequency, you've heard the phrase, "Wait on the Lord."  It is an ongoing refrain in Christian hymns, in the Psalms, and throughout the Bible and you just can't miss it.  So what does it mean? How do you wait? How long do you wait? Why do you wait? Why is this such a consistently repeated message? I don't claim to know the answers to all of those questions, even though my family has gone through a long season of what feels like waiting, I don't claim to be an expert.  Even so, today I read something that leapt off the page at me and helped me to get a handle on at least a portion of this concept.

Psalm 25:3A, 21: "Indeed none of those who wait for Thee will be ashamed.  Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for Thee." NASB

I was reading from a study Bible that has cross-references and a Hebrew/Greek concordance in the back to serve as a reference and help the reader get more information about each verse and to parse out specific words.  When I came across the words "wait for," they were underlined and in bold indicating that the Hebrew word that had been translated as "wait for" in this verse could be looked up in the back reference section of this Bible.  I got excited!  Maybe there would be something there that would help me better understand this concept and my current season of life.  Here is what I found:

"Wait for" comes from the root Hebrew word, qavah (kaw-vaw).  It means to bind together by twisting around and is translated as "wait for", "hope for", or "look for" in the Bible 44 times.  If qavah, the root word, is any indicator itself of how we should think about waiting for the Lord, then waiting on God isn't standing alone in a barren place, patiently allowing the elements to batter us until He decides to move on our behalf (which is how I've often viewed it, even if I'd never say that out loud).  No, if waiting is qavah, it is an active thing - making Christ the center of our thoughts, our actions, our decisions and circling back around Him continually, again and again, like binding together a rope. It means "depending on" and "ordering our activities around a future event or hope." (Strong's concordance)

I don't know if that strikes a chord with you, but it is an eye opener for me.  In a season of waiting, we are not helpless, hopeless people awaiting miraculous intervention.  We can and should be active, hope-filled people continually circling around Christ in expectation.  Coming back to His Word, His ways, His Truth again and again, like an airplane circling the runway until it is clear to come in for a safe landing.  All this circling isn't wasting time - it is space given to shift focus from the desired outcome to the One who holds the future. It is also strength-building. The more times cords are wrapped around each other to make a rope, the stronger the rope becomes.  I am starting to think that is what waiting on the Lord is all about - it is an active time of strengthening, drawing closer to God, re-orienting our thoughts, attitudes and actions around the source of our hope until the day comes when it is time to move and we find ourselves so wrapped up in Him that we can't help but follow.

With that in mind, these verses come alive in a different way:
Psalm 27:14 Wait on the Lord; be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord.
Psalm 69:6  Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.
Isaiah 40:31 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. 
Lamentations 3:25 The Lord is good to them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him. 
Hosea 12:16 Therefore turn to your God; keep mercy and judgment, and wait on you God continually. 

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord

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