1. "Some of the most comforting words in the English language: our help is on the way. Whether you're broken down on the side of the road or on the phone with 911 or a soldier at the front lines of battle, there's something about knowing that someone else knows what you're going through and is coming to be with you that makes it possible to endure almost any opposition."

2. "A complete stranger took us to his home, fed us dinner, gave us a place to stay, paid for our car repair, and then gave us each $500 as we went off our way. Friends, it is the most angel like experience I've ever had in my life."

3. "And friends, this wasn't just a national trauma. This was a theological trauma. See, the people of Israel were the ones to whom the promises belonged. The promises to Adam, to Abraham, to David. The promise of the seed of the woman to crush the head of the serpent. The promise of a descendant of Abraham who would bless all nations. The promise of a son of David who would always sit on the throne. And all of those promises seemed, one after another, to be falling short."

4. "He will return to comfort his people. And we can know that because he is, he is the all powerful Creator. And it's because of these two truths, because of who God is, and because of what he has promised to do, that weak and weary people like you and me can keep going. We can keep believing. We can keep waiting."

5. "The form of this passage is poetry. That's why you have the spacing in your Bibles. You see, when God intends to comfort his people, he doesn't use a form letter. He doesn't buy a Hallmark card. No, he speaks tenderly to his people. The Hebrew literally means to the heart, the way a young man speaks to a woman that he loves. To his weary, rebellious people in exile, God writes a love letter."

6. "See, exile was not Israel's main problem. Babylon was not Israel's main problem. Israel's main problem was God. Their problem was their sins had accrued a debt that they could not pay by exile. And friends, the same thing is true about us. All of us have sinned against God. All of us have accrued a debt that we cannot pay."

7. "Friends, this is actually our future. I think sometimes we can forget, as if this is all imaginary. This is actually what God will do for you if you are in Christ. He will raise you up on that last day. He will wipe away every tear from your eyes. He will personally escort you to the seat that he has prepared for you at his table."

8. "How many gallons of water fill the oceans that run six miles deep? How many stars fill the galaxies that run trillions of light years? How many tons of rocks and soil comprise the mountain ranges of the Rockies and the Himalayas? All these fit in God's teacup. That is how immeasurable our Creator is."

9. "A tragedy of life is that those with power often lacked wisdom, and those with wisdom often lack power to enact their wisdom. Not so with God. God's power and wisdom are married together as two essential attributes of God: divine power, divine wisdom. And these two attributes together settle beyond all question the trustworthiness and reliability of God."

10. "The majesty of the eagle is not the strength of his wings, but the power of the wind. The eagle gives us a picture of what it means to wait on the Lord. Waiting is resting. That's why it's rejuvenating. The eagle's strength is renewed mid flight as his wings rest on the power of the wind. And in the same way the Christian renews his strength as he rests on the promises of God's Word."

Observation Questions

1. Read Isaiah 40:1–2. What specific statements of comfort does God speak to His people, and what do these statements say has changed about their situation?
2. In Isaiah 40:3–5, what images are used to describe preparing the way of the Lord, and what will happen when “the glory of the LORD” is revealed?
3. According to Isaiah 40:6–8, how are “all flesh” and “the word of our God” contrasted, and what repeated words or images does Isaiah use to make this contrast clear?
4. In Isaiah 40:9–11, how is God described both as a powerful ruler and as a tender shepherd, and what actions does He take toward His flock?
5. Look at Isaiah 40:12–17. What different parts of creation and human power are mentioned, and how does Isaiah show their smallness compared to God?
6. In Isaiah 40:27–31, what complaint are God’s people voicing in verse 27, and how does God answer it in verses 28–31?

