June 7, 2017
Isaiah 40:28-31
(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)
Here, again, is our featured Scripture – Isaiah 40:28 through 31:
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.
There is no searching of His understanding. He gives power to the weak,
and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths
shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, 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.
We began in the last blog to examine the benefits derived when we wait on the LORD.
• In review, here is Isaiah 40:28 – “The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. There is no searching of His understanding.” When we wait on the LORD our understanding of God is expanded to include…
✞ “…the everlasting God, the LORD….” God is the self-Existent or eternal One – Jehovah! (See Exodus 3:14).
✞ “…the Creator of the ends of the earth…..” He is powerful, both creating and sustaining all the universe! (See Colossians 1:16, 17).
✞ “…neither faints nor is weary.” God never needs sleep or rest! (See Psalm 121:2-4).
✞ “There is no searching of His understanding.” His mind and ways are beyond our comprehension! (See Romans 11:33 and 34; I Corinthians 2:11).
• Isaiah 40:29 – “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength.” There are those who think they are strong, with strength to face anything that life throws at them. But God gives this warning in Jeremiah 9:23 (1899 Douay-Rheims Bible): “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, and let not the strong man glory in his strength, and let not the rich man glory in his riches….” All strength will eventually fail! For instance, when Jesus returns as Lord, and King (see Revelation 19:16), and Judge (see John 5:22), we are told in Revelation 6:15 through 17 that this will be the reaction of those upon the earth:
And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders,
the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves
and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks,
“Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and
from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and
who is able to stand?”
Yes, even the strength, power, and courage of great men, rich men, brave commanders, and mighty men will fail! They have depended upon their own resources, and now God is calling them all to account!
Is there anything then that we should glory in? Yes! For in the next verse of Jeremiah 9:24, God tells us, “But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight.” As Paul wrote in I Corinthians 1:30 and 31, “…you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God — and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption — that, as it is written, ‘He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.’ ”
So, depending on the situation and the person, it is just a matter of time when strength will fail and we will be weak! We will feel like we have no might ! But if we wait on the LORD, “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength.”
• Isaiah 40:30 – “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall….” We have nine grandchildren and three greats. We often have the younger ones to our house (like today we have two, ages two and four.) I am constantly amazed at the energy they possess! They play hard – running, chasing, pushing toy cars and trucks around the floor, sometimes wrestling, sometimes battling. But there comes a time when they simply run out of gas! Then they are down for a nap to renew that energy! Yes, “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall….” We cannot keep going forever in our own strength, according to our own resources!
• Isaiah 30:31 – “…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.” This is the key verse! And there is so much here, I need one more blog to unpack it! We will finish this series Under Or Over? on Friday.