Isaiah 40:9-31
I have often stated, “The
older I get the less I know” and how true that is, but I’ve also come to this
conclusion, the older I get the more I grasp the greatness of God, and my
foolishness of living a horizontal life of trying to fix broken lives, when
only a vertical life has the power to change broken lives. As we explore Isaiah’s great God, ask
yourself this question, do I look at God as Isaiah does, and do I seek God, or
am I still living a horizontal life?
In the time of
Isaiah a leader of a nation was often referred to as a shepherd; Judah had been
led by many weak and evil shepherds or kings, but Isaiah is reminding them of a
Shepherd who will lead them in righteousness, and king David tells us all about
that Shepherd in Psalm 23. “The LORD is my
shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me
beside still waters. He restores my
soul. He leads me in paths of
righteousness for his name's sake. Even
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a
table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my
cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
We are living in
a time where evil men are acting like their father the devil, and that should
not surprise us. We must remember that
religion’s end goal is death to anyone who says, “The LORD Jesus is my Shepherd”
it matters not what title they go by, they will believe as the Babylonians did
in the time of Isaiah that their gods were stronger than Yahweh, the God who
created all that is. Verses 12-26 have a
series of rhetorical questions and there intent is to demonstrate the
uniqueness of the one true God. “The
verses were recorded to remind all of God’s people that God not only wanted to
deliver then, but He is able to do so.” (Taken in part from HCSB page 1189)
Verses 28-31, is
the voice of God to each of us who live life in the horizontal, trying to play
the role of mister fixit. It is only
when we become vertical in our heart attitude and prayer that we will look to
God of verses 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 does not faint or grow
weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might he increases
strength. Even youths shall faint and be
weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for 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.”
From the Back
Porch,
Robert W. Rice
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