Click to Play
0 plays
“But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.”
— Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV)
This verse is the heart of the song “Soar on Wings.” It is one of the great promises of Scripture for the weary, the discouraged, the spiritually exhausted. It speaks of an exchange of strength, of supernatural endurance, of a life carried by God rather than driven by human effort.
Notice that the promise is not for everyone. It is very specific:
> “Those who wait on the Lord…”
Everything hinges on that condition. The song is, in essence, an invitation to a way of life: waiting, hoping, and trusting in the Lord in such a way that your strength is no longer your own, but His.
Let us see what the Word of God actually says and why this promise is so powerful for those who need renewal, deliverance from burnout, or a deeper walk with God.
---
Isaiah 40 marks a turning point in the book of Isaiah. Chapters 1–39 focus largely on judgment, warning, and impending disaster because of Israel’s sin and rebellion. From chapter 40 onwards, the tone shifts to comfort, restoration, and the revelation of God’s greatness.
Isaiah 40 opens with these words:
> “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!”
> Says your God.
> — Isaiah 40:1
God’s people were facing or anticipating exile, defeat, upheaval, and deep discouragement. Their experience suggested that God had either forgotten them or was powerless to help. Later in the chapter, God addresses their complaint directly:
> “Why do you say, O Jacob,
> And speak, O Israel:
> ‘My way is hidden from the Lord,
> And my just claim is passed over by my God’?”
> — Isaiah 40:27
In other words, they were saying:
“God does not see. God does not care. God is not acting on my behalf.”
Isaiah responds by lifting their eyes from their own circumstances to the greatness of God:
> “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.
> He gives power to the weak,
> And to those who have no might He increases strength.”
> — Isaiah 40:28–29
The context is clear:
Isaiah 40:31 is the climax of this revelation. It is God’s covenant answer to human weakness. He does not merely encourage them. He offers an exchange:
your weakness for His strength; your limited endurance for His supernatural persistence.
This is the situation in which the promise is given:
The song “Soar on Wings” is rooted in that context. It is not a sentimental refrain. It is a proclamation of God’s answer to deep weariness and long-term pressure.
---
Let us focus on two key Hebrew words in Isaiah 40:31:
### 1. “Wait” – *qavah* (קָוָה)
“But those who wait on the Lord…”
The Hebrew word here is qavah. It does not mean passive idleness. It carries the idea of:
This last nuance is very important. *Qavah* suggests a tension of expectancy, like a cord under pressure, waiting to be released. Waiting on the Lord means:
So, “wait on the Lord” is not “do nothing.” It is a deliberate, active, faith-filled orientation of the heart toward God, in which you refuse to move independently of Him.
### 2. “Renew” – *chalaph* (חָלַף)
“But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength…”
The Hebrew word is chalaph. It means:
Many scholars and teachers have pointed out that the sense here is not merely “top up” your strength, as one might refuel a car. It is rather:
> To exchange your strength for another kind of strength.
This is crucial. God is not trying to make your natural strength a little better. He is offering to replace your strength with His.
When we bring these two words together:
We can read the promise like this:
> “Those whose lives are bound up in expectant trust in the Lord
> will exchange their own strength for His strength.”
The lyrics of the song, “your strength will be renewed,” are in line with this. The renewing is not self-improvement. It is divine exchange.
---
Now we take the themes of the lyrics and compare them with the whole counsel of Scripture.
### A. “But those who wait on the Lord…”
The initial line of the biblical verse is echoed in the song:
“Wait on the Lord—your strength will be renewed.”
This is a spiritual law:
Renewal is not found in movement; it is found in waiting on God.
Modern life conditions us to believe that the answer to weariness is:
Scripture teaches the opposite. God says:
> “In returning and rest you shall be saved;
> In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”
> — Isaiah 30:15
Notice the similarity of themes:
But in Isaiah 30, the people refused:
> “But you would not…” (Isaiah 30:15)
We must decide whether we will be like those who “would not,” or whether we will yield to God’s prescription: return, rest, quietness, confidence—waiting on the Lord.
Waiting on God means:
1. Ceasing from self-effort as your primary trust.
Hebrews 4:10 says:
> “For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.”