Interpretation Questions

1. Why is it significant that in Isaiah 40:1–2, after all the judgment prophesied earlier in the book, God still says “my people” and “your God,” and what does this reveal about His covenant love?
2. How do the three “time horizons” mentioned in the sermon (return from exile, Christ’s first coming, Christ’s second coming) help us understand the full meaning of the comfort promised in Isaiah 40:1–5?
3. In Isaiah 40:6–8, why does Isaiah emphasize the frailty of human life (“all flesh is grass”) before affirming that God’s word “will stand forever,” and how does this support the sermon’s point that God’s promises have no expiration date?
4. How do Isaiah 40:12–26 and the sermon’s reflections on creation, nations, idols, and rulers together answer the implied question, “Can God really do what He has promised?”
5. According to Isaiah 40:27–31 and the sermon, what does it mean biblically to “wait for the LORD,” and how is this different from passive, frustrated waiting?

Application Questions

1. Where in your life right now do you most feel like Israel in verse 27—tempted to think, “My way is hidden from the LORD,” and how might the truths of verses 28–31 speak into that specific situation?
2. The sermon compared waiting on the Lord to an eagle resting on the wind rather than frantically flapping. In one concrete area of your life this week, what would it look like to shift from striving in your own strength to resting in God’s promises?
3. Isaiah 40:9–11 shows God’s special care for the weak and “those that are with young.” Who around you (in your family, church, or workplace) seems especially weak or weary, and what is one specific way you can reflect God’s shepherd-like care to them?
4. The sermon warned that nations, idols, and leaders can become rival objects of trust. What are some “modern idols” (e.g., security, success, politics, approval) that you are tempted to rely on more than God, and what step could you take this week to shift your trust back to Him?
5. Thinking of the race illustration at the end of the sermon, what is one “hill” or hard stretch in your Christian walk right now, and how can you use Scripture, prayer, and the fellowship of the church to hear Christ’s “keep going” and help others hear it too?

Additional Bible Reading

1. 2 Chronicles 36:15–23 — Describes the fall of Judah, the exile to Babylon, and God stirring up Cyrus to send His people back, illustrating the first horizon of Isaiah 40’s promise.
2. Mark 1:1–11 — Shows John the Baptist fulfilling Isaiah 40:3 as he prepares the way for Jesus’ first coming.
3. Colossians 2:9–15 — Explains how Christ cancels our debt and nails it to the cross, echoing Isaiah 40:2’s assurance that iniquity is pardoned and justice satisfied.
4. 1 Peter 1:1–9 — Addresses believers as exiles who rejoice in a living hope while they wait for the revelation of Jesus Christ, paralleling Isaiah 40’s theme of hopeful waiting.
5. Revelation 21:1–7 — Portrays the final, permanent comfort when God dwells with His people, wipes away every tear, and ends all exile forever, fulfilling the ultimate horizon of Isaiah 40.

Sermon Main Topics

I. The Comfort of Knowing Help Is on the Way

II. He Will Return to Comfort His People (Isaiah 40:1-11)

III. He Is the All-Powerful Creator (Isaiah 40:12-26)

IV. We Can Keep Going Because We Wait on Him (Isaiah 40:27-31)

V. Keep Your Eyes Fixed on Christ Until He Returns

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Detailed Sermon Outline

• Thousands died; families torn apart; children marched to Babylon in chains
• God's promises to Adam, Abraham, and David seemed to be failing

• Exile and Babylon were not Israel's main problem; sin was
• Christ's death paid our debt in full, nailed to the cross (Colossians 2)

• A speck of dust weighs 1-10 micrograms; all nations are that to God

• Craftsmen seek durable materials to mask the lie that idols are gods

Some of the most comforting words in the English language: Our help is on the way. Whether you're broken down on the side of the road, or on the phone with 911, or a soldier at the front lines of battle, there's something about knowing that someone else knows what you're going through and is coming to be with you that makes it possible to endure almost any opposition.

After my freshman year of college, I flew to Chicago to meet my older brother. He was driving down from Wisconsin to pick me up and take me to a family wedding in Iowa. He picks me up at O'Hare, and as he does, he tells me that he might be having some car troubles. His power steering had recently gone out. It couldn't be the alternator, I ask.

No, little brother, he says, it's probably just some power steering issue. Well, as we get on our way, just about 20 minutes outside of Chicago, suddenly all power goes out of the car. And as we pull over to the side of I-88, we knew we were in trouble. Two college students, parents on the other side of the world living in Sweden, a mechanic couldn't see the car until the next day. We didn't have much money.

