Isaiah 40

40-28

Do you feel overwhelmed? God invites you to come to him and find hope and strength.

Israel continually sinned and rebelled against their covenant-keeping God through unbelief, and in their
foolishness thought that God did not see their wickedness. And so, Isaiah wrote almost 40 chapters of
reproof for their unbelief and asked: "Do you not know? Have you not heard? the Everlasting God, the
LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is
inscrutable." The rebellious and complaining nation needed to be reminded of WHO God is and that
their God was the all-powerful Creator, the generous Provider, their strong Tower, their Shepherd, their
Peace, and their Defender - their ever-present help in time of trouble

Sometimes we too can wander from the Lord or murmur against Him in unbelief, or we can simply
become so familiar with the words of Scripture that we forget Who our everlasting, omniscient, gracious
Creator God is, and of what He is truly capable. But this is a Scripture that we would do well to recall to
mind on those occasions when the stresses and strains of life cause our faith to be tested, or on those
occasions when the pressures of life start to bear down on us or we find we despair or doubts flood into
our being.

Never let us forget that our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever and that He is our everlasting
God, the Creator of all the earth. Let us never forget that He never grows weak or weary, for in Him is
everlasting strength, eternal power, and never-ending might. Let us often call to remembrance that no
one can measure the depths of His understanding, but that we are His children whom He loved so much
that He sent His only begotten Son to die that we might be partners in His everlasting and eternal life,
for ever and ever, amen.

I. THE PROMISE OF THE COMING OF THE LORD BRINGS COMFORT AND

INSTRUCTION TO GOD’S PEOPLE (40:1-11).
II. GOD IS FULLY ABLE TO BRING DELIVERANCE TO HIS PEOPLE (40:12-16).
III. GOD’S PEOPLE MAY RENEW THEIR STRENGTH THROUGH HOPE (40:27-31).

We too can become weary

We all go through difficulties, whether health crises, financial crises, broken relationships with family

or friends, personal failures and weaknesses or in general – experiences of deep pain and suffering.
And we will continue to do so throughout our lives. Our faith is not “escapist.” A false promise that

things will be just fine, if you have enough faith. No. This life is full of trials and God doesn’t just step

in and take them all away.

And as we go through these hardships we can become overwhelmed, discouraged and faint. And even

though we know that God has a purpose for each one of us, and that God has given us “his precious

and very great promises” as 2 Peter 1:4 says; promises to help us, to save us and to bring us into his

eternal kingdom – we too still doubt at times. We become fearful and exhausted.

And in our despair we ask: Can God’s promises really be true? Is God really able to come through on

them? And will God come through for me? We are tempted to give up, “to faint,” to give in to our

weariness.

And so we too need to hear the message of the prophet, because there is a word in this for us, each

one of us. We need to hear and know that God is able to come through for us. For you and for me!

We may be overwhelmed by our circumstances, but God is not. v. 28 says, “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.” God is able to help us. God is able to

keep his promises to us, just as he did with the Israelites.

And we also need to hear and know that the Lord can strengthen us. We too are to “wait for the

Lord” – v. 31, knowing that he hears us and knows our situation. And we are to put our hope and

trust in God and rely on him. And when we do this God gives us of his strength. As 29 says, “He gives

power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.”

We tap into the strength of the Everlasting God himself; we lean on him, the One who never grows

weary or faints. In this way, despite our troubles, our strength is renewed. As 31 says, “the Lord shall

renew their strength.” And through this strength we are empowered to move forward in our times of

difficulty, because we hope in the Lord; because we know that he will fulfill his promises to us.

We can move forward, as v. 31 says, “They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and

not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” In the midst of our problems we will walk and not faint,

we will run and not be weary, we will mount up with wings like eagles.