Wait on the Hills
Wait on the Hills
Recently I had a dream. In the dream, a figure approached me and whispered in my ear, "the message for you is to wait on the hills". I remained silent. The voice then continued, "Also, read Psalm 129". I woke up bleary-eyed in the early hours and said to myself that I must remember those words. I fell asleep again, and when I woke up properly in the morning, I immediately looked into what the voice had told me in the dream. I scoured the Internet in search of confirmation from the Word, as I didn't think there was a specific verse about waiting on the hills. My search yielded the following:
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)
A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the hills - From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121: 1-2, NKJV)
I then opened Psalm 129, which opens with these verses:
'They have greatly oppressed me from my youth,' let Israel say; 'they have greatly oppressed me from my youth, but they have not gained the victory over me.' (Psalm 129: 1-2, NIVUK)
I wondered about the connections between these verses, as it all seemed very random. Could God really speak to me through a dream? Could I interpret something meaningful from what He said to me? But God is God, and for Him, there is no such thing as coincidence.
Isaiah 40:31 has been my verse of this year while I've dealt with burnout, along with my long-term conditions, CFS/ME and C-PTSD. It has become something of a mantra for me; I meditate on it daily. It has also been used to inspire our worship sessions for Qavah (Hebrew: to wait with anticipation, to hope, to expect, to rest in Him), and the YouTube channel Megan and I are hoping to launch, God willing, in early 2025. So, I did a deep dive into the context for all three passages.
When I read the surrounding passages, I noticed the same theme of challenge-fatigue, exhaustion, oppression-in the days of our youth (see Psalm 129, as above, and Isaiah 40:30, 'Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion'). Of course, for me, these verses are particularly poignant, as I have battled with CFS/ME since I was young (aged 20 onwards). It felt like a validation-but also afforded a radical acceptance-of the health issues I've faced, for it can be hard to reconcile having a frail and vulnerable body at this stage of life. God reminded me that I'm not alone.
Yet the response God calls us to is what follows (immediately) in Isaiah 40:31: we are to wait with anticipation on Him in everything. We are to lean on His strength, not our own. For our strength-our very being-is not our own. It is all in Him. And He can use our weaknesses for His glory (2 Corinthians 12: 8-10).
What happens when we wilfully surrender all to Him and trust in His promises? Here, we see the common theme of ascent across Psalm 129 (literally, in the title) and Isaiah 40: we will rise…like eagles! And then we see the connections appear between Isaiah 40 and Psalm 121. Where are eagles' nests found? In high, inaccessible places. (Interestingly, both eagles' nests and such places are referred to as eyries). As I read, I pictured the eagles' nest, in a nook of a cliff face, on jagged rock, at the cliff's edge, battered by strong winds. And yet the eagles rest there; they take flight from there. The same winds that beat the mountain lift them higher. Ultimately, it's an image of beauty in unforgiving circumstances: strength and resilience through the challenge; growth, renewal, and life at the rugged hilltop. It is by no means easy terrain, but that does not detract from the sheer majestic quality of eagles, nor even the sight of hills punctuating the horizon, that liminal space between Heaven and Earth.
I believe this is why the Psalmist's symbolism of/around the hills is so powerful. The hills, here, represent a place of seeking, longing, safety, and comfort, as well as challenge. Remember that David had to take to the hills as his residence when Saul was out for his life (1 Samuel 21-23). Again tying Psalm 121 and Isaiah 40 (more generally) together is the message of strength in the Lord, in His authority as maker and master of the Earth.
The three passages are all tied. All are about experiencing challenges and waiting on the Lord. As my Dad always says from the pulpit, the Word never contradicts itself.
Taken together, for me, this is an encouraging word of the Lord's faithfulness. I believe that God is reminding me of how He is continually carrying me through this life, how He has been with me, is with me, and will always be with me, on my overall healing journey. Despite our struggles, or rather, through our struggles, God is preparing us for something bigger. This word is a renewal of the promise to rest and wait on Him. To wait for Him to come over the hills. To raise us with Him back up them, above them, to soar from them. And that those hills-which were once a place of trial and spiritual desolation-can become a place of renewal, of rebirth, through Him, too.
Wait for the Lord.
Wait on the Lord.
Wait on the hills.
Bex Courtier