Hebrew Word Study – Courage – חִ֭זְק  Cheth Zayin Qop

“Psalms 31:24: “Be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.” 

“Courage is like love, it must have hope for nourishment.”  Napoleon Bonaparte

Practically every modern English translation I look at will render the word hameyachelim as hope. That is a lot of Hebrew letters for a four letter English word.    A couple translations will render this as wait.  Either rendering makes me a little uneasy.  I saw a movie the other day where our heroes were surrounded by the bad guys and the good guys were fighting to the last man.  The Sergeant addressed his Captain and said: “Sir, we can’t hold out any longer if our reinforcements do not arrive.”  The captain said with absolute certainty, “They will be here in time.”  The Sargent replied: “I sure hope so sir.”  That officer had faith, that Sargent had hope. To say that I hope in the Lord, for me, is like saying: “I hope the Lord comes through in time.”   In other words, God may or may not come through, but I won’t bet my money on Him.  The word wait does not give me much comfort either as it suggests that God is sitting up in heaven with a stopwatch and I just have to wait for Him out as He will come through when He is good and ready. 

I personally need a better understanding of this courage and hoping in the Lord business.  The root word for hameyachelim (hope) is yachal. All those other letters tell me things about yachal like it is in a Piel participle form.  The Lexicon only tells me that the word means to wait, to expect or to hope. However, as a Piel, this would raise it to another level of confidence so the word “expectation” would be more appropriate and as a participle it would be rendered as: “All you whose expectations are on the Lord.” That augers a little better with me, but somehow deep within my spirit I feel there is more to it than this.

So, as I usually do when I feel there is a deeper meaning to a passage of Scripture, I pack my knapsack and prepare for a journey behind my Looking Glass. I will take a few extra supplies as this journey may take a while. I expect this to be a long journey as I am searching for a word that is often rendered as wait and who knows how long I will have to wait for yachal to show up. 

I cross over though my Looking Glass and find that it is already dark. So, I figure I just as well search for a nice dry place to set up camp. Yet, it is getting darker and darker and it is starting to get a little spooky out there. The Ra’s (evil) Resh Ayin are all around.  I see ra’av Resh, Ayin, beth (starvation)  poking his head out of the bushes,  I hear the high pitched whine of  ra’al Resh, Ayin, Lamed (terror) and the thundering roar of ra’am Resh, Ayin, Mem  (thunder and turmoil) off in the distance  and a shattering sound of ra’a Resh, Ayin, Aleph (breaking into pieces, sorrow).  Then ra’as Resh Ayin, Samek (oppression) appears before me and now, oh my,  Ra’sh Resh Ayin Shin (trembling with fear) grabs hold of me and I begin to shake.  I can only hope, I mean yachal, that help arrives otherwise all is lost.

Suddenly I see a Chet, Zayin, and Qop Chazaq (Steadfastness and courage) come rushing into my camp with swords drawn just as all the Ra’s are about to attack me.  With swords flying Chet, Zayin and Qop, Chazaq slay all the Ra’s and all the Ra’s in the distance suddenly become quiet.  Chet takes off his helmet and introduces himself.  “I am the first letter in the word Chazaq (steadfast courage).  I am the Chet and I represent a joining of man to God.  Because you have joined yourself with God, I was able to lead the charge against the Ra’s.”  Zayin now steps forward, bows and says: “Let me introduce myself, I am the Zayin, the second letter to Chazaq, I represent a man’s involvement with God.  Because you are involved with God in protecting His heart, I was able to back up Chet in this fight.”   “But” says Chet, “We could not have come had it not been for our final letter Qop.  Qop now steps forward, shinning bright and powerful.   Qop says; “I am the most important ingredient to steadfastness and courage because I represent holiness and sanctification.  Because of the Blood of Jesus, you are holy before God and as a result you were able to join yourself with God and bring Chet and your involvement with the protection of God’s heart brought Zayin.    I stood up shook the hands of my new friends and protectors, “Chet, Zayin, Qof” Chazaq (courage to stand steadfast).   I realized then that when Psalms 31:24 tells me to be of good courage it is telling me to join myself with God and involve myself with God’s eternal plan through the sanctification and Sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  God then sends Chazaq (courage of steadfastness) so that I will be able to stay steadfast while waiting for Hope” or “Expectations to arrive.  

As Chazaq settles down to join me in a cup of tea, Chet asks why I am out here in this wilderness in the first place.  I explain I am waiting for Hope or Expectation. You see all my expectations are in the Lord.  “Ah,” says Chet knowingly, “You are waiting for Yachal.  “Yes, ” I said, “Yod, Chet, Lamed – Yachal are…  Hey, are you related to that other Chet in Yachal?”  “I sure am” said Chet, “That is my cousin, in Yachal and he represents a new beginning and a restoration.”   “Yes,” I say, “That is exactly what I need, a new beginning, a restoration.”  

“But you can’t have it without me.”  says a voice.  I look up and I see Yod approach the camp.  “I am Yod, the first letter of Yachal hope and expectation and I need to explain something to you before Chet (restoration) arrives.  You see I also form the word Yad, (hand, power), I am the powerhouse behind the change.  I represent spirituality.  This change comes only through your connection with heaven.”  By this time Chet arrives shaking hands with Yod, Chet looks at me and says, “Yod and I are at your service but we can do nothing until our last letter arrives – Lamed.  Here he comes now, you see him with his hand raised in prayer and ready to receive from heaven into his heart.  Nothing will ever happen until you use your Lamed – prayer.

My new friends Chazaq – steadfast courage, restoration and Yachal – wait  all gather around the campfire. We stand and join hands praying to the one who brings this courage and restoration.  Cheth who is joining me with God, Zayin who involves me in God’s eternal plan and Qop sanctifying me with the Blood of Jesus.  It is there I receive the courage so Yod can bring the power of heaven to Cheth who can impart my restoration and of course this prayer is led by Lamed who has an uplifted hand ready to receive from heaven. 

I return through my Looking Glass to my office and ponder what I have just learned.  It appears that I must use the English word wait for hameyachlim or yachal rather than hope.  I am not hoping for the Lord to come through, I am waiting for Him to fill me with chazaa courage and restoration to strengthen my heart.  The Lord will come through but sometimes he waits until that eleventh hour after the movers have the furniture loaded on the truck and is about to drive off. He says: “Ok, you can put it back.”  I mean that’s hard on your heart.

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