God’s greatness brings
comfort, encouragement & strength.
Isaiah 40:27-31
Introduction
The purpose of Isaiah is to
display God's glory and holiness through
His judgment of sin and His
deliverance and blessing of a righteous remnant. Isaiah is a book in three
sections. - Prophecies to the people of Isaiah's day (pre-exilic Israelites) chs. 1—39
- Prophecies to the captives in Babylon (exilic Israelites) chs. 40—55
- Prophecies to the restoration community (post-exilic Israelites) chs. 56—66
Isaiah’s words in this chapter are words of encouragement for a people
who have been overwhelmed by their own sense of sinfulness and failure. It was because of their sin that
the people had been taken captive to Babylon. Being faced with their own sinfulness and failure,
Isaiah writes this chapter to his people in order to inspire in them a sense of
the ‘hope’ (confident expectation) that they still possessed in the Lord their
God.
Isaiah foresees prophetically that the captive Judeans would feel as
though the Lord did not know or care about them, and thus they had no hope,
however he seeks to encourage them in the fact that the Lord can give them all
of the strength that they need to do anything that they do.
The people of Israel faced difficulties, like many of the
difficulties we face in our lives. Truths about God are given to encourage the people. These truths are God's encouragement to us at times like
this, also.
I.Sometimes or
most of the time…like them, this is our situation
27 O
Jacob, how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles?
O Israel, how can you say God ignores your
rights? (NLT)
"God has lost track of me.
He doesn't care what happens to me"? (MSG)
O Jacob – though Isaiah is speaking to the Jews, I think it’s
a pretty valid thing to insert your own name here. "O Richard",
"O Debby", "O Dave" If the Lord's power and wisdom are beyond compare, Israel
wonders, "Why are we suffering in exile? Where are his power
and wisdom?" Israel concludes,
"My way is hidden from the Lord, and the justice due me escapes the notice
of my God." Israel, pleading
its case in the cosmic courtroom, feels unheard.
Perhaps "my way" is not
significant enough to be heard by such a powerful God. Perhaps the
"justice due me" does not concern him in the least. Or, perhaps he's
not so powerful and wise after all. Perhaps he is weak and uninformed. Perhaps he has
been overthrown by the Babylonian gods and has gone into captivity with us.
If this is "my God," and he is able and
knowledgeable, he should do something about our plight.
Who among us has not come to similar conclusions? We too wonder why our God, if he is so powerful and wise,
doesn't act decisively in the midst of our circumstances. Our conclusions, too, imply that we are doubtful about
whether he is willing or able to act.
The prophet challenges Israel's conclusions. In the manner in which he
addresses the people, he shows them that their assertions are fallacious.
He calls them "Jacob" and then, in the parallel
phrase, "Israel." The Lord chose Jacob and changed his name to
Israel. God's promises are for "Israel." Israel is still the chosen
people of the Lord, and its way is by no means hidden from him, and the justice
due it has not escaped his notice.
You are important to God.
V. 27 We should never feel as if He's forgotten us.
There’s one thing that can
happen even if we have our theology straight and have an accurate understanding
of how great God is. The problem is that we can then look to our own
circumstances and wonder why we aren’t seeing some kind of incredible display
of power or miraculous deliverance in our life.
Let’s see how the Lord, replied through
Isaiah re: the question of his (ours) people.
II.Isaiah’s
response- are we practical atheists?
28
Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The ones asked the question
in this verse seem to know there is God, but live as practical atheists.
They don't seem to
understand that the fact there is a God makes a difference in everyday life. "How easy it is to believe
in God and at the same time to feel that
He is unable to meet our personal needs!"
"Do you not know? Have you not heard?" The two questions imply that Israel needs to relearn what
it has known and heard. It needs to know that God "knows"; it needs to
hear that God "hears."
