READ: Is. 40:21-31: … Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel: ‘My way is hidden from the LORD, and my just claim is passed over by my God’? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might, He increases strength … But those who wait on 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.
Israel, and we too, must continually recognize in faith how immensely great God is. Isaiah, speaking on behalf of the LORD, addresses idolaters with great indignation for turning to their empty idols. Don’t they know? Can’t they see it in creation, or have they not heard God’s Word about it (v.21)?
And then he speaks to the discouraged in Israel: Pay attention to the power of the Creator, how He stands above all things. Even the heavens are like a curtain to Him. The so-called great ones of the earth are fragile themselves. They rule for a brief time, and then the LORD ends their earthly existence, like chaff blown away by the wind.
God Himself now speaks as the exalted God, who holds everything and everyone in His hand: “To whom will you compare Me? Who is as great in power and might as the Creator and Sustainer of the stars in the sky?”
There is only one answer possible: absolutely no one can be compared to God. Everyone else is insignificant.
Isaiah now turns to Israel in exile: Why, then, do you not trust the LORD, in His omniscience, omnipotence, and unchanging faithfulness? Why do you think the LORD does not want to, cannot, or will not help you?
Yes, the LORD punishes sin according to His covenant word, He tests His people’s love and trust, but He will also show Himself as the great Helper if they trust and call upon Him. His mighty hand will deliver them from distress and strengthen them.
Why is this message important for us?
Sing: Ps. 98:1,2