We had never been to Naperville before. We didn't know anyone in Naperville. We needed help. We needed to be rescued. So we started calling around.

We started calling everyone we knew, asking, Do you know anyone in Naperville? We posted on Facebook, you know, the way you used to do, like it was a classifieds or something, saying, Help! Can anyone help us?

After a few hours of waiting, we got a call from a complete stranger, a friend of a friend of a friend.

He said, I hear that you're in some trouble. I'm coming to help you. And a man came and picked us up.

He rescued us. And those words in that moment were some of the most comforting words I've ever heard.

A complete stranger took us to his home, fed us dinner, gave us a place to stay, paid for our car repair, and then gave us each $500 as we went off our way. Friends, it is the most angel-like experience I've ever had in my life.

When you're at the end of your rope, when everything seems stacked against you, when you find yourself in need of help and you have no way of helping yourself, what is the message that could keep you going?

Turn with me in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 40. You can find it on page 599 of the pew Bibles in front of you. As you turn there, I want to remind you where we left off last week in chapter 39. Last week we studied the last historical account of Isaiah's public ministry. For 40 years, Isaiah had shamelessly proclaimed the message of God's coming judgment so that by the time of the Syrian invasion in chapter 37, Isaiah would have been about 70 years old.

Israel had known that judgment of exile was coming for their sins for centuries, but they did not know the exact the location of exile until as Troy pointed out last week, Isaiah discloses it in Isaiah 39:6. Do you remember what he tells Hezekiah in verse 7? He says, Some of your own sons, some of your own children will be taken off and will be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. And God's word comes to pass.

In 586, the mighty Babylonian army decimated the southern kingdom of Judah. And we're so used to hearing about exile that I think our ears can sometimes gloss over and we can forget the horror of what these people went through.

Thousands have died from starvation during the siege. Families were literally ripped apart as children were separated from parents. And taken off in chains on a death march a thousand miles away to Babylon. And friends, this wasn't just a national trauma. This was a theological trauma.

See, the people of Israel were the ones to whom the promises belonged. The promises to Adam, to Abraham, to David, the promise of the seed of the woman to crush the head of the serpent, the promise of a descendant of Abraham who would bless all nations. The promise of a son of David who would always sit on the throne. And all of those promises seemed one after another to be falling short. What message would bring God?

What message would God bring to his weak and weary people in exile? He gives them Isaiah chapter 40. Listen now as I read.

From God's Word. Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.

A voice cries, In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low. The uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.

And all flesh shall see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. A voice says, Cry, and I said, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all its beauty like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it.

Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades. But the word of our Lord will stand forever. Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news, lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news, lift it up, fear not, say to the cities of Judah, behold your God. Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him.

Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arms. He will carry them in his bosom and gently lead those that are with young.

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span and closed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in balances. Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows Him his counsel? Whom did He consult, and who made Him understand? Who taught Him the path of justice, and taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as dust on the scales.

Behold, He takes up the coastlands like fine dust, Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before Him. They are accounted by Him as less than nothing and emptiness. To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness compares with Him?

An idol? A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for its silver chains. He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot. He seeks out a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not move. Do you not know?

Do you not hear? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 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 like a tent to dwell in, who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them like stubble. To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes on high and see who created these, He who brings out their host by number, Calling them all by name, By the greatness of His might, Because He is strong in power, Not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, 'My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God'? 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, 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. What is the message that will sustain God's weak and weary people in exile?

Here's the answer in one sentence: He will because He is so we can. He is. He will because He is so we can. He will, He will return to comfort His people. And we can know that because He is, He is the all-powerful Creator.

And it's because of these two truths, because of who God is and because of what He has promised to do, that weak and weary people like you and me can keep going. We can keep believing. We can keep waiting. So what is the message that will sustain God's weak and weary people in exile? First, He will.

God will return to comfort His people. The point of verses 1 to 11 is that God will return to comfort His people. In verses 1 and 2, God declares that He has put away their sin, which opens up the way for the promises of what He will do when He returns in verses 3 to 11. These opening words are some of the most famous in all of Scripture. They're the opening words of Handel's famous Messiah.

