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Transcript/ notes from Session 9, “He Renews Our Youth”

Introduction

Welcome to the Benefits of the Cross, Session 9. This session is entitled, “He Renews Our Youth,” from Psalm 103:5. But before I get to that passage, I want to share a word with you that I received this week. 

I listened to something this week where the word “handshake” was used as an expression referring to the ratifying of a covenant. It sparked me to look into the handshake, and I found that the origin is in ancient eastern culture where covenants were ratified in blood. 

One such way of ratifying a covenant was for the two parties to cut their palms until blood came and then shake their hands together, signifying that their word was their bind, and they were committed to the death to uphold their end of the covenant.

God’s way of ratifying a covenant was through the blood of a substitute.   Under the Old Covenant it was by the sacrifice of a spotless lamb or other animal.  The New Covenant was enacted with the precious blood of Christ, the lamb of God who was without blemish and without spot. (1 Peter 1:19)

The Hebrew word for “covenant” is berith, which means “bond” and it comes from a word that means “cut.” That’s why we say, “covenants are cut.” Before the Old Covenant was established, it was the custom for the two parties to cut a covenant by passing between animals who were cut in two. 

If you recall in Genesis 15, God enacted the Abrahamic Covenant with all of its promises of blessing by telling Abram to cut certain animals in half so that He could walk through them. He put Abram to sleep and ratified the covenant within Himself. Nothing would be required of Abram.

What this meant was that God pledged His own life to keep His promise. He pledged to “cut” Himself, and the Seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ, would indeed suffer and die in order for God to follow through on His promise. That is why we say that the Abrahamic Covenant was the precursor to the New Covenant of pure grace.

God keeps covenant at any and all cost because of His lovingkindness, His hesed.

Now, with that as a backdrop, following is the word that God gave me in the middle of the night actually Thursday morning, 3:00am to be exact. I woke up with this and typed it into my notes on my phone:

God cut the covenant with Himself – with Jesus. It was not made with us, so it cannot fail. With that “handshake” – that agreement made with blood – blood shed out of love – the greatest demonstration of love – God says, “This promise is not just for you, but for your children and their children and for every generation of your family. If you aren’t seeing it yet, it’s coming.” Elijah was a man like us. He prayed even though God had already told him what was going to happen – the rain was coming. In fact, he crouched down in prayer like he was giving birth, even though God had already told him it was going happen. And then the rains finally came.

When I got up Thursday morning, this word was still lingering. I read through scriptures associated with the word – 1 Kings 18 and James 5 and Acts 2, but this scripture kept coming to mind, and I knew that it had to do with “handshake”:

Isaiah 49:15-16, NLT – “Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, [God says – ] I would not forget you! 16 See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands….”

I have witnessed the power of a mother’s love in the last few weeks as Frances has cared for her newborn baby and her firstborn little girl. And I myself have poured out a mother’s love over the past few weeks, and I can personally testify that perhaps there is nothing more powerful this side of heaven than a mother’s love. But this verse says that our heavenly Father’s love is even greater! Nothing is greater.

And because of that love, God has written our names on the palms of His hands. NIV says “engraved,” NKJV says “inscribed,” TLB says “tattooed.” God has metaphorically cut His hand and inscribed our names on His palms. 

When we see the word “name” in the Bible, it means more than letters that spell a word. To God it means that He has engraved our image and likeness on His palm so that He is continually reminded of us. He will never forget us. We are indelibly inscribed there. He is always thinking about you.

As I meditated on this, in my heart I saw the nail scars on Jesus’s hands. When He walked through the walls after the resurrection, He said – 

John 20:19-20 – “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side.

Why did He show them His wounds? Because His scars were the receipt of our redemption. Those scars tell us the price God was willing to pay for us and how much God loves us.

In those scars are our faces. When Jesus looks at those scars, He sees us. His eyes are continually on us. He remembers us when He looks at His scars.

I had a revelation as I was studying “forget not” and “remember.” When God remembers, it’s not just thoughts. God doesn’t have empty thoughts and words. His thoughts and words are full of love and power and action. His words, whether spoken or thought, are living and active words! For example – 

• When God remembers sin, He punishes for sin. He obliterates sin. He remembered our sin in the body of Jesus 2000 years ago. That’s why He will never remember our sins because He remembered them once and for all. We’ll never be punished for our sins.
• When God remembers His Covenant, He lavishes us with grace.
• When God remembers us, He surrounds us with lovingkindness and tender mercies. When does He remember us? All the time. We are inscribed in the palms of His hands.