The immediate answer to the questions sum up everything
that has already been said about the Lord in verses 12 to 31:
He is eternal, not bound to the present, as we
are. He is Yahweh, the covenant
keeping God. He is the Creator of all the
earth, not restricted to only one locale at a time. He does not grow tired, because
He is omnipotent. He is inscrutable, because He is
omniscient. He is unlimited by time, space,
power, and understanding.
"Their God is such (eternal,
Creator, untiring) that they need never doubt his capacity; he is also such (possessing
unfathomable wisdom) that they must never expect to understand all his ways."
"Everything that matters in
life hangs on who God is."
III. 4 Lessons we need to re-learn about
God
28b 1 The LORD is the everlasting God,
Same God of the O.T. Abram, Moses, David, Jesus Time, Now
& Forever2 the Creator of all the earth.
These practical atheists
need to hear what they already know: that the Lord GOD is the Creator of the
ends of the earth.
This passage,
then, first invites us to consider the universe and to imagine the power and
wisdom responsible for its creation and maintenance. Then it invites us
to believe that the one responsible for creation makes that very same power and
wisdom available to us. In his wisdom, he
does a powerful work in our lives.
The passage also invites us to specifically consider the
stars, which the Lord leads, names and protects like a shepherd. The stars remind us of the Lord's promise to deliver us.
He causes the stars to shine. He will do the same for us. Believing that he will do that, we wait for him.
He calls them by name –Such a God can be
trusted to know our deepest
need. The Milky Way numbers 100,000 million stars, many
of them brighter than the sun. Not one is missing – From
a poetic eye, it sounds like a vast flock following the Shepherd, who calls each by name!
(Meyer)
Will
not Jehovah do so much for us? – He has a name for each, & He will guard & guide each! He loves us more than stars!
Q: Can God miss even one of your problems? He knows more than just the names of
the stars. 40:26 He knows your name as well. Don’t think that you’re so small and
insignificant that God is going to lose track of you in all this mess.
Though God is able to work on a BIG
scale, He is also very intimately acquainted with the smallest details of our
life.
Jesus
said,(Mat 10:29 NLT) Not even a sparrow, worth only half a
penny, can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. {30} And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. {31} So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to him
than a whole flock of sparrows.
He is like a
watchman who always stays awake and never misses a thing, so he is well-aware
of Israel's plight. It
is not because of lack of power that God does not give immediate release from
trial and tribulation.
The Lord never sleeps, for if He ever did, the enemy the Devil would make
a quick attack and destroy all of the followers and faithful of the Lord.
If you think
about it, it is amazing that the Lord can hear and answer the prayers of all
those all around the world who are constantly praying to Him, and all of this
is merely effortless to the Lord, for He can never weary.
4 No one can
measure the depths of his understanding.
In verses 13-14 God is omniscient, all-knowing, and as such He
cannot learn, for He always knows all. The Lord is understanding, he is able to pass judgment
perfectly. His timing, therefore, is impeccable.Israel is asking
questions about the Lord's understanding, but his understanding is inscrutable-it is beyond Israel's capacity to discern.
In that his
understanding is inscrutable, he is like a judge whose decisions are beyond
question, so Israel will
receive justice.
Understanding the greatness and glory of God persuades
us that there is nothing in our life hidden from God, and there is nothing neglected by God.
Point summary:
II.Isaiah’s
response- are we practical atheists?
28 Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
III.Lessons we
need to re-learn about God
1 The LORD is
the everlasting God,
2 the Creator of all the earth.
he
is powerful
3 He never grows weak or weary. -
or tired
4 No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
his understanding is inscrutable"
(he is wise)
Whatever form of oppression you find yourself under, you
are not there because the Lord is weak or lacking in wisdom. He is able to act, and he knows what he's
doing. He is
able to help, he knows how to help and he knows when to help. His timing is
impeccable. His
understanding is such that we can never understand his multifaceted purposes
for the things that he allows into our lives.
