But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
The promise does not build up to the eagles; it comes down from them, and ends with walking.
Today's reflection
The people Isaiah is speaking to have a specific complaint, and the chapter quotes it for them. My way is hidden from the LORD, and my claim is ignored by my God. It is the voice of people who have been away from home long enough to wonder whether anyone is still keeping track of their case.
God answers with a question that sounds almost impatient. Do you not know? Have you not heard? Then he turns their eyes outward. The Creator of the ends of the earth does not grow tired or weary. His understanding is beyond searching out. And that tireless strength is not kept to himself. He gives power to the faint.
Isaiah does not flatter human stamina. Even youths grow tired and weary, he says, and young men stumble and fall. The strongest people in the room run out too.
Then comes the promise, and it is worth reading slowly because of its order. They will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
If we were writing it, we would probably have saved the eagles for last. Isaiah goes the other way. He begins in the sky and ends on foot. For exiles facing a long way home, and for most of us on most days, walking without fainting is the miracle that matters. There are seasons that feel like flight. Many more feel like putting one foot in front of the other without collapsing, and the prophet counts that as the LORD’s strength as well.
To wait upon the LORD here is not to sit idle. The word carries expectation, a leaning toward someone who has not forgotten your name. A few lines earlier God calls each star by name, and not one of them is missing. Your way is not hidden from him.
Why this passage
Context checked: Isaiah 40 opens the part of the book addressed to Jerusalem after her "forced labor" is completed (40:2), usually read against the Babylonian exile and the hope of return. In 40:27 Jacob complains that his way is hidden from the LORD and his claim ignored by God. The answer in 40:28-31 is that the Creator of the ends of the earth does not grow tired and gives power to the faint, while even young men stumble and fall. The Hebrew verb behind "wait upon" (qavah) means to wait with expectation, to hope in. Verse 31 moves in a descending order: mounting up like eagles, running, walking. Verse 26 has just described God calling every star by name.
Scripture in English is from the Berean Standard Bible, which its publisher placed in the public domain on 30 April 2023.