When God thinks something, or God remembers something, or God says something, the universe stands at attention and obeys.

Psalm 139:17-18, NIV – How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. 

Psalm 139:16-17, TPT – Every single moment you are thinking of me! How precious and wonderful to consider that you cherish me constantly in your every thought! O God, your desires toward me are more than the grains of sand on every shore!

His thoughts towards us are precious because they aren’t empty thoughts. They’re full of power and love in action. God is working on our behalf all the time.

So let us remember Him because it’s powerful! As Jesus is so are we! Our thoughts are powerful! Our words are powerful! Let us never forget what JEsus paid for with those wounds. Let us experience all of the benefits of the cross.

Psalm 103:2-5 – Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, [Remembering is powerful because it builds your faith! We were dead in our sins, but made us alive together with Jesus, having forgiven us all our sins. We were sick, but through the stripes of Jesus, He healed us. We were doomed to destruction, but He redeemed us through the precious blood of the Lamb.] Who crowns you with lovingkindness [hesed] and tender mercies,  [And now, we must not forget the fifth benefit listed here in this portion of Psalm 103 -] 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, [NIV – who satisfies your DESIRES with good things; NASB – Who satisfies your YEARS with good things] so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

He satisfies us with good things

He “satisfies your mouth with good things.” “Mouth” is not a very good translation here. The actual Hebrew word there means “ornament, adornment, finery, or being decked out.” It is used to describe the finery or ornamental attire often worn in the context of celebration or ceremonial occasions.

So basically, God wants to deck us out, ornament us, lavish us with good things – the word for “good things” is the Hebrew word towb. [tove]. Listen to all of the meanings of this word and remember that God wants us to be blessed with “towb”:

Prosperity, fruitfulness, happiness, intellectual enjoyment, wealth, favor, benefits, beautiful things, things that are pleasant to the sight and taste and smell, enjoyment of a good report or a good message, enjoyment of people and places and experiences and travels, and finally, and most importantly enjoyment of God Himself and the heavenly things [Which is the best of all the “good things” He can give us.]

This tells me that God wants us to enjoy life and enjoy Him. And it tells me that God is generous; He is good and only good and only has good to give.

Matthew 7:11 – [Jesus said] “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” 

Psalm 34:10 – those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. [towb]

God lavishes us with all these good and amazing things! Why? In order to satisfy us.

The word satisfies is the Hebrew word śāḇaʿ. It means to be full, to have in excess, to eat or drink to the full, to have abundance, to be saturated; to be fulfilled; to have plenty.

God’s desire is to absolutely saturate our lives with all His benefits and goodness.

“Satisfy” is something only God can do. It is a role exclusive to God alone. I will never satisfy you, and you will never satisfy me. Only God will satisfy. 

Psalm 16:2, NIV – [David wrote] I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” [towb]

Psalm 145:16 – [David wrote] You open Your hand and satisfy [śāḇaʿ] the desire of every living thing.

And this satisfaction is the result of one thing and only one thing: His lovingkindness,- His unfailing love, His mercy, His gracious covenant loyalty. His hesed!

Psalm 90:14, NASB – [Moses wrote in the oldest Psalm] O satisfy [śāḇaʿ] us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, [hesed] that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. [How many days? ALL!]

The people of God should be the fullest, most satisfied, most joyful creatures on the earth!

Psalm 107:8-9, NIV – [David wrote] Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love [hesed] and his wonderful deeds for mankind, 9 for he satisfies [śāḇaʿ] the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. [towb]

There are two ways to get unsatisfied very quickly, and, therefore, considering the context of Psalm 103:5, to have your youth sapped and to age quicker than you should: 

1. Think that His benefits are earned and think we are blessed because we did something right. Or we don’t do something good, so we were cursed. That will wear you out!
2. Forget that God is the Author of all these benefits.

In Session 7, “The God of Gracious Covenant Loyalty,” I shared this passage – 

Deuteronomy 6:10-12, CSB – “When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give you— [covenant of pure grace] a land with large and beautiful cities that you did not build, 11 houses full of every good thing that you did not fill them with, cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant— [What is this a picture of? A finished work – in fact, Hebrews 4 tells us that the promised land is a picture of our promised land of rest in the finished work of Jesus. You don’t have to work for blessing or salvation! It is given to you by grace! You are given what you could never earn! But Moses reminded them -] and when you eat and are satisfied, [śāḇaʿ] 12 be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.

Blessed to be a blessing

Psalm 103:5 – forget not all His benefits: … 5 Who satisfies your mouth [your desires] with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

“So that” tells me that a renewed life isn’t possible without satisfaction, but satisfaction never comes from a fleshy acquisition of more stuff and more carnal experiences. 

The satisfaction that God gives is always accompanied by contentment because it’s a heavenly mindset. (With one exception which I will share in a minute.)

The heavenly mindset isn’t focused on the good things that God lavishes on us. The heavenly mindset is focused on the goodness of God Himself.

1 Timothy 6:17-19, NASB – [Paul wrote to Timothy- ] Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. 18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.

We are blessed to be a blessing! If we understand the limitless goodness of God, we’ll know that we have nothing to lose by being a blessing because we know that there is always more good things where that came from.

Do you remember what God said to Abraham?

Genesis 12:2 – I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.

We’ll never be satisfied hoarding the good things that God gives us. We won’t be like that dead sea where the fish go to die. We will just be a funnel of blessing. It comes in and goes out!

Forget not; remember

Psalm 103:5 – forget not all His benefits: … 5 Who satisfies your mouth [your desires] with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

“Forget not” – “forget” is the Hebrew word šāḵaḥ [shaw-kakh’]. It means to be oblivious of; not give attention to; forget to mention; leave behind; neglect. 

In the Bible, this word is often used in the context of the covenant relationship. In the covenant relationship, remembering is not just mental ascent. It’s entering in to the experience of and partaking of the benefits of the covenant by faith in the hesed of God. 

God is telling us in Psalm 103 to remember and to speak about and to experience His covenant promises. Why? Because He wants to satisfy us!

When we partake of the wine of Lord’s Supper, we are remembering Jesus’ blood which was shed for the forgiveness of our sins, making us righteous children of God, worthy to receive everything He purchased for us. When we take that wine of communion, we experience the blessed assurance of our full acceptance in the Beloved. We experience parresia – boldness – to approach the throne of the grace and ask for anything in the name of Jesus.

And we partake of the bread to remember that His body was broken that we might live a full and healthy and energetic and peaceful and prosperous life here on earth and live eternally with Him in heaven. When we take that bread of communion, we experience His very life by faith in the remembrance!

Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” Who is Jesus? He is the incarnation of God’s lovingkindness – God’s hesed. That’s what we remember in the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is simply receiving all His benefits!

And God has promised never to forget us. Even when the Israelites forgot Him and were unfaithful to Him, He remembered His covenant promises of pure grace.

Psalm 105:5-10, 37-42 – [David wrote this Psalm which covers 500 years of God faithfulness to His covenant people.] He remembers His covenant forever, the word which He commanded, for a thousand generations, 9 The covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac, 10 and confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant… [And this covenant of grace is why -] 37 He also brought them out [of Egypt] with silver and gold, and there was none feeble among His tribes. [They say there were about 2.5 million of them, so this was impossible! I googled: what percentage of people in the world are sick? This was the answer: “Over 95% of the world’s population has health problems, with over a third having more than five ailments.” NONE feeble among them – that is PURE GRACE! (NOTE: prayer of agreement for a perfect kidney for Rick in our fellowship.)] 38 Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them [of the Israelites] had fallen upon them. 39 He [God] spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light in the night. 40 The people asked, and He brought quail, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. [śāḇaʿ again. Who is the Bread of Heaven? Jesus!] 41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it ran in the dry places like a river. [Why all of this grace?] 42 For [because] He remembered His holy promise, and Abraham His servant. [What did He promise to Abraham and his descendants? “Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you!” (Genesis 22:17)]

All of this provision, all of these miracles, all of these benefits demonstrate the loviingkindness of God, even when they were under the Old Covenant.

The Old Covenant relied on the faithfulness of man. Do you realize that when the Israelites said at the foot of Mount Sinai, “All that the Lord commands, we will do” that they were committing to keep the covenant of law unto their own death? That is how confident they were in their own flesh!

Under the Old Covenant, the statutes say, “If you will obey these commands, then you will be blessed. If you do not obey these commands, you will die.”