Specifically, we cannot find out why God does what he
does. Job never found out why he suffered, but after the Lord
gave him a tour of creation, Job said of his earlier complaints,
"Therefore, I have declared that which I did not understand, things too
wonderful for me, which I did not know" (Job 42:3). His
understanding is infinite and He is working out His own counsels for our
blessing when He permits affliction to fall upon us and continue to oppress us. Man cannot fathom His plans, so should seek to
submit with trust to His providential dealings.
Transition
Isaiah foresees
prophetically that the captive Judeans would feel as though the Lord did not
know or care about them, and thus they had no hope; however, he seeks to
encourage them in the fact that the Lord can give them all of the strength that
they need to do anything that they do.
1 v.29 He
giveth power to the faint
He gives power to the
weak: After explaining all the greatness and glory of God, now Isaiah explains
another benefit we can receive from our God - He gives us His great power! To become weary is
to weaken under some form of pressure. To lack might is
to be without inner resources to respond to the pressure.
What has caused
Israel to become weary? Her Babylonian oppressors have beaten her down, and she
has no resources within herself to live successfully in captivity. Captivity has sapped her of energy for life. The Judeans would be weary after being conquered & humiliated. However, if they would just look to the Lord He would give them all of
the strength that they need to do anything that they do.
Isaiah tells
us that to those who lack might He increases power. God can make
the weakest and most feeble saint into a power house when they simply by faith
look to Him for the strength that they need to.
Notice who God gives power to: the weak, and
to those who have no might He increases strength. Those who are proud and
confident in their own wisdom and strength will receive no strength from God. "Strength," "might" and
"power" have been ascribed to the Lord (v26), and now the Lord uses
them not only on behalf of his people but to endue them with that very same
strength, might and power.
God does not just possess all
these qualities, but He shares His strength with those who need it. He has all energy, and He has
energy to spare and to share. Whether we buckle under life's
pressures or lack innate strength, He provides durable, stable power
.
IV. Application
towards us
30 Even youths will
become weak and tired,
and
young men will fall in exhaustion.
:30 Even the youths
shall faint and be weary
Have you been around any
little ones this Christmas? It’s not uncommon for one of us "old
folks" to be saying, "I wish I had a tenth of the energy that little
one has!" Yet even the little ones get tired and crash. This should not be surprising, because even "youths
grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly."
The second line is even more dramatic than the first, for
"vigorous young men" are the best of the "youths," and they
not only grow weary and tired, as all youths do, but they stumble badly.
The best runners can't run forever. They all stumble
eventually. Every one will feel tired & exhausted…we all need the
Lord. Circumstances may overcome even
the strongest young people in their prime either through lack of
inner resources or because of the hardness of life.
IV. Application
towards us
3 31 But those who trust in the LORD
will find new strength.
:31 But they that
wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength
wait – qavah –hope, expect; to look eagerly for; to
lie in wait for; linger for. The word "wait" contains within it the concept of
hope. It means to wait
confidently for something. The people are supposed to wait for the Lord to
administer justice and fulfill his promise to liberate and vindicate his
people.
renew – chalaph – to pass on or away; to change,
substitute, alter, change for better, renew. It’s the idea of changing clothes,
taking off the old stuff and putting on new ones. It’s taking our weakness
and exchanging it for God’s strength.
How do we receive this strength from the LORD? The idea behind wait on the LORD is not a passive
sitting around until the LORD does something. Yes, God gives us strength; but we don't expect it to
come as if He were pouring it into as you sit passively. He brings it to us as we seek Him, and rely on Him,
instead of our own strength. If we are weak,
it is because we do not wait on the LORD!
This is how they will "gain new strength.": They will not gain new strength when the Lord acts to
liberate them; they will gain new strength as they wait for the Lord to
liberate them. The weary and weak are strengthened as they wait for the
Lord. They find supernatural strength to endure captivity and
even flourish within it:
The Lord is not looking to change the circumstances of
Israel in exile; he is looking to change Israel in exile. He has sent Israel
into exile for the purpose of spiritual reformation. The scene of this reformation is, of all places, Babylon,
the place of oppression. Weariness and weakness, then, are prerequisites to
spiritual reformation.
