Psalm 130:5-6 say, "I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning."

This entire pslam is talking about turning to God for the forgiveness of his sins. What is meant by waiting for the Lord? Does it mean to have an expectation that you will receive forgiveness from Him?

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Curt Hayashida
member, Community Bible Church (Non-denominational)
Vallejo, CA

It's a word picture demonstrating the idea of "waiting with expectancy." This kind of "waiting" can also include praying and meditating on Scripture. We know that God answers prayer, especially prayers for forgiveness, and we can "wait" by preparing ourselves for the answer with prayer and Bible meditation.

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Richard T. Zuelch, M.Div
Ruling Elder, OPC (not currently serving)
Westminster Presbyterian Church, CA (OPC)
www.alexandermaclaren.wordpress.com
www.reiterations.wordpress.com
www.spurgeonswords.wordpress.com

Devout souls do not take offence at the depths and difficulties of God's Word, but are, thereby, drawn to intenser contemplation of them. - Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910)

The actual Hebrew word for "wait" in this verse is QAVAH, which indeed means "to expect." But Hebrew words are also little pictures, revealed often by the meaning of it's Root word. When a Semitic person hears a word like "wait", they are not just hearing the word itself...or it's "meaning"...but it is like a little motion picture moving in his head, on the screen of their imagination.

IMO, this picture is revealed when you see that this ROOT WORD is translated into English from the primary concept of "twisting together."

QAVAH means "to bind together, by twisting...as in a rope." Therefore, to "wait on God" is not passive, like "just sitting and waiting for something to happen." The Puritans did not believe in passivity for a good reason...it's not biblical.

Rather, the idea is that to "wait on God" Hebracially means that you allow the LORD Himself and His thoughts to interweave with your life. In other words, you are waiting on God as you prepare yourself by scripture study, meditation, prayer and renewing your mind continually.

The picture is also one of "a vine that twists itself around a tree trunk." A picture of strength and dependence on Another. Literally: active participation together where the two become one.

This is the same word used in the well-known verse in Isaiah 40:31, "But they that wait upon the LORD (lit. "they who have there lives so intertwined with GOD in every way possible")...they are the ones "who shall renew their strength: they shall mount up with wings as eagles: they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

Hebrew is a dynamic language, and not static; it is a language of great emotion and evocative images. Hence, in Psalms 130:4-5 we "expect" because we are "twisted together" with our Creator, the One who made us. And He will answer His elect when they cry out to Him. Rather than taking matters into our own hands, we wait on Him.

Psalm 130:1-2 talk about the psalmist being in great distress. Out of the depths, he is crying to God. Is he in despair because he sees the seriousness of his sin?

Bishop Horne puts it like this:-"From the depths of sin, and the misery occasioned by sin, the penitent , like another Jonas, entombed in the whales belly, and surrounded by all the waves of the ocean, crieth unto God for help and salvation. Fervent prayer will find its way, through every obstruction , to the ears of him who sitteth upon his holy hill.And may not the bodies of the faithful ,buried in the dust, be said to cry out of the depths of the grave, for a joyful ressurection, according to the promise and pattern of Christ, who, after three days, came forth from the heart of the earth, as Jonas did from the belly of the whale?"