Dwell in the Word: Isaiah 40:9-31

Consider these questions as you dwell in Isaiah 40:9-31:

1. In Isaiah 40:18-20, the prophet contrasts God's majesty and wisdom with the insignificance of idols. Why do people often turn to idols or their own plans instead of trusting in the wisdom and power of God?

2. Isaiah emphasizes the vast difference in power and endurance between humanity and God in Isaiah 40:28-31. How does this passage encourage believers to rely on God's strength rather than their own, especially in times of weariness and difficulty?

3. Isaiah mentions that God gives power to the faint and increases strength for those who have no might in Isaiah 40:29. How does this concept of God empowering the weak resonate with believers today, and what does it mean to "wait upon the Lord" for renewed strength?

Transcript:

Once again, I told the truth. A lot of stuff there that you know, a lot of familiar passages and familiar language. I hope you are like me that as we have been slowly plotting our way through Isaiah, it hasn't been easy with all this language of judgment. But now we're really understanding where a lot of this is coming from, why it is being said, because we truly are understanding the context. Not only are we seeing this in the way that judgment is spoken of, but also the way in which people have set themselves up above God and set themselves in a position of authority even above Him. They have been clinging to their own plans of how to do things instead of trusting in God. Here we see talks about God's Majesty that is important and His power, obviously, and a huge part of who God is, but we also see His wisdom and the fact that there is none like Him. Why, O people, are you questioning the wisdom of God? What did you do that is so great that you can put yourself on a pedestal with God? Instead, what does the prophet say?

Verse 18, To whom then will you liken God or what likeness compare with him? An idol, a craftsman, cast it and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for its silver chains. What is Isaiah saying? These other nations have their idols. What are they again? They're nothing. They do not move. They are just at best, they are overlaid with gold. Then in the next verse, he says, Yeah, some people just get wood. Wood rots, at least the metal that you make an idol of lasts, but they are nothing. We see here that when you compare these things to God Himself, what do you have? Verse 21, do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? Is this not obvious that there is this element of design and you can see the power and Majesty of God and his creation as we think about the way Romans 1 speaks of it? Haven't you seen this? Isn't there this general revelation idea of what the world is and where it must have come from? Clearly, God is the one.

We see in verse 22, It is he who sits above the circle of the earth and his habitants are like grasshoppers. I don't know, I'm not a big fan of grasshoppers. I don't like being compared to that. But then again, what do you compare us to? Ants? I don't know. But you get the idea here. We are not substantial compared to God. We are small. God is the one who stretches out the heavens like a curtain. He spreads them like a tent. Notice there's something important here, and I never thought about this before, as I've read these verses many times, but I never thought about them in the context here until I was looking through the passage today to write the closing prayer and to just consider what I was going to say. Verse 23, Who brings princess to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. Remember what we have been seeing here. Not only the difficulties that the Kings of the earth have had, the people out there, the Assyrian and the Babylonians, that God will bring them to nothing, the Pharaohs, etc, but also the issues that we've with the King of Israel, the King of Judah, actually.

Why are you plotting here when you are brought to nothing? The princes are brought to nothing. We understand this. This is not just you and I saying, Hey, look at the princess over there. These people of power out there. There are some specific thoughts we have in mind as we listen to this, as we as we hear this, as we read it, that God is more powerful than these people who are plotting against Him. Why would we consider ourselves to be smarter than God? Why would we consider ourselves to be more powerful? We see here these verses that are probably the most famous from this passage of 28-31. Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He is the one who sits above the heavens. He is the one who has made it all. He is the one who gives wisdom, and he doesn't faint or grow weary, and his understanding is unsearchable. Why are we putting ourselves at odds against Him? Why are we not trusting Him like we should? Because He is the one who is going to give us power.

We see verse 29, He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might, he increases strength. If anyone is going to get this stuff, they're going to get it from God. Why are we seeking it within ourselves? We see this again, as this passage closes up, these famous words, Even you shall faint and beware and young men shall fall exhausted. Even those with the most strength that we can imagine, we know that they run out of strength, right? We know that they are not going to last. But when we wait upon the Lord, when we trust in Him for our power and strength, He is the one who can renew us. He is the one who can help us to mount up with wings like Eagles. He's the one who gives us strength to run and not be weary and to walk and not grow faint. He is the one that we need to trust in, not ourselves, because God even brings princes to nothing, right? I'll use people who seem to have unlimited strength, they are brought to nothing. So, we should go to the one who has created all things, the one who cannot grow weary and trust in Him for what we need for our strength.

So, may we do that? May we not look to ourselves. Instead, may we turn to God constantly, trusting that the one who is the source of all things can cause us to have the strength that we need to be faithful to Him and to endure for Him, and to be His witnesses to the ends of the Earth.