2. Directing your expectation toward God alone.
Psalm 62:5:
> “My soul, wait silently for God alone,
> For my expectation is from Him.”
3. Submitting to the timing of God.
Ecclesiastes 3:11:
> “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”
Your battle is often not against the situation, but against impatience and unbelief. The spirit of this age says, “Now, in my way.” The Spirit of God says, “Wait, in My way.”
The song’s repetition of “Wait on the Lord—your strength will be renewed” is not vain repetition; it is spiritual reconditioning. The mind must be renewed to accept God’s method of strengthening.
---
### B. “They shall mount up with wings like eagles…”
The image of the eagle is deliberate. In Scripture, the eagle represents:
Psalm 103:5 says:
> “[The Lord] satisfies your mouth with good things,
> So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
To “mount up with wings like eagles” speaks of a life elevated above circumstances, not crushed beneath them. The key is that the eagle does not escape the wind; it uses the wind.
Apply this spiritually:
Romans 8:28 declares:
> “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God,
> to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
“All things”—even the contrary winds. For those who wait on the Lord, trials become lift, not weight.
The song’s line, “You will soar on wings like eagles,” is not sentimental promise. It is a description of God’s strategy:
He does not always change your environment; He changes your elevation.
---
### C. “They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
Notice the progression:
Soar → Run → Walk
Humanly, we would expect the order: walk, run, fly. But God reverses it. Why?
1. Soaring – This is the initial experience of supernatural uplift. Many believers encounter this at conversion or in a major breakthrough: an overwhelming sense of God’s presence and power, carrying them beyond anything they could do. It is dramatic.
2. Running – This pictures sustained activity in the service of God, energized by His strength. There is movement, speed, purpose—but still without weariness.
3. Walking – This is the most basic, daily, unexciting aspect of Christian life. It is the steady, faithful, consistent obedience over time.
God is not only interested in high moments of spiritual experience. He is committed to enabling you to walk—day after day, year after year—without fainting.
Colossians 2:6:
> “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.”
Micah 6:8:
> “…what does the Lord require of you
> But to do justly,
> To love mercy,
> And to walk humbly with your God?”
Many Christians seek only the soaring. God aims at the walking. The song captures this balance:
> “You will soar on wings like eagles,
> run and not grow weary,
> walk and not be faint.”
God does not neglect the ordinary. Waiting on the Lord equips you not only for great exploits, but also for faithfulness in the unseen, daily demands of life.
---
### D. “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.”
The song interchanges “wait” and “hope.”
“Those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.”
This is legitimate, because *qavah* includes the idea of hope. Biblical hope is not wishful thinking. It is:
> Confident expectation based on the character and promise of God.
Hebrews 6:19 describes hope as:
> “…an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast…”
Hope anchors your inner life in God’s faithfulness. This is essential in spiritual warfare, because one of Satan’s key strategies is discouragement.
Proverbs 13:12:
> “Hope deferred makes the heart sick…”
When hope is lost, the heart becomes sick, vulnerable, open to deception and compromise. But those who hope—*qavah*—in the Lord have their strength renewed. Hope heals the inner man.
Romans 15:13:
> “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
> that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Notice the elements:
So the song’s exhortation is more than encouragement; it is spiritual warfare. It confronts despair, resignation, and unbelief with a biblical command:
“Hope in the Lord. Wait on the Lord. Expect from the Lord.”
---
### E. Spiritual Realities Behind the Promise
1. God’s Strength vs. Human Strength
Isaiah 40:30:
> “Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
> And the young men shall utterly fall…”
Even the best natural strength fails. Youth, energy, talent, intelligence—none of these are enough to face life’s pressures or spiritual opposition.
Zechariah 4:6:
> “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’
> Says the Lord of hosts.”
The Christian life is impossible in human strength. God has not called you to live for Him in your own energy. He has called you to live by His strength, through His Spirit.
2. The Exchange at the Cross
Everything God offers us, He offers on the basis of the cross of Jesus Christ. There, a divine exchange took place. Among other things:
He hung on the cross in physical exhaustion, emotionally drained, spiritually bearing our sin. In that place of utter weakness, the power of God was revealed.