Knowing the utter weakness of the flesh of man, out of His mercy, God instituted the substitutionary system of sacrifices when Moses was up on the mountain to receive the second set of stones.

Why were there two sets? Because the first set was broken by Moses when he came down the mountain and saw them already breaking the first commandment, “Thou shall have no other Gods before Me.” They had already created the golden calf and were worshipping it. So much for their big promise!

But the New Covenant does not rely on the flesh. It’s a better covenant based on better promises! The New Covenant  relies on the perfect obedience of Jesus to stand in our place at the cross and wipe out the handwriting written against us – the entire record of our sins.

Let’s look at the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy of the New Covenant from Jeremiah 31, repeated in Hebrews 8 – 

Hebrews 8 – New Covenant 

Hebrews 8:6-7, 10 – But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He [Jesus] is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. 7 [A covenant based entirely on the hesed – the faithfulness of God!] “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.” [God found fault with the Old Covenant because it was cut with man. But today we are under a covenant that was cut FOR us, but not WITH us. It doesn’t require our blood, just our faith in His blood. We are simply the beneficiaries. This covenant was cut between the Father and the Son, with the blood of Son so it will never fail.] … 10 [In this New Covenant God says,] I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts…

In the New Covenant, God has taken the “thou shalt nots” and made them God’s “I wills” by pouring His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. He has given us a new heart! He took that heart of stone and replaced it with a living heart of love.

Romans 5:5 – the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Galatians 6:2 – [Paul says] Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. [Not the “Law of Moses,” but the Law of Christ – the “I wills” that Jesus Himself does in us and through us through our union with Him. It’s the fruit of the Spirit!]

Back to Hebrews 8:10 – another promise of the New Covenant – God says –

Hebrews 8:10-11, cont. – and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. [In the New Covenant, God is to us EVERYTHING we could ever want in a God! He is the perfect, merciful Father who loves us unconditionally, pardons us, counsels us, protects us, defends us, heals us, provides for us, does miracles for us, and never leaves us because we belong to Him! Nothing can separate us!] 11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. [How? Through the Holy Spirit who dwells inside of us we can know God! And here is the covenant-activating clause – ] 12 For [because] I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” [I will punish with death no more.] 13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete.

In the Old Covenant it was “Thou SHALL NOT, thou shall not.” It’s ALL you! In the New Covenant it’s all God! “I will put My laws… I will be your God…All will know ME… I will be merciful… I will remember your sins no more.” 

A few weeks ago Claire shared a video message with me where the speaker said, “Every commandment under the Old Covenant becomes a promise under the New Covenant.”

Our job: remember

Our job is to remember – to give attention to, to bring to the top of our minds, to speak about – the benefits of the cross of Jesus Christ – 

1. Remember that He forgives all your iniquities, and you’ll no longer be conscious of your failures.
2. Remember that He heals all, your diseases, and you’ll no longer obsess over your health.
3. Remember that He redeems your life from destruction, and you’ll no longer constantly harp on the bad things that have happened.
4. Remember that He surrounds you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, and you’ll have the heavenly perspective.
5. Remember that He satisfies your mouth (your desires) with good things. so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Youth

The Hebrew word for “youth” there is nāʿur (naw-oor’), and it means early life, young man or woman. One commentary said it refers to the teenage years.

The state of youth is often portrayed as a time of strength and vibrancy and energy and beauty, yet it is also a period requiring guidance and instruction.

So that tells me that God not only wants to renew our strength and vitality, but also, to renew our eagerness to learn and to change. He does not want us to be stuck in our ways, but realize that we still need guidance and instruction. It will keep us young and strong!

The word “youth” – nāʿur (naw-oor’) – is derived from the root “na’ar”, which means “to shake off” or “to shake oneself free.” We need to shake free from old mindsets and be willing to learn something new!

Renewed like the eagle

What does it mean that our youth is renewed “like the eagle’s?” Well, let’s think about the eagle and see what God wants us to learn about His plan of renewal for us. 

• The eagle has the longest life span of any bird – usually 20-25 years!
• He soars the highest of any bird, up to 15,000 feet (almost 3 miles!) in the air.
• He has a huge wingspan – up to 8 feet so he can soar effortlessly on the wind!
• He can see 8 times better than humans, so he can see his prey from far away.
• His eyes take up 50% of his head, and he can turn his head on a swivel, 210 degrees!

