HEBREW WORD STUDY – PATIENTLY WAITING – CHAKAH חכה   

Isaiah 30:18: “And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted that he might be merciful upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment, blessed are all that wait for him.”

He was there all the time,

Waiting patiently in line.  -Gary Paxton-

Gary Paxton was a pop songwriter in the ’60s, he is one of the writers for the Monster Mash. He lived a wild carefree life and even had a contract out for his assassination. Then one day he found Jesus and realized that Jesus had been waiting all his life for him to turn to Him. This was something I never really thought about until I heard his song, He Was There All The Time.

My first thought, “Is that Biblical?”  Is God really waiting for me to make the first move? This is when I discovered Isaiah 30:18.   The Lord is waiting to be gracious to me. Ok, rule number one, never assume that because you like something everyone else will like it. But mercy Maude, that is profound, God is waiting from me, waiting until the right moment to be gracious.

There are a few words in Hebrew for wait.  In Isaiah 40:31 we learn that those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.  This wait is qavah which is a twisting or binding.  It is the word used for making rope.  Ever take a close look at a rope.  The ancient method of making rope is still used today.  Hundreds of thin strands of fabric, each when along can easily be broken, are tightly bound together to form a rope that cannot be broken.  So in Isaiah 40:31 this waiting is just not sitting back, patiently twiddling your thumbs, but it is a process of binding yourself to God and the more you bind yourself to God, the stronger you become.

Isaiah, however, uses a different word in 30:18 for wait which is chakah which is waiting, like someone waiting for a bus.  However, this word is in a Piel imperfect form so it is a continuing process not just waiting but waiting patiently. The word is spelled Chet, Kap, Hei.  The Chet indicates moving to a higher level. In other words, it is like waiting in line and moving forward.  God is patiently letting us run through all our fleshly endeavors trying to satisfy all our needs.  Then suddenly He appears next in line.  It is then that we discover the next letter in chakah (waiting) and that is the Kap which is the word for palm of the hand.  We discover that all this time He has been holding us in the palm of His hand. Thus, we finally do what Gary Paxton did after years of searching for some rainbow end. We invite God to enter our lives and he gives us the final letter to this word wait, the culmination of His waiting which is the Hei, His presence filled with His graciousness and mercy.

Hey, let Isaiah 30:18 tell us all about it blessed are those who chakah (wait) for Him. Only our chakah is not in a Piel imperfect form, it is a Qal participle. In others blessed are those who have been waiting for God. Unbeknownst to us, we have been waiting for Him all the time; we just did not see it.  Like that old saying: “Love was waiting for you at your own front door but you were too stupid to see it.”   Thank God His waiting has been in a Piel Imperfect rather than a Piel Perfect.  If that were the case, we would be out of luck.  If chakah were in a perfect form, He would have given up long ago and moved on.  Fortunately, God loves you and wants you a million times more than you love and want Him.

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