Genesis 49:18

I have waited. Not only was this prayer voiced by Jacob on his own behalf, but it expressed confidence that his descendants also would receive the help of God, as he had in his own life. It is interesting to watch the dying patriarch in this last tense hour of his life. Although most of his words seem to have been spoken by inspiration, this prayer evidently expresses his own natural feelings. A sudden relief from tension or a sudden accident may reveal the level of one’s spiritual attainment. From one man’s lips a curse will be forthcoming, from another’s an empty and meaningless expression, and from still another’s a prayer may come. It is often unjust to judge a man by the words spoken in an unguarded moment, but Jacob would stand such a test. The years of the deceiver were long past; now he belonged to the company of God’s chosen ones.