2 Corinthians 13:4:
> “For though He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of God.”
When you wait on the Lord, you are, in effect, applying the cross to your life. You are laying down your strength, your plans, your timing, and taking up His strength, His will, His timing.
3. The Role of the Holy Spirit
Isaiah 40:31 is fulfilled in the New Covenant by the Holy Spirit.
Isaiah 40 emphasizes that God “gives power to the weak.” In the New Testament, that power is explicitly tied to the Holy Spirit:
Acts 1:8:
> “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…”
Ephesians 3:16:
> “…to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man…”
The Spirit is the One who lifts us like eagles, sustains our running, preserves our walking. Waiting on the Lord, in New Testament terms, includes waiting before Him, filled with and attentive to the Holy Spirit.
---
Now we turn from doctrine to practice. How do we actually live this?
### 1. First, we must renounce self-reliance and accept our weakness.
God cannot renew what we insist on maintaining in our own strength. You must agree with His assessment:
> “Even the youths shall faint and be weary…”
You may say to God:
This is not failure. It is the starting point of true strength.
2 Corinthians 12:9:
> “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
Admit your weakness. Stop pretending before God and others. This opens the way for exchange.
---
### 2. Second, we must cultivate the practice of waiting on the Lord.
This is not occasional. It is a lifestyle.
Practically, this means:
> “Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul…”
“Lord, my help comes from You. I will not look first to people, systems, or methods.”
This may be accompanied by worship, praying in the Spirit, or silent meditation on a verse. But the key is posture: you are waiting for God’s direction, God’s timing, God’s impartation of strength.
---
### 3. Third, we must align our confession with God’s promise.
Derek Prince often emphasized that what we confess with our mouths sets the course of our lives. Many Christians cancel out God’s promise by negative, unbelieving speech.
They say:
Instead, we must agree with Isaiah 40:31. The song itself is a confession set to music:
> “Wait on the Lord—
> your strength will be renewed.
> You will soar on wings like eagles,
> run and not grow weary,
> walk and not be faint.”
Begin to say:
This is not mindless repetition. It is choosing to speak God’s Word over your circumstances.
---
### 4. Fourth, we must obey in the daily walk, not only seek the soaring moments.
Many believers seek only the extraordinary experiences of God. But God’s promise includes the walk.
Ask yourself:
Galatians 6:9:
> “And let us not grow weary while doing good,
> for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”
Waiting on the Lord will renew your strength so that you can keep doing good, keep walking, keep obeying. Expect God not only in the crisis, but in the ordinary.
---
### Proclamation
Say this aloud, thoughtfully, as an act of faith:
> **I proclaim that I am one who waits on the Lord.
> My life is bound together with Him in hope and expectation.
> I renounce confidence in my own strength,
> and I receive God’s strength in exchange for my weakness.
> As I wait on the Lord, my strength is renewed.
> I mount up with wings like an eagle;
> I rise above circumstances by the power of the Holy Spirit.
> I will run the race set before me and not grow weary.
> I will walk daily with my God and not faint.
> The God of hope fills me with all joy and peace in believing,
> and I abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
> I say with the Scripture:
> ‘Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.’
> This promise is mine, in Jesus’ name. Amen.**
### Prayer
“Lord, You are the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. You never faint; You are never weary. I confess that I am weak, weary, and limited in myself. I renounce my trust in my own strength, my own wisdom, and my own timing.
Teach me to wait on You—truly to *qavah*, to bind my life together with You in trust and expectation. By the power of the cross of Jesus, I exchange my weakness for Your strength, my unrest for Your rest, my impatience for Your perfect timing.
Holy Spirit, strengthen me in the inner man. Lift me as on eagle’s wings above my circumstances. Enable me to run the race You have set before me without weariness, and to walk daily with You without fainting.
Let this promise of Isaiah 40:31 be fulfilled in my life—not as theory, but as experience. I ask it in the name of Jesus, who was crucified in weakness and now lives by the power of God. Amen.”
Deepen your worship with these related songs:
No more songs available