“Be Diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of God.” 2 Timothy 2:15
In order to understand what the Word of God is saying to us in a particular situation it is important to do a word study. The Old Testament was primarily written in Hebrew and the New Testament was written in Greek.
For this reason I went to my Strong’s Concordance [1] to find the original meanings of the word “wait” or “waits”. I found in the Old Testament the word was used in many different Hebrew words. I am expounding a few of these meanings.
Arab– #693 is a prime root and it means to lurk; (lie in) ambush, lay (lie in) wait. This was used in over 35 instances where the enemies of God’s chosen people would seek to ambush them.
Psalm 59:3 gives an example of this word, “For look, they lie in wait for my life: the mighty gather against me.”
Dumiyah– #1747 in the Strong’s concordance means to silently wait with quiet trust. Here is a scriptural example that shows quiet confidence and trust:
Psalms 62:1-2 that says, “Truly my soul silently waits for God; from Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.”
Chakah– #2442 in the Strong’s Concordance means to adhere to, long for, desire. I have listed a few scriptural examples of this Hebrew word. I believe you will get a word picture of the longing and desire for the Living God, as a thirst that cannot be quenched with anything or anyone but God Himself.
Psalm 33:20 says, “Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.”
Psalm 42:1-2 says, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God.”
Psalm 63:1, “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.”
Habukkuk 2:3 encourages us; “For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”
Yachal– Strong’s #3176: To wait, tarry, hope, trust, expect; be patient; remain in anticipation. Yachal appears 38 times in the OT. It’s first occurrence is in Genesis 8:10, in the account of Noah’s waiting seven days, from the time he first sent out the dove until he sent her out again. Yachal is often translated “hope” (Psalms 31:24; 33:18; 130:5,7; 147:11). The correct way to hope and wait for the Lord is to steadfastly expect His mercy, His salvation, and His rescue; and while waiting, not take matters into one’s own hand. (Compare Genesis 15:1-17:22). [2]
The Spirit of God is able to help you overcome bad choices that were made in the past. Some of us have made a simple financial choice and suffer financially for years because they have not waited for God’s timing. God eventually was able to help Abraham outlive the bad choices he made.
Micah 7:7 declares, “Therefore I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me.”
Oayah– #6960 means to wait for, with eager anticipation, to bind something together by twisting or braiding.
Psalm 27:14 says “Wait on the LORD; be of good courage. And He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!”
Isaiah 40:31 promises us, “But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
This prime root word means to bind together, perhaps by twisting, that is collect’ (figuratively) to expect; gather (together), look, patiently, tarry, wait (for, on upon).
In this book I will be using the meaning of Qavah because that is the word the Lord used while teaching me. When I was meditating on waiting on the Lord, I kept hearing the word “wicked” in my spirit. I had learned the meaning of the word wicked in Hebrew years ago when I taught on Psalm 1. “Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of the sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.” The word ungodly is the same word wicked (#7563, rasha) which means a morally wrong, bad person, guilty. This is where we get the word wicked from as used in Genesis 18:23. “And Abraham came near and said, Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?”
The ungodly and the wicked have twisted thinking much like the twisting on a wicker basket. Their thinking has nothing to do with the word of God and when they twist their thinking with the natural, human reasoning it becomes twisted. Their thinking of who God is and how He will operate may be twisted by a former abuse of a father and they cannot trust God because of what their father has done to them. Or it may be twisted by traditions of man, forming religious strongholds in their mind. There are many things that can cause wicked or ungodly thinking and they do not realize that they have a mind set against God.
There are strongholds in our thinking and many more causes than I can list here. What God wants us to do is to twist our thinking around the Word of God and let that be our standard, our measurement for living. When we are waiting on the Lord, we need to meditate on his Word and promises. If waiting for a financial breakthrough one of the versus we can use to help our thinking is Psalm 23:1 that states, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want!” or Philippians 4:19 that promises, “But my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus.”
As you meditate on the Word of God you magnify they Word inside of you. It is much like putting something under a magnifying glass; it appears larger. As you meditate on the Bible promises your hope grows and gives your faith a base; a firm foundation.
Hebrews 11:1 tells us, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” As you wait and meditate, the Word of God becomes bigger than your problem. If you meditate on the problem your fear becomes bigger and the situation looks larger than the promises of God.
[1] James Strong, S.T.D., L.L.D. Abingdon’s Strong’s Ehaustive Concordance of the Bible, copyright 1890, (Abingdon, Nashville) Fortieth Printing 1981
[2] Jack Hayford, The Spirit Filled Life Bible, New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers), 1327
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