"Wait on the Lord: Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the Lord." (Psalm 27:14)
I'm no exegetical scholar (or an English major), but the way the New King James Version words and punctuates this scripture is intriguing to me, and naturally begs to be broken down and studied. As I meditated on it, one of those moments came where God opened up another passage in my mind. More on that in a moment. But for now I'll break down what I know to be true about this and other scriptures on waiting, and tell you what it means and how to do it.
When David says "wait on the Lord" the NKJV follows the statement with a colon; the punctuation indicates that the following statement describes what the first statement includes. Waiting on the Lord doesn't mean to just sit and twiddle thumbs, or pray and hope something happens. I have a good friend who told me he was waiting on God to bring the right church family to him. "The ball's in your court," he said to God. That isn't how you wait on the Lord.
In context, the verse I'm dissecting is speaking of waiting on God in times of conflict, of struggle, when enemies surround, when family leaves you high and dry. I have my own personal struggle going on in which I need God's guidance and strength. I only breakdown this verse because it spoke to me about how to wait on God in the midst of the fight.
Since "wait on the Lord" is followed by a colon, "be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart:" is what it means to wait on God. It's not passive, according to scripture. The process is: you take what you know about God's word; you practice it; you obey it; and you do it all while employing good courage. What does "good courage" mean? The NASB translates it: "be strong and let your heart take courage." Other versions mention a stout heart. When soldiers go into war, they say "you do the thing that scares the hell outta you, then you get the courage." Waiting and obeying with good courage means putting away fear and replacing it with prayer and active obedience.
The next step in the waiting game is "he shall strengthen your heart." By obeying and praying and walking through the struggle, even if you have to do it dozens or hundreds of times, you become strong; you become a hulk! It's the process that makes you strong. Which brings me to that other passage of scripture I was going to mention. "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." (Romans 5:3-5) You can see the perseverance: the waiting on God actively, with courage; brings our character more in line with God's will; and when we see the results, we respond with hope in future times. And the one who gives us the power to obediently and actively wait, is the Holy Spirit: who we know lives in our hearts.
After "He shall strengthen your heart" comes another colon. This means the next statement is unpacking what it means when God strengthens your heart. It's another command to wait on God! Meaning, once you become strong from waiting, you'll have the courage to say again, that you will indeed wait on God. And the process repeats itself. Always waiting on the Lord is the theme of a Christian's life. It always produces results, in times of peace or struggle!
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