The Holy Spirit inspired David and Isaiah (which we will see in a minute) to use the imagery of the eagle to describe the renewal of our youth and strength.

King of the air

The eagle is called the “king of the air.” It is the strongest and most powerful bird. On the other hand, his greatest irritation is the crow.  It harrasses the eagle, trying to steal its food. The crow is called the “gangster of the sky.” It’s the only bird that will dare to peck at an eagle. It sits on the eagle’s back and nips at his neck.

The eagle does not respond or fight with the crow. He doesn’t waste time or energy on the crow. instead he just opens his wings and begins to rise higher in the heavens.

The higher the flight, the harder it is for the crow to breathe, and eventually the crow falls off due to a lack of oxygen.

I think of crows as the “nippy” thoughts – the doubts, the negative, limiting thoughts, and discouragement and fears – that the enemy sends. We need to learn from the eagle: don’t endlessly argue with the crows. Just keep ascending. 

Don’t give oxygen to the devil’s thoughts by trying to overcome them. Rise higher, set your minds on things about, turn your eyes upon Jesus, and remember all His benefits. The devil cannot go that high. His thoughts will eventually fall off. The devil is already a defeated foe! Stand in the victory.

If you want to get old, constantly fight with the crows. If you want to stay young, soar higher. 

Eagles molt

What does “renewed like the eagle” mean? “Renew” is the Hebrew word ḥāḏaš / hadash (khaw-dash’), and it means repair and rebuild. It’s referring to when an eagle molts, and its old feathers are replaced with new ones.

Unlike the fable you may have heard which says that the eagle loses all his feathers at once and grows new ones, eagle experts say that molting is an annual process. 

So actually, the analogy of the renewal of youth “like the eagle,” is not a one time season when you get older and need a second lease on life. It’s actually a continual process throughout your life. Here’s a sample of what I learned:

Eagle plumage consists of over 7000 feathers made of keratin that zip together in an elaborate pattern. As capable as they are, all feathers eventually deteriorate and weaken, and need to be shed and replaced. Molting is an annual process that requires a lot of energy and a lot of time.…Not all feathers are shed at the same time. This allows them to retain the ability to fly and fend for themselves during molting. …. And not all feathers can be replaced in one annual cycle. … If you observe them closely, you can easily spot older feathers (carried over from last year), as they tend to appear worn, bleached by the sun and have frayed edges. New feathers are usually darker (more colorful) and shiny. This eclectic mix of old and new feathers may sometimes form a checkerboard pattern. They may look a little bit “scraggly” and “unkempt” during molting. Rest assured that they will look their stylist best in the fall during mating season.

I believe the renewal of youth “like the eagle” has to do with our unfolding revelation of Jesus. 

Renewal like the eagle is the process of continually shedding the old mindsets, faulty reasonings, and incomplete revelation that maybe carried us for a season, but weakened and deteriorated with use, especially when we wanted to fly higher – those times when we said, “There has to be more!” This is the place where I say that a little holy dissatisfaction in ok.

In my experience, flying higher is always preceded by a holy dissatisfaction with the status quo – and a desire for more revelation.

The glory of God is revealed in His Son, Jesus Christ. There is one thing in life that it’s ok to never be satisfied with and that’s our desire for more revelation of Jesus and more experience of His glory, grace, love, and power in our lives. I want to experience being a righteous child of God!

And God is pleased to satisfy us with these good things! He gives us new, strong, colorful plumage that renews our strength and vitality and youthfulness.

At any age we can be full of energy and excitement about the things of God. And God keeps us young so we can participate in all that He is doing.

Paul prayed – 

Ephesians 3:19, AMPC – [I pray] [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

To me, that’s the fountain of youth! More of that, and we’ll be electrified with the life of God!

He renews our strength

To close, I want to share one more passage about being renewed like the eagle, but first I will circle back to the word that God gave me this week because I feel that it dovetails with the message here – the part that says –

“This promise is not just for you, but for your children and their children and for every generation of your family. If you aren’t seeing it yet, it’s coming.” Elijah was a man like us. He prayed even though God had already told him what was going to happen – the rain was coming. In fact, he crouched down in prayer like he was giving birth, even though God had already told him it was going happen. And then the rains finally came.

Why did Elijah keep praying? It wasn’t because God said no, and he wasn’t begging. It was actually because he believed the promise of God. He was acting in faith because he knew from personal experience that God is faithful.

