Isaiah 40:31 says, "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." It promises that people who wait on God, trusting Him and hoping in Him, will receive fresh strength from Him. The verse answers a complaint in verse 27, where God's people felt He had forgotten them, and it rests on verse 28: the everlasting God "fainteth not, neither is weary".
Isaiah 40:31 has carried tired people for centuries: runners at the end of a race, parents in a long night, patients in a long treatment, pastors in a long ministry. It is the last verse of Isaiah 40, a chapter that begins with Comfort ye, comfort ye my people and turns the book from judgment toward hope. Isaiah was speaking ahead of time to a people who would go into exile in Babylon and would feel forgotten there. The chapter answers that feeling with a vision of how great God is: He holds the oceans in His hand, names every star and never grows tired. Verse 31 is the conclusion of that argument. Because God never faints, those who wait on Him will not be left to faint alone. Below is Isaiah 40:31 in the King James Version with the verses that lead up to it, and four other verses about eagles' wings and renewed strength. For more, see Bible verses about strength and Bible verses about waiting on God.
Isaiah 40 begins: comfort ye my people
1. Isaiah 40:1
"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God."
The chapter opens with tenderness: Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. The words are doubled for emphasis. After thirty-nine chapters full of warnings, God tells the prophets to speak comfortably (Isaiah 40:2), literally to the heart of Jerusalem. Her hard service would end and her sin would be pardoned. Isaiah 40:31 is part of this message of comfort. It is not a pep talk for the strong, but good news for people worn out by trouble.
2. Isaiah 40:8
"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever."
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. Isaiah compares human life and human power to grass that dries up in the hot wind. Kings and empires, even Babylon, would fade. Only God's word lasts. Peter quotes this verse in 1 Peter 1:24-25. This is why the promise of verse 31 can be trusted: it is not an inspiring thought from a man, but a word from the God whose word never fails.
3. Isaiah 40:11
"He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young."
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. The mighty God of this chapter is also gentle. He carries the weakest lambs close to His heart and walks slowly with the mothers. If you feel too weak to mount up with wings, start here. God does not demand strength before He helps. He carries those who cannot keep up.
Isaiah 40:27-31 (KJV): they that wait upon the LORD
4. Isaiah 40:27
"Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?"
Now Isaiah answers a complaint: Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God? The people felt invisible, as if God had stopped paying attention to their situation and their rights. Many believers know this feeling in long seasons of trouble. God does not scold them for saying it. He answers with the next four verses, which build up to the promise in verse 31.
5. Isaiah 40:28
"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding."
Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? The answer to feeling forgotten is to remember who God is. He is everlasting, He made everything, and He never runs out of energy. There is no searching of his understanding: He knows things about your situation you cannot see. Our strength comes and goes; His does not. That is the ground of the promise.
6. Isaiah 40:29
"He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength."
He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. The tireless God does not keep His strength to Himself. He gives it away, and He gives it especially to the faint, to people with no might of their own. This verse turns God's greatness into personal help. Paul learned the same truth when the Lord told him, My strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
7. Isaiah 40:30
"Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:"
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. Even the strongest people, young men at their physical peak, run out of strength. Human energy has a limit, no matter how fit or gifted we are. Isaiah is not putting down youth. He is clearing the ground for the next verse, so that no one thinks renewed strength comes from being young, healthy or talented. It comes from God alone.
8. Isaiah 40:31
"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."
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength. To wait upon the LORD means to hope in Him, look to Him and trust Him over time. It is not passive. The word renew can mean to exchange: our weakness for His strength. Then come three pictures. They shall mount up with wings as eagles is soaring strength for the high moments. They shall run, and not be weary is strength for the busy stretches. They shall walk, and not faint is strength for the long, ordinary road, and that may be the greatest gift of all.
Eagles' wings and renewed strength elsewhere in Scripture
9. Exodus 19:4
"Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself."
Long before Isaiah, God used the same picture at Mount Sinai: Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. God carried Israel out of slavery the way a great bird carries its young. Isaiah's readers would have heard this echo. The God who once carried them out of Egypt would carry them home from Babylon. Eagles' wings are first God's wings before they are ours.
10. Deuteronomy 32:11
"As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:"
In the Song of Moses, God is pictured as an eagle: As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings. An eagle stirs the nest to teach her young to fly, but she is ready to catch them. Sometimes God stirs up our comfortable places. When He does, He is not dropping us. He is teaching us to rise on wings He provides.
11. Psalms 84:7
"They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God."
Psalm 84 is a pilgrim song, sung on the road to Jerusalem for the feasts. The travelers pass through a dry valley and find springs there (Psalm 84:6), and then: They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. Instead of growing weaker on the long road, they grow stronger, because they are walking toward God. That is Isaiah 40:31 on the move. Paul says the same in his own words: let us not be weary in well doing (Galatians 6:9).
12. 2 Corinthians 4:16
"For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day."
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. Paul was honest that his body was wearing out. He had been beaten, shipwrecked and worn down. Yet he did not lose heart, because his inner life was being renewed every day. This is Isaiah 40:31 in the New Testament: the strength God gives is not always physical, but it is real, and it comes new each day.
A short prayer
Everlasting God, You do not faint and You are never weary, but I am. When I feel that my way is hidden from You, remind me who You are. I wait on You now. Exchange my weakness for Your strength. Help me rise when You lift me, run when You call me, and, on the long ordinary days, walk and not faint. Amen.
Go deeper: a SOAP study prompt
Pick one verse above and write: - Scripture: copy the verse by hand. - Observation: what does it say? Who is speaking, to whom? - Application: what does it mean for you today? - Prayer: turn it into a two-line prayer.
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Frequently asked questions
What does it mean to wait upon the LORD?
In Isaiah 40:31 the Hebrew word for wait (qavah) means to look for, hope in and trust, with the idea of patient, expectant waiting. Waiting on the LORD is not doing nothing. It is continuing to pray, obey and trust Him while you wait for His help, rather than giving up or rushing ahead in your own strength. Many modern versions translate it as those who hope in the LORD.
Why does Isaiah 40:31 mention eagles?
Eagles were known for soaring high on rising air with little effort, for their strength and for their long lives. The Bible uses the eagle as a picture of God carrying His people (Exodus 19:4; Deuteronomy 32:11) and of renewed strength (Psalm 103:5). To mount up with wings as eagles means rising above circumstances in strength God supplies, not strength we produce.
What comes before Isaiah 40:31?
Isaiah 40:27 records Israel's complaint: "My way is hid from the LORD". Verses 28 to 30 answer that the everlasting God never grows tired, gives power to the faint, and that even young men run out of strength. Verse 31 concludes: those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength. Reading verses 27 to 31 together shows that the promise was given to people who felt forgotten.
Is Isaiah 40:31 a good verse for athletes?
Many athletes and runners love Isaiah 40:31, and it is a fine verse to carry into a race. Its main point, though, is not physical performance. It promises God's strength to people who are weary in body, mind or spirit. The order of the three pictures is worth noticing: flying, running and then walking. Sometimes the greatest strength is simply to keep walking without fainting. See Bible verses about sports.
Sources: All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain in the United States. References were checked against the KJV text from bible-api.com.
Related: Strength · Waiting on God · Discouragement · Comfort and strength · Never give up · Strength in hard times · Hope · Isaiah 41:10 KJV
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