| An Alphabetical Analysis Volume 10 - Practical Truth - Page 200 of 277 INDEX | |
The Psalmist, also, uses this word over and over again, as for example
in Psalm 119: 'I have hoped in Thy Word' (Psa. 119:74).
In Job 14 this 'waiting with hope' is associated with resurrection:
'If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time
will I wait, till my change come' (Job 14:14).
In certain constructions of the verb, yachal means 'to tarry', but even
then the thought of hope is still persistent.
In Genesis 8:12 we read:
'And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which
returned not again unto him any more'.
In verse 10 of the same chapter we read:
'And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove
out of the ark'.
What a great deal is missed by not reading the original. The same word
'stayed' comes in the Authorized Version of both verses, and yet there is all
the difference in the world between the tormenting anxiety of one verse and
the confident hope of the other. In Genesis 8:10 the word means 'to twist,
to turn, as in a whirlwind, or to writhe as in pain, to tremble, probably
from the leaping and palpitation of the heart', whereas in 8:12 the word
means 'to wait in hope'.
Coming back to Job again, we find the same confidence begotten of hope
in chapter 13: 'Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him' (Job 13:15). And
in Psalm 33 we read:
'Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, upon them that
hope in His mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them
alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the Lord: He is our help and our
shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in
His holy name. Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope
in Thee' (Psa. 33:18 -22).
While the conception of waiting implies quietness, silence and a cessation
for the time being of great activity, waiting can and does enter into the
meaning of active service as the following passages will show, quite apart
from the poet's observation,
'They also serve who only stand and wait'.
'They waited on their office according to their order' (1 Chron. 6:32).
'The priests waited on their offices' (2 Chron. 7:6).
'Judah rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites that waited' (Neh.
12:44).
In the Hebrew this word 'wait' is amad, 'to stand', and, followed by
different prepositions, it is used of service rendered to a king.
'And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of
Egypt' (Gen. 41:46).