But they that wait upon the LORD 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.
They shall mount up (2 Samuel 1:23) - literally, they shall make their wing to ascend х ya`ªluw (H5927) 'eeber (H83)]. Or else, 'they shall put forth fresh feathers, as eagles' are said to renovate themselves; the parallel clause, 'renew their strength,' confirms this. The eagle was thought to moult and renew his feathers, and with them his strength, in old age (so the Septuagint [pterofueesousin hoos aetoi], Arabic, Syriac, and Vulgate; Psalms 103:5). However, the English version is favoured by the descending climax, mount up ... run ... walk. in every attitude the praying, waiting child of God is "strong in the Lord" (Psalms 84:7; Micah 4:5; Hebrews 12:1).
Remarks: To the Lord's people who, like Simeon, "wait for the consolation of Israel," this chapter is full of precious "comfort." Though the Lord has sorely chastised His people, yet the fact that He is still their God guarantees their ultimate restoration. When Jerusalem's 'appointed time' of hardship "is accomplished," and her iniquity has been expiated through the application of Christ's atoning blood, upon her repentance, the Lord will speak 'to her heart,' and give her double joy for her past sufferings. John the Baptist's cry in the wilderness before Christ's first advent, that men should "prepare the way of the Lord" by repentance, is the type of every faithful minister's preaching now, that men should be ready, through a living, working faith, for the second coming of the Lord. Whatever hindrances may seem now to stand in the way of Christ's kingdom, God can do that which with man is impossible-He can and will make that which is 'crooked straight,' so that 'all flesh shall see the glory of the Lord.' This is the encouragement to the Lord's people when they are faint-hearted because of the present slowness in the progress of the Gospel kingdom.