Isaiah 40:17-31: a reflection

17All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity. 18To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him? 19A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it. 20He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skillful workman to set up a carved image for him that will not be moved. 21Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? Haven’t you been told from the beginning? Haven’t you understood from the foundations of the earth? 22It 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, 23who brings princes to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. 24They are planted scarcely. They are sown scarcely. Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble. 25“To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?” says the Holy One. 26Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. By the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is lacking. 27Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God”? 28Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn’t faint. He isn’t weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might. 30Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall; 31but those who wait for the LORD will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.

After exalting the incomparable greatness of God, before whom the nations are as nothing, Isaiah turns to a promise for the weary. Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall; but those who wait for the LORD will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run, and not be weary; they will walk, and not faint. Even the strongest human strength runs out; but those who wait on God find their strength renewed by him.

Notice the contrast, and the promise. On one side, human strength, even the vigor of youth, faints and fails; the strongest among us wear out and fall. On the other, those who wait on the LORD have their strength renewed, not by their own resources, which run dry, but by God. The promise is not to those who are strong in themselves, but to those who wait on God: they will renew their strength, mount up like eagles, run without weariness. The renewal comes from waiting on God, not from our own reserves.

That promise is for us in our weariness, when our own strength has run out. We come, at times, to the end of our own strength, weary, faint, unable to go on by our own resources; even our best vigor fails. But the promise is that those who wait on the LORD renew their strength, drawing not on their own dwindling reserves but on God. When you are weary and your own strength is spent, do not merely try harder to summon more from yourself, which will also fail; wait on the LORD, who renews the strength of those who wait on him. The renewal you need comes not from your own reserves, which run dry, but from God, on whom you can wait. Wait on the LORD in your weariness, and let him renew your strength, that you may mount up with wings like eagles and run without fainting, drawing the strength you lack from him rather than from your own spent resources, as Isaiah promised to those who wait on the LORD.

Lord, after exalting your incomparable greatness, before whom the nations are as nothing, Isaiah turns to a promise for the weary: even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall; but those who wait for the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run, and not be weary. Even the strongest human strength runs out; but those who wait on you find their strength renewed by you. Show me the contrast and the promise. Human strength, even the vigor of youth, faints and fails; but those who wait on you have their strength renewed, not by their own resources, which run dry, but by you. The renewal comes from waiting on you, not from my own reserves. That promise is for me in my weariness, when my own strength has run out. I come, at times, to the end of my own strength, weary, faint, unable to go on; even my best vigor fails. But the promise is that those who wait on you renew their strength, drawing on you. When I am weary and my own strength is spent, keep me from merely trying harder to summon more from myself, which will also fail; help me wait on you, who renew the strength of those who wait on you. Help me wait on you in my weariness, Lord, and renew my strength, that I may run without fainting, drawing the strength I lack from you rather than from my own spent resources.