Isaiah 40
22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: 23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. 24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? 28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
1) v22 “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.”.
God holds the whole world in His hands. We who serve Him must present this fact to all the people and religions of the earth. He is God above all gods, King of kings and Lord of lords. No matter what any man or god does, He has the last Word, and what He says will happen.
2) v23 “He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless”.
Mankind seems to be so important, but in His sight the greatest is like chaff before the wind and straw in the fire. Even man’s greatest accomplishments amounts to nothing in His sight, and He blows upon them as stubble and they are gone.
The story is told of a young, brilliant Norwegian theological professor who studied under an old theological professor, who was a true Christian. Although the young professor was so brilliant, the old professor was worried about him. He didn’t see true Christian qualities in the life of the young man. One day he asked the young man to come and see him “about some special advice he wanted to pass on”. To the young professor’s surprise the advice was very short. He simply asked him, “don’t you want to become a Christian at last?” This shook the young professor, but he realised with a shock that it was true. He had all the necessary theological training and knew a lot about the Bible and the founder of Christianity, Jesus Christ; but he did not know Jesus Christ. He was in fact still a heathen. For months he sought to find Jesus Christ, until at last, six months later, he found Him on his knees and accepted Him as his personal Saviour.
May God’s Word also not give you rest until you have made peace with God.
3) v25 “To whom then will you liken Me, or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One”.
Many times we try to lower the standard of God to fit our liking; we serve a god of our own imagination. But God does not lower His standard. He remains God and you must climb His holy mountain and listen to what He says (Ps 24).
4) v27, 30, 31 “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”.
Many Christians fall by the way and get tired because they don’t wait on the Lord. They imagine that their way is “hidden from the Lord” (v27), and so they don’t ask guidance from God. In the end they only ask God to bless their plans.
Remember that He is the Lord, and has everything in His hand and controls all circumstances. He doesn’t make a mistake.
It is so difficult for man to wait on the Lord. But unless you learn to wait upon the Lord and follow His guidance, you won’t get anywhere in your spiritual life. You will become tired, weary and feel misunderstood.
People are so busy with many things in this life, but they are not busy with the task they should do – to prepare themselves for eternity. Even Christians travel daily to do their business, but neglect their primary business, “the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matt 6:33).
There is a tremendous need for the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in the world today. People all over the world and from all nations are ripe to be harvested for the Kingdom of God, but there are so few Christians willing to pay the price and gather in the harvest. Why? Because the Lord Jesus is no longer precious to them.
But may we be conformed into His image and may the Lord Jesus be precious to us – so precious that the things of the world lose their glitter and that we are only concerned about one thing, that our relationship is right with Him. Then people will be drawn to the Lord Jesus even through the way that we walk and talk.