Sustaining Power of God
September 10, 2019
Commentary
Isaiah speaks by inspiration to a people who have lost hope. In this passage, He describes God’s power to create, His provision to sustain, and His presence to help. Human idolatry is pictured as being utterly ridiculous by the prophet. Through a series of questions he brings his readers into the very presence of the one true God. He shows that no graven image shall compare to the likeness of God (v. 18). An idol is a god created in the image of man. It is nothing more than a man-made statue covered with gold and chained down with silver chains (v. 19) (which were necessary to keep someone from stealing it).
God is greater than anything in heaven (vv 20-26). He founded the earth and sits on the throne in heaven and nothing is equal to Him, let alone greater than He is. Anyone who looks at the greatness of nature and the complexity of the universe and fails to see the hand of God is without excuse. The phrase “He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth” (v. 22) refers to the Lord God and clearly indicates that the earth is round and not flat.
In the light of God’s omniscience, as well as His omnipresence, the prophet asks Israel why it is that she thinks her way is hid from the Lord (v. 27). Rather than being able to give to Him, He is the one who must give to us in order for our needs to be met. God, who unlike pagan idols, is eternal and the creator, never grows weary (v. 28). Instead, He gives strength to those who are weary and weak (vv 29-31).
Application
I can never obey God in my own strength, but I can always trust him to provide the strength I need (Phil. 4:13). If I trust myself, I will fail; but if I wait on the Lord, by faith, I will receive strength for the circumstances of each day.
Isaiah 40:18– 31 (NET)
18 To whom can you compare God? To what image can you liken him?
19 A craftsman casts an idol; a metalsmith overlays it with gold and forges silver chains for it.
20 To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot; he then seeks a skilled craftsman to make an idol that will not fall over.
21 Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told to you since the very beginning? Have you not understood from the time the earth’s foundations were made?
22 He is the one who sits on the earth’s horizon; its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him. He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain, and spreads it out like a pitched tent.
23 He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing; he makes the earth’s leaders insignificant.
24 Indeed, they are barely planted; yes, they are barely sown; yes, they barely take root in the earth, and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up, and the wind carries them away like straw.
25 “To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?” says the Holy One.
26 Look up at the sky! Who created all these heavenly lights? He is the one who leads out their ranks; he calls them all by name. Because of his absolute power and awesome strength, not one of them is missing.
27 Why do you say, Jacob, Why do you say, Israel, “The Lord is not aware of what is happening to me; My God is not concerned with my vindication”?
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is an eternal God, the Creator of the whole earth. He does not get tired or weary; there is no limit to his wisdom.
29 He gives strength to those who are tired; to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy.
30 Even youths get tired and weary; even strong young men clumsily stumble.
31 But those who wait for the Lord’s help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired.