Wait on the Lord (Psalm 27:14)

Let’s have a little fun in the LXX. I have been especially interested lately in what it means to “wait on the Lord.” It seems to me that waiting is not passive; it is not going into neutral. It is a very active experience, often harder than “doing” something. It involves work and trust.

Psalm 27:14 reads, ὑπόμεινον τὸν κύριον· ἀνδρίζου, καὶ κραταιούσθω ἡ καρδία σου, καὶ ὑπόμεινον τὸν κύριον.

“Wait” (ὑπόμεινον) is an imperative. This is not a suggestion or even a good idea. We are told to “wait.” BDAG’s second definition for ὑπομένω is “stand one’s ground, hold out, endure.” The third is, “to wait for with persistence, wait for.” Waiting is not sitting around and doing nothing. Waiting is something we “do” with “persistence.”

ἀνδρίζου is a great word for discussion of translation philosophy. Etymologically it means, “be a man.” It occurs in the NT only at 1 Cor 16:13 where you can see the translations struggle with the maleness of the word. “Be men of courage” (NASB). “Be courageous” (NIV, NRSV, CSB, NLT). “Show courage” (NET). “Act like men” (ESV). But the point is that it is active. It is something we all do, both brothers and sisters. It’s not passively sitting around waiting for the Lord to do something.

κραταιόω occurs in the NT at 1 Cor 16:13, Luke 1:80 (John the Baptist) and 2:40 where Jesus “grew and became strong” (ηὔξανεν καὶ ἐκραταιοῦτο), and Eph 3:16. It is a passive (κραταιούσθω), not deponent. It is the idea that we are strengthened by someone or something else. You see this in the passive in Eph 3:16. δυνάμει κραταιωθῆναι διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος αὐτοῦ; “be strengthened with power through his Spirit.”

This demonstrates the difficult balance of active and passive. Waiting on the Lord requires the very active activity of “being courageous.” At the same time, the strength to do so comes from the Lord. And with this balance we aggressively wait, expectantly, for the Lord.

I am not good at waiting. It’s hard work.