Insights from the Isles
Strength to the Weary, Easter 2005 

Isaiah 40 from v. 21 
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than He blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

"To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" 
says the Holy One.
Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these? 
He who brings out the starry host one by one, 
and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength, 
not one of them is missing.

Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD; 
my cause is disregarded by my God"?
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, 
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint. 

In verses 18-20, the Lord had ‘majored’ on the worthlessness of the idols that the people bowed down to – something that we need setting free from in our hearts just as much as anyone did in ancient Babylonia. But here we find God declaring to His exiled people His authorship and leadership of creation; how He orders the star-dance of the constellations – each one upheld by His love and His power. It is He who causes the Northern Lights to appear in such splendour over Shetland and way beyond! And the glory of the Lord is being revealed again in our generation. May we have eyes to see and understand (v5) 

In verse 27, the prophet moves from the majestic macro vision of God to address the despondency His people were feeling. Weighed down by repeated setbacks, the people had effectively come to the conclusion that God was either too tired or too forgetful to do anything to help them. They probably wouldn’t have put it quite like that, but their heart weariness was unmistakable. (cf Psalm 38:5-22). 

 ‘Do you not know . . . ?’ God asks, as pointedly as Jesus rebuked the disciples when they too were found wanting in faith. What is He chiding His people for? Failing to remember that He is sovereign over all that happens. (Compare v. 21 with Matthew  8:26 or Mark 16:14). 

I love the way the Yahweh’s complete and seemingly easy sovereignty over affairs on Earth shines through in these latter chapters of Isaiah. Derek Kidner helpfully reminds us that ‘the wrong inference from God’s transcendence is that He is too great to care. The right one is that He is too great to fail.’
The Lord urges us through Isaiah that instead of settling for the miseries of unbelief, we can adopt a completely different outlook on life. It may not be an easy attitude to maintain when the weight of grossly intimidating people and circumstances presses in on us, but a living understanding of His sovereignty will help us in the midst of our troubles to wait, to hope, to trust and to renew our strength in Him.’ (v31). Yes the people have been through suffering and exile, but God is willing to bring them double comfort for all the trials they have endured. (vv 1-2); He is not against them, any more than He is against us, because of our sins and shortcomings. His reassurance is matched only by His willingness to help – but His people must be prepared to trust Him to find the ways to fulfil His promises. 

The people, however, were more in a frame of mind to ‘complain’ than to trust. (v27) (The use of the present tense suggests they were doing this repeatedly). The Greek word for ‘grumble’ is gongoozmo – an alarmingly onomatopoeic word that sums up their attitude perfectly. I know exactly where they were coming from – but where does our gongoozmoing get us?

So ‘disregarded’ do the hearers feel that they have even stopped praying for God to get on the case. They feel flattened and dejected. 

Why the reference to Jacob in verse 27? After all, that is a name inextricably associated with an arch deceiver. But the Lord knew that in his heart of hearts, Jacob really did feel after Him. When he had served his long years of servitude, the Lord came to him again and told him to return to the Land of Promise. Jacob. The man who wrestled with God ended up with a physical limp but a new name: ‘Israel’ – ‘he who strives with God.’ With the new name came fresh strength to match the calling. 

Since God is untiring in His longing to do us good, why do we waste so much time and energy doubting Him? The same God who upholds the stars directs and supports His people. Therefore we must prepare for action. The Hebrew word ‘pannu’ (prepare, v.3) hints that God is removing obstacles on our behalf. Verse 4 goes even further. All the emphasis is on God taking the initiative – in power but with great tenderness (vv.10-11). God is preparing good things for us. Rather than a limiting Him through our impatience and low level of faith, let’s dare to believe and declare it. 

Who has understood the mind of the Lord,
    	or instructed Him as His counselor? (v13) 

The word translated ‘mind’ is none other than ruach. God loves to move by His Spirit! It has always been so from Genesis 1:2 onwards. Come, Ruach of God, blow through our lives, our institutions and our churches again! 

Verse 28 encourages us to ‘know’ and to ‘hear’. To ‘know’ is an appeal to our minds: to understand and trust in the nature of God, even if we are finding it hard to experience His presence (Is. 50:10). To ‘hear’ is an appeal to our senses: God can reveal Himself (and His will) in so many ways apart from the purely audible. 

Perhaps some of us need to get back to the place we must often have experienced in the past, when we knew very well that ‘God never takes us anywhere His grace can’t reach us and His power can’t work through us.’ He gives us the grace both to face short-term challenges and to pursue the lifelong race. The cloud of witnesses is encouraging us onward and upward, and the Lord Jesus is taking us by the hand to fulfill His purposes for and through us. 

Yet the dispirited question even His willingness to work on their behalf. The weariness of verse 29 points to a complete sapping of strength and vitality. It hints at near complete collapse in the face of life’s pressures. ‘Tired’ in verse 30, is the same as the word translated ‘weary’ in verse 29. Alec Motyer tells us that the verbs mean ‘becoming overcome by circumstances’ – in the first instance through lack of inner resources, in the second through the objective harshness of circumstances. 

Who is it that has grown weary? Not just those who feel old and ‘past it’, but even the Olympic hopefuls: the flower of the generation. The people had felt trapped and forsaken in Bablyon; now God was calling them forth, and they would be the wiser from the years they had spent in the desert. May God give to each one who is tired and weary a special gift of fresh strength and power in our bones: ‘durability’ and ‘stability,’ as Motyer puts it.  

The hope God promised the exiles is available to us today. In Hebrew, ‘hope’ embraces the concept of entwining ourselves in the Lord rather than just waiting patiently, as we would wait for a bus or train.  It is as we let the Lord renew such an attitude within us that we will experience renewed strength for the fray. This is better than a visit to the gym, helpful though that so often is: this is a supernatural strength imparted by the unfailing, unfainting Lord of the Ages. It is He who enables us to achieve things  we could never have envisaged, and to endure pressures we would not have thought possible. 
As we think of the suffering of Christ in this Easter season, it is inadequate to say what a comfort it is to know that He understands. The resurrection is ahead and all our mourning will be turned into dancing. (cf Ps. 138:7-8) Therefore we come eagerly to the Fountain Head to give Him the love of our hearts and to be renewed in strength and vision. 

See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,
    and His arm rules for Him.
  See, His reward is with Him,
    and His recompense accompanies Him (v. 10) 

Ruach (Breath of Life) Ministries The Rock, Whiteness, Shetland, ZE2 9GJ  “Surf and pray” on www.ruachministries.org