Elijah had seen the faithfulness of God many times. Remember how God kept the containers of flour and oil full for the widow and her son? And God raised a young boy back to life. God sent fire from heaven to lick up the water out of the trenches and burn the sacrifice. Elijah saw all of this and trusted in the goodness of God!

When Elijah prayed the first time for rain, it did not rain immediately. It took 7 rounds of sending his servant to go and look to the sea for clouds until he finally saw a cloud the size of a man’s hand. 

All it took was the slightest tiny cloud for Elijah to sound the alarm to Ahab, “Hurry! Go home! The rain is coming!” You know what that tells me? Elijah was waiting in eager expectation.

One of the most remarkable parts of this story is what Elijah did next.

1 Kings 18:46, NLT – the Lord gave special strength to Elijah. He tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab’s chariot all the way to the entrance of Jezreel. [Elijah outran a chariot at least 15 miles!]

I believe that when you wait on the Lord with eager expectation, He gives you supernatural strength!

Isaiah 40:28-31 – Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. [This is supernatural, divine strength that comes directly from the Lord. It’s not strength we get from exercise or eating right or vitamins. It’s not natural strength that we have because we are young. It’s a strength defies age.] 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, [kāšal kāšal – double kāšal for intensity. Even the youth utterly stumble, stagger, totter, they are feeble and weak.] 31 But those [of any age, young or old] who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; 31 they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

What is waiting? It’s the Hebrew word qavah. It means to look for, to hope for, to eagerly expect.

• Biblical waiting is not wishful thinking.
• Biblical hope has no disappointment.
• Biblical hope is not psychological. It’s spiritual. 
• Biblical hope is not based in me. It is not up to me. It’s based in God’s word, His purposes, and His hesed – His lovingkindness. 
• Biblical waiting is a sure hope in the promises of God because JEsus Himself is the guarantee of what we hope for.

Romans 8:32- He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, [on a cross] how shall He not with [Jesus] Him also freely give us all things.

Biblical waiting is an active process which includes us – like Elijah – our part is to remember, to pray, and to eagerly expect! 

I found this gem when I was researching qavah – the meaning of the pictograph from the three Hebrew letters in the word qavah is “what comes from securing what is behind.”*

We remember what God has done in the past to that we can see His pattern for the future. We can remember how He parted the Red Sea for us at times when there seemed to be no way. Somehow He provided rivers in the desert and roadways in the wilderness.

An analogy of “qavah” is rowing a boat. When you row a boat, you are looking backward, but you are moving forward. You are looking at where you have already been. Qavah is looking at the pattern of the faithfulness of God in your past to gain the strength to move forward.

What is His greatest act of faithfulness? What is His greatest demonstration of love? The cross. The pattern of God’s faithfulness was set at the cross. If God did not withhold His own Son, He will withhold no good thing from us. 

Everything we have ever needed or desired was purchased and accomplished at the cross. The ripple affect of the cross is the wake of God’s faithfulness. We put our oars in the water in line with God’s “wake of faithfulness,” and we secure in our hearts and minds all the hope we need in the faithfulness of God.

Psalm 27:13-14 – I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait  on the Lord; [qavah – Put your oars in the “wake of His faithfulness”] Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!

Back to Isaiah 40 – 

Isaiah 40:30-31 – But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.…

God has promised to renew our youth in Psalm 103 and renew our strength better than the youth in Isaiah 40 – the strength of a soaring eagle.

But the Hebrew word for “renew” in Isaiah 40 is not the same word for renew in Psalm 103:5.

“Renew” in Isaiah 40:30 is the Hebrew word ḥālap̄ [khaw-laf’] which means to replace or substitute, to transition out of one thing to another, to exchange, to transform from one state to another.

When we wait on the Lord – when we eagerly expect God to be faithful to His character – HIS HESED! (the defining characteristic of God) – and His word to lavish His goodness on us – this is how we are exchanging our human strength for God’s supernatural strength. It’s an endowed with the power of God that comes from biblical waiting. Looking unto Jesus and believing!

So the simple message is remember all the benefits of the cross, eagerly expect God to satisfy you with every good thing from heaven, and He will give you supernatural strength and courage as you wait and trust in His faithfulness!

To close, let’s read Psalm 103:1-5 one more time together:

Psalm 103:1-5 – Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Amen!

*Skip Moen, “Those who Wait” https://skipmoen.com/2010/03/those-that-wait/

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