Isaiah 40:21-31 King James Version
21 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 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.
23 He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless.
24 Scarcely shall they be planted, Scarcely shall they be sown, Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, When He will also blow on them, And they will wither, And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.
25 “To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: “My way is hidden from the Lord, And my just claim is passed over by my God”?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on 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.
One thing I don't like to do is to wait. Pre-covid if I had to wait for a table at a restaurant I don't want the staff to keep coming by telling me that it is going to be a little longer. These days if I order food on DoorDash or Uber eats, I don't want to see the estimated time for my food to arrive, keep going up. I hate waiting. I don't like waiting on this pandemic to come to an end, I don't like waiting on certain situations in my own life to change. I don't like waiting in general for anything.
There are those who are waiting for loved ones to return home,
for a report from the doctor,
for the right person to become their spouse,
for a home to live in. Some are waiting, and while they are waiting, it seems the only news they keep getting is the wrong kind of news.
We all are waiting on some good news, especially when the bad news keeps coming. We all have a little bit of “news fatigue” that leaves us sometimes feeling depressed, powerless, and distrustful of news sources. It seems like the more news we take in, the more anxiety we feel or, on the other side, the more desensitized we are to the news. We hit a point like the Wicked Witch of the West did in the musical The Wiz, don't nobody bring me no bad news!
The People in the Book of Isaiah were waiting and it seemed like all they kept getting was bad news. The people in Isaiah were waiting for deliverance in the scriptures.In the book of Isaiah the Isralites were down and out, beaten up, and tired of waiting on something they could not see.
The people of Jerusalem had by now been in captivity by the time of this writing for over 70 years. For many of these people, all they knew was Babylon. The Israelites had been captured by the Babylonians, who took them from their homeland. The Babylonians tried to take the place of the God that the Israelites worshiped. Isaiah 14:13 says that the leaders of Babylon said “I will be like the Most High”. These Israelites only knew of a corrupt government looking to remove their culture, heritage, and religious values. They know they are loved by God but they are currently captured by a government. The Israelites were waiting on a savior and deliverance that seemed like that salvation and deliverance would never come. These people were down and out, beaten up, and tired of waiting on something they could not see, then here comes the prophet Isaiah for 39 chapters telling the people how some of this was their own fault.
The prophet Isaiah basically told them, “you wanted to worship government over God, this is what it got you! You want to be in the world and of the world, how is that working out for you?” The Israelites are waiting for deliverance. Isaiah is there to help. Yet Before he can do that, he tells them what they did to get there in the first place. After letting the people have it for 39 chapters we transition into chapter 40.
Isaiah is pleading his case for them to keep waiting on the Lord. He’s saying, Let me tell you what God is going to do... just wait on him. This is an appeal that Isaiah wants on the public record. “I know you have been waiting for some time now, I know you are tired of the bad news over and over again, but let me tell you about how good God is.”
Isaiah wants the people to activate their faith by activating their memory! We can remember our history and know that God fulfills promises. Isaiah reminds the people what they should know and what they have heard. They may not have experienced it for themselves but God still has a history and that history has been passed down through the generations.
Even though the people were suffering under Babylon, governments are not God, politicians are not God, kings are not God. Anything a government, king, or politician can do is temporary in the eyes of the Lord. The text says the princes will fall, they are like grasshoppers, they cannot reach the level of God, wait on something that is substantial to pull you through. The enemies are but a drop in the bucket, or dust on scales, they are less than nothing when compared to God.
God is a long term God and God is worth waiting for. God's word stands forever, God's word has prominence, and is timeless. God's word is worth waiting for. God created in the beginning and is creating now. God does not suffer from “news fatigue.” As Isaiah says , in verses 28-29 “He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint And to those who have no might He increases strength
Not only does God have the long term view in history, God offers power and strength to those who feel the fatigue of bad news in the present. Human beings tend to try to fix every problem or tell those who “should” be doing something to fix them. But as life in the pandemic has taught us, there are limits to human knowledge and ability. If we trust only in ourselves, we are bound to get tired of waiting when we fail or reach the end of our ability. Life can have us feeling disappointment and exhaustion when the reality sets in that we cannot “fix” everything on our own no matter how hard we try. But in all things, God is still worth waiting for.
The Message translation of Isaiah 40:28-31 says
Why would you ever complain, O Jacob, or, whine, Israel, saying, “God has lost track of me. He doesn’t care what happens to me”? Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening? God doesn’t come and go. God lasts. He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything, inside and out. He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind.
We have waited on things that were definitely worth waiting for, there are those who have waited on their spouse, thought they would never get married and found the right one. There are those who waited on the right house, tried over and over to get one only to fail time and time again but then the right house for the right price became available. There are those who waited on children, thought it would never happen and now have blessings in their lives biological or adopted. There are those who waited on personal growth and success, struggled in business, struggled in personal development, but when they look at where they are now versus where they were back then, they know the phrase well, "if had not been for the Lord on my side where would I be..." and there are those who waited on many other blessings. If those things were worth waiting on, how much is the Lord himself worth waiting on?
Waiting is hard when we are waiting on the wrong things. How much better would our stress levels be if we spent as much time praying as we do worrying about what someone else thinks? If we spent more time reading the Bible as opposed to watching the news? I am not saying we should not be informed but spending more time with God can't hurt. We have to put our time, talent, and treasure into things that will last for the long term. The Word of God lasts forever and God is worth waiting for. We can wait on the Lord. Waiting means that we are not always in control but when we let go, and let God we can experience God's power more fully. You might be tired now but wait on the Lord, he will renew your strength, he will recharge your batteries, he will give you the ability to keep waiting. Letting go and letting God will give you the energy to keep on keeping on.
