Five-minute study · Day 335 · Psalms 27
Psalm 27:14
A word worth stopping on: be strong / courageous חָזַק chazaq
'Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait on the LORD.' The Hebrew word translated 'be of good courage' is chazaq. It means to be firm, to be strong, to take a firm grip. The word comes from military language. It describes the act of fortifying a wall, bracing a gate, gripping a weapon so tightly that the enemy cannot knock it from your hand. David uses this word at the end of a psalm that begins with confidence ('The LORD is my light and my salvation') and passes through fear ('Though an host should encamp against me'). He arrives at verse 14 with an imperative: chazaq. Hold firm. The command appears between two identical phrases: 'wait on the LORD.' The waiting is not passive. It requires the grip strength of a soldier holding a position.
Word study: be strong / courageous
- Hebrew
- חָזַק
- Pronounced
- chazaq
- Strong's
- H2388
- Definition
- To be strong, to grow firm, to strengthen, to seize, to take hold of. In the Qal stem: to be strong, to prevail. In the Piel: to make strong, to repair, to fortify. In the Hiphil: to make firm, to display strength. In the Hithpael: to strengthen oneself, to take courage.
Chazaq appears 290 times in the Hebrew Bible. BDB defines it as 'to be or grow firm, strong, to strengthen.' The word's range is wide: it describes physical strength (Judges 16:28, Samson's prayer for strength), military fortification (2 Chronicles 11:11, Rehoboam fortifying cities), the hardening of Pharaoh's heart (Exodus 4:21), and the act of taking courage before God (Joshua 1:6-7, 'Be strong and of a good courage').
Craigie's commentary on Psalms 1-50 (WBC) reads Psalm 27:14 as the psalm's concluding exhortation. The psalm divides into two sections: verses 1-6, expressing confidence in God's protection, and verses 7-14, expressing urgent prayer for God's presence and deliverance. Craigie notes that the shift in tone between the two halves is dramatic. The first half is declarative, almost defiant. The second half is pleading, anxious, marked by imperatives directed at God ('Hear, O LORD,' 'Hide not thy face,' 'Forsake me not'). Verse 14 resolves the tension with a command directed at the self: chazaq.
Craigie connects the military connotation of chazaq to the military imagery of the psalm. Verse 3 envisions an army encamped against the psalmist. Verse 6 describes the head lifted above surrounding enemies. The psalm operates in a landscape of threat. The final verse commands the kind of strength appropriate to that landscape: the strength of a soldier who holds ground while waiting for reinforcement. The reinforcement is God. The holding is the waiting.
The doubled 'wait on the LORD' (qaveh el YHWH) frames the command. Craigie observes that qavah (to wait) carries the sense of taut expectation, like a rope stretched tight. The combination of qavah and chazaq produces an image of active, strenuous waiting: muscles tensed, grip firm, eyes forward, holding position until the LORD arrives.
Historical context · c. 1000 BCE
Military Fortification Language in the Psalms
The Hebrew word chazaq appears frequently in contexts of city defense and military preparation. In 2 Chronicles 11:11-12, Rehoboam 'fortified' (chazaq in the Piel stem) the cities of Judah, placing shields and spears in each city. In 2 Chronicles 26:9, Uzziah built towers and 'fortified' (chazaq) them. In Nehemiah 3, the verb appears repeatedly as workers 'repaired' (chazaq) sections of Jerusalem's wall. The physical act of chazaq in these contexts involves reinforcing stone, bracing gates, and strengthening structures against assault.
Craigie situates Psalm 27 within the experience of David as a military leader who spent years as both commander and fugitive. David's vocabulary draws from the realities of siege warfare, fortified positions, and the discipline of holding ground under pressure. The 'host' of verse 3 (machaneh) is a military camp. The 'war' (milchamah) is actual combat. The 'tabernacle' (sukkah) of verse 5, where God hides the psalmist, uses the same word as the temporary shelters soldiers erected in the field.
Archaeological evidence from Iron Age Judea reveals the physical infrastructure behind chazaq. Excavations at Lachish, Beersheba, and Arad have uncovered fortification systems with casemate walls (double walls with internal chambers), gate complexes with multiple chambers, and glacis (sloped defensive surfaces at the base of walls). These structures were the product of chazaq: the act of making strong, of reinforcing against expected attack. When David commands himself to chazaq in Psalm 27:14, he uses the language of these walls and gates. The heart, like a city, can be fortified. The waiting, like a siege, requires endurance.
The command is given twice. Craigie notes that repetition in Hebrew poetry serves as intensification. 'Wait on the LORD' appears at the beginning and end of the verse, creating an envelope structure that wraps the command to chazaq. The structure itself mirrors the fortification: the waiting surrounds and protects the courage.
For reflection
Chazaq is grip strength. It is the hand that does not let go of the weapon, the wall that does not crumble under assault, the soldier who holds position. Where in your life right now are you tempted to let go, to stop waiting, to walk away from something God has asked you to hold? What would it feel like to tighten your grip today?
The verse does not say 'wait and everything will be easy.' It says 'wait and be strong.' The strength is for the waiting. The waiting is the battle.
Sources: BDB; Craigie, "Psalms 1-50" (WBC)