He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
When you are self–focused rather than God–focused you will inevitably begin to wonder if God really cares for you at all. Thus, Isaiah poses the question: Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God?” If God is the creator of the universe, if he is sovereign over the affairs of men, if he pays attention to all the details of his creation, then what right does anyone have in questioning whether God sees and understands anyone’s unique situation? Ironically, this question is being asked shortly after Israel had witnessed the exercise of God’s sovereignty over the nations. Isaiah reminded the Jews of their recent history of an Assyrian threat to their sovereignty. Humanly speaking, Judah appeared to be in an untenable position. In desperation King Hezekiah prayed for God’s intercession on behalf of the city of David. God responded through Isaiah that the King’s prayer had been heard and God would defend the city for his own sake and the sake of his servant David. An angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 soldiers in the Assyrian camp and Sennacherib returned to Nineveh to be killed by his sons as he was worshipping his pagan god.
Isaiah encourages God’s people to keep their faith focused on the sovereign covenantal love of God. Isaiah’s admonition, like Samuel before him, is to remember what great and mighty things the Lord has done for you. God has not forgotten you. Isaiah reminds you as he did Israel to keep your eyes fixed upon the Lord (cf. Hebrews 12.1-2). Do not say: “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God.” To the contrary, be encouraged with the knowledge that the Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. If your walk with the Lord has lost its ardor, do not make the mistake of thinking that the transcendent God does not care about you. You may be tempted to think he is too great to care and you are too insignificant to matter. That is the wrong inference; the right one is that he is too great to fail. The biblical way of renewal is resting, trusting and waiting. These “activities,” and in that order, revitalize the spirit (cf. J. Alec Motyer, Isaiah, 307).
When your faith and resolve to do what is right is tested, do not complain: “This is unfair; why are you doing this to me?” These were the sentiments of a second and third generation of Israelites living under “house arrest” in Babylon. After decades of praying without any evidence that God hears or cares about their condition, promises about God’s shepherd-like tenderness (40.11) might become suspect. Isaiah put forward the question on two levels: First, Is my way hidden from the Lord, that is, has God closed my case and will have nothing more to do with me? Secondly, on a personal and experiential level, the supplicant feels “I am constantly being ignored by God.”
Isaiah relates the Babylonian Diaspora with the self–imposed exile of Jacob (cf. Genesis 32.22-32). As you may recall, Jacob left Canaan because he had alienated his entire family. Similarly, when he left Haran to return to Canaan, he did so after alienating his father–in–law. As Jacob neared home after a twenty–year absence he was anxious about a potentially fatal confrontation with his brother Esau whom he had defrauded of his birthright. That night Jacob wrestled with the Lord. It may be in your darkest hour that the Lord meets you to strengthen and encourage you. When all else fails–and in due course it often does–we may, like Jacob, discover that true victory comes when we cling to the Lord and refuse to let go without his blessing. Paul may have echoed this imagery when he invited the Romans to join him in praying for him: I appeal to you, believers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive [wrestle] together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company(Romans 15.30-32).
Remember God’s greatness: Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. When you face seemingly insurmountable challenges, what you know about God and how you act based on that knowledge will determine the outcome. This is where theology finds its practical application. It has been said: “To see God is the highest aspiration of man, and has preoccupied the rarest human spirits at all times. Seeing God means understanding, seeing into the mystery of things. It is, or should be, the essential quest of universities” (Malcolm Muggeridge, Jesus Rediscovered, 95).
Since you know God, keep these foundational truths foremost in your mind. Trust him to act lovingly on your behalf. God is eternal, he is the Creator of all things, he never grows weary, and he is infinitely wise. He governs every event. God has a purpose in all that he does. What you need to know is what God requires of you in your unique situation.
God gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. That is, the God who does not grow tired shares his strength with you when you are weak. This is not a spasmodic or occasional activity; it is the very nature of who God is; he gives vigor to those who lack vitality (cf. Motyer, 307-308).
Here is the harsh reality: even young men in the prime of life may grow weary and fall to the ground exhausted. What hope is there in such a situation? Wait on the Lord. This is the activity of faith. Waiting on the Lord is at the very heart of keeping the Sabbath. It is a day of rest. It is one of the great truths of Scripture that following six days of creation, God rested on the seventh day. Why did God place such an emphasis on keeping the Sabbath holy? In short, it reminds the believer of what God is doing to secure his salvation. Moreover, it is a promise of something more to come. In the keeping of the Sabbath there is a promise of a better “rest” that is to come. One of the necessities of keeping the Sabbath was to wait on the Lord: to trust him to provide no matter what the exigencies may thrust upon the believer. The Sabbath rest is realized in the person of Jesus Christ: So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his (Hebrews 4.9-10; cf. Matthew 11.28-30).
