'Truly my soul waiteth upon God'.

Dumiyyah, the word translated 'wait' here, conveys the idea of silence.

In

the fifth verse of the same Psalm we read:

'My soul, wait thou only upon God'.

Here again the word (damam) is, literally, 'to be silent'.  The Psalmist uses

this same word in other places, but it is often rendered differently in the

Authorized Version.  For example, in the well -known words of Psalm 37:7:

'Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him', the word for 'rest' is again

damam, 'be silent', as in Psalm 62:5.  The word dumam is also used in

Lamentations 3:26 where it is translated 'quietly wait'.  In Job 4:16 we

read: 'There was silence (demamah), and I heard a voice'.  Perhaps we hear so

little and receive such scant answers to our prayers, because, in the Lord's

presence, we are not sufficiently silent.

This silence or quiet waiting may imply something more, for in

Lamentations 3:27 -33, immediately following the verse quoted above, we read:

'It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.  He sitteth

alone and keepeth silence (damam), because he hath borne it upon him.

He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.  He

giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with

reproach.  For the Lord will not cast off for ever: but though He cause

grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His

mercies.  For He does not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of

men' (Lam. 3:27 -33).

Here the man of God is silent.  He is full of reproach, certainly, but

his mouth is not full of reproaches as he enters into the Divine Presence.

In Psalm 83 we read: 'Keep not Thou silence, O God, hold not Thy peace, and

be not still' (Psa 83:1).  Let us ourselves be more silent, that He may

speak.  Let us be silent in patient expectancy.  Let us be silent in our

resting in the Lord, so that we may be able to say: 'Truly my soul is silent

to God'.  In Isaiah 30:18 a wonderful twofold waiting is revealed, the

waiting upon God that respectfully waits for Him:

'Therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious ... blessed are

all they that wait for Him'.

Here the waiting is on both sides.  The Lord waits, and His people

wait.  This follows well upon the waiting in silence already considered, for

we read:

'Now Elihu had waited till Job had spoken, because they were elder than

he' (Job 32:4).

It was because he discovered that neither Job nor his friends had

uttered all that was true that Elihu was at length constrained to speak.  But

the reasons that kept Elihu waiting are only fully justified when we enter

into the presence of God.  Elihu said:

'I am young, and ye are very old; wherefore I was afraid, and durst not

shew you mine opinion.  I said, Days should speak, and multitude of

years should teach wisdom' (Job 32:6,7).