When the pressures
of life cause us to realize that we lack the resources to live fruitfully, we
are motivated to wait for the Lord.
We throw ourselves
at the Lord, believing that if he doesn't catch us, all is lost. We bank on
his goodness. Waiting for the Lord involves directing mind and heart to prayer,
scripture and worship.
We have trouble disciplining ourselves in such a way, but
weariness and weakness motivate us. Until we grow weary and acknowledge our weakness, we tend
to choose anything but heartfelt, desperate dependence on the Lord.
As Ben Patterson
says, "When you're well, you think you're in charge. When you're sick,
you know you're not." In our weariness, we turn to the Lord.
The Lord takes us to Babylon, where we feel oppressed,
constricted and closed in, so that we will recognize our weakness, and actively
wait and hope for him. This is how the Lord brings about spiritual reformation
in our lives. This is how he forms men and women who are spiritually
strong. This is how he is
forming you into the man or woman he wants you to be.
"This expression
["those who wait for the Lord"] implies two things: complete dependence on God and a willingness to allow him to
decide the terms." They who wait on the Lord will be
able to overcome natural drawbacks, endure with energy to spare, and
keep on living without becoming excessively tired.
IV. Application
towards us
4 They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and
not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.
mount up – ` alah – to go up, ascend, climb
The eagle is thought to be the most powerful of the birds, and thus
Isaiah tells us that the one who waits upon the Lord will mount up with wings
like the eagle. Mere natural and
physical powers will not avail in the hour when one is called upon to face
great mental and spiritual emergencies. But they who
have learned to refer everything to God and to wait quietly upon Him will be
given all needed strength to rise above depressing circumstances, thus enabling
them to mount heavenward as eagles facing the sun, to run their
race with patience, and to walk with
God with renewed confidence and courage, knowing that
they are ever the objects of His love and care.
As
we wait on Him we are changed into His likeness. As
we wait for Him in patience we are delivered from worry and fretfulness, knowing
that God is never late, but that in His own time He will give the help we need. There will be moments in the spiritual life when we feel
as if we're soaring, as if we've risen above it all. There will also be moments
when we feel as if we're running, as if we've hit some kind of stride. But as we wait and hope in the Lord, he gives us the
strength to put one foot in front of the other.
To live in faithful dependence on the Lord
step by step is the greatest accomplishment of all.
Is there some form of oppression in your life at the
moment? Do you feel somehow constricted and closed in? Does it feel in any way as if you're in captivity, living
in exile? Are you therefore weary, lacking in strength? Life can make you feel that way. It can wear you out. Perhaps, even as a vigorous young person, you've already
stumbled badly. You're tired of the pressure; you're tired of the pace of
life here; you're tired of your workplace; you're tired of your
living arrangement; you're tired of
living under a weight of expectations; you're tired of being single; you're tired of
your fears.
You're in a situation in which you feel trapped, and it's
sapped you of strength. If you feel weary and weak, give thanks! You are now a
candidate for God's strength. Are you wondering what the Lord is doing with all his
power and wisdom? Are you, like Israel, asserting, "My way is hidden
from the Lord, and the justice due me escapes the notice of my God"?
What does the Lord do with his power and wisdom? His power and his
wisdom are for us! He doesn't change the
circumstances; he changes us. The key at first lies not in liberating ourselves from
oppressive circumstances; it lies in waiting for the Lord.
Remember, Paul calls Christ, particularly "Christ crucified" (1
Corinthians 1:23), "the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1
Corinthians 1:24). In his wisdom, he
gives his power to those who wait for him, and they will mount up with wings
like eagles; they will run and not get tired; they will walk and not become
weary.
Researched taken from
: Rich Cathers, Bob Definbaugh ,
David Guzik' , Harry
A. Ironside, Scott Grant, Jim Bomkamp & Dr. Thomas Constable
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