Waiting on the Lord, resting in his tender arms (40.11), and trusting in his sovereign care is the primary activity of any Sabbath day; it is the activity of worship; it is the proactive confidence of faith. Life may seem unbearably difficult, but the man or woman of faith who waits for the Lord will never be disappointed: they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Day by day they will be renewed in their strength. God ultimately turns apparent defeat into victory for those who put their hope in him. As the eagle soars above the earth so will the man or woman of God be given a divine strength to persevere in every circumstance to the glory of God.
Isaiah encourages God’s people to keep their faith focused on the sovereign covenantal love of God. Isaiah’s admonition, like Samuel before him, is to remember what great and mighty things the Lord has done for you. God has not forgotten you. Isaiah reminds you as he did Israel to keep your eyes fixed upon the Lord (cf. Hebrews 12.1-2). Do not say: “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God.” To the contrary, be encouraged with the knowledge that the Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. If your walk with the Lord has lost its ardor, do not make the mistake of thinking that the transcendent God does not care about you. You may be tempted to think he is too great to care and you are too insignificant to matter. That is the wrong inference; the right one is that he is too great to fail. The biblical way of renewal is resting, trusting and waiting. These “activities,” and in that order, revitalize the spirit (cf. J. Alec Motyer, Isaiah, 307).
When your faith and resolve to do what is right is tested, do not complain: “This is unfair; why are you doing this to me?” These were the sentiments of a second and third generation of Israelites living under “house arrest” in Babylon. After decades of praying without any evidence that God hears or cares about their condition, promises about God’s shepherd-like tenderness (40.11) might become suspect. Isaiah put forward the question on two levels: First, Is my way hidden from the Lord, that is, has God closed my case and will have nothing more to do with me? Secondly, on a personal and experiential level, the supplicant feels “I am constantly being ignored by God.”
Isaiah relates the Babylonian Diaspora with the self–imposed exile of Jacob (cf. Genesis 32.22-32). As you may recall, Jacob left Canaan because he had alienated his entire family. Similarly, when he left Haran to return to Canaan, he did so after alienating his father–in–law. As Jacob neared home after a twenty–year absence he was anxious about a potentially fatal confrontation with his brother Esau whom he had defrauded of his birthright. That night Jacob wrestled with the Lord. It may be in your darkest hour that the Lord meets you to strengthen and encourage you. When all else fails–and in due course it often does–we may, like Jacob, discover that true victory comes when we cling to the Lord and refuse to let go without his blessing. Paul may have echoed this imagery when he invited the Romans to join him in praying for him: I appeal to you, believers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive [wrestle] together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company(Romans 15.30-32).
Remember God’s greatness: Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. When you face seemingly insurmountable challenges, what you know about God and how you act based on that knowledge will determine the outcome. This is where theology finds its practical application. It has been said: “To see God is the highest aspiration of man, and has preoccupied the rarest human spirits at all times. Seeing God means understanding, seeing into the mystery of things. It is, or should be, the essential quest of universities” (Malcolm Muggeridge, Jesus Rediscovered, 95).
Since you know God, keep these foundational truths foremost in your mind. Trust him to act lovingly on your behalf. God is eternal, he is the Creator of all things, he never grows weary, and he is infinitely wise. He governs every event. God has a purpose in all that he does. What you need to know is what God requires of you in your unique situation.
God gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. That is, the God who does not grow tired shares his strength with you when you are weak. This is not a spasmodic or occasional activity; it is the very nature of who God is; he gives vigor to those who lack vitality (cf. Motyer, 307-308).
Here is the harsh reality: even young men in the prime of life may grow weary and fall to the ground exhausted. What hope is there in such a situation? Wait on the Lord. This is the activity of faith. Waiting on the Lord is at the very heart of keeping the Sabbath. It is a day of rest. It is one of the great truths of Scripture that following six days of creation, God rested on the seventh day. Why did God place such an emphasis on keeping the Sabbath holy? In short, it reminds the believer of what God is doing to secure his salvation. Moreover, it is a promise of something more to come. In the keeping of the Sabbath there is a promise of a better “rest” that is to come. One of the necessities of keeping the Sabbath was to wait on the Lord: to trust him to provide no matter what the exigencies may thrust upon the believer. The Sabbath rest is realized in the person of Jesus Christ: So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his (Hebrews 4.9-10; cf. Matthew 11.28-30).
Waiting on the Lord, resting in his tender arms (40.11), and trusting in his sovereign care is the primary activity of any Sabbath day; it is the activity of worship; it is the proactive confidence of faith. Life may seem unbearably difficult, but the man or woman of faith who waits for the Lord will never be disappointed: they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Day by day they will be renewed in their strength. God ultimately turns apparent defeat into victory for those who put their hope in him. As the eagle soars above the earth so will the man or woman of God be given a divine strength to persevere in every circumstance to the glory of God.
RSS Feed