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. After the exile, he still calls them his people, and he still calls himself your God. And what I want you to see here is that this section mirrors Isaiah 6. It opens up a whole new vista of Isaiah's ministry. If you recall, Isaiah was summoned to a ministry of judgment in chapter six.

And that's what follows. For chapter six, seven, eight, nine, 10, all the way up to 39, it is a message of judgment, judgment, judgment. There are minor notes of mercy, but the major note is unmistakable. It is judgment. And in chapter 40, Isaiah receives a new commission.

And it opens up a whole new phase of his ministry. There are minor notes of judgment, but the major note is comfort, comfort, comfort. From chapter 40 to 66, that is the dominant theme of this new section of Isaiah. Like a father who after disciplining his child turns to encourage, console and comfort, God gathers his weary people in his arms to comfort them. The form of this passage is poetry.

That's why you have the spacing in your Bibles. You see, when God intends to comfort his people, he doesn't use a form letter. He doesn't buy a hallmark card. No, he speaks tenderly to his people. The Hebrew literally means to the heart, the way a young man speaks to a woman that he loves.

To his weary, rebellious people in exile, God writes a love letter. And the content of this comfort is threefold. You see it there in verse 2. War is over. Sin is pardoned.

The demands of justice have been satisfied. What God promises is that to his weak and weary people, he has made peace by putting away their sins, and he will return and rescue them. As we hear this passage as Christians, we need to realize that there are three horizons in view, three time horizons for how this passage speaks. First, this passage is promising the return of the exiles under Cyrus in 538 BC. That's how Isaiah's original audience would have heard this, that there is going to be a future after exile.

Their captivity will not be permanent. And true to his word, God stirs up the heart of King Cyrus. We'll read about that that later in Isaiah. You can read 2 Chronicles 36 or Ezra 1. God stirs up the heart of the king of Persia to send his people back.

But when you study those passages, passages like Ezra, it makes it so clear that what Isaiah 40 promises is so much greater than what happens in 538 BC. Do you remember the account from Ezra? When the people return from exile and they finally rebuild the temple, the young men rejoice, but the old men, the men who remembered the former glory of the temple, they weep. They weep not for joy but for sorrow, because their reality fell so far short of the promises here. In Isaiah 40.

To them it was so clear that so much more remained to be fulfilled. The people may have gone back to their land, but they were still waiting for their God to come to them.

And He does. 500 years later, at the incarnation, Jesus Christ comes to be with His people. That's the second time horizon in view. This passage is foretelling and promising the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. That's why every single gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, all open by quoting Isaiah 40:3.

In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord. See, exile was not Israel's main problem. Babylon was not Israel's main problem. Israel's main problem was God. Their problem was their sins had accrued a debt that they could not pay by exile.

And friends, the same thing is true about us. All of us have sinned against God. All of us have accrued a debt that we cannot pay. In his son, in Jesus' perfect life, in his death and resurrection in our place, he paid that penalty in full. Colossians 2 says that he has completely canceled the debt that we owed by nailing it to his cross of wood.

He now offers a free salvation, the forgiveness of our sins if we would turn from our sins and trust in him. And friends, he's coming back. He's coming back to restore all things and to make all things new.

Because of Christ's death, verse 2 says that justice has been satisfied. In the ancient world, a tradesman would nail the receipt folded in half on the door of someone when they had paid for the goods in full. That's what that word double in verse 2 is referring to. It's not saying that Israel paid for their sins. It's saying that their sins have been paid for.

One side of paper declaring the debt, folded in half, nailed to the door, was a picture for everyone to know that the penalty had been paid in full. The debt was paid. And friends, that's what Christ has done for us on the cross. Our debt against a holy God has been nailed to the cross, and we can know that our sins are paid for.

We bear them no more. Friend, if you are weak and weary because of your sins, you can come to Jesus today and find rest. Would you do that? Later on in the service, we're gonna be hearing the testimonies of Brooke and Kyla, who've experienced that forgiveness in their lives. That forgiveness, that peace can be yours today if you would come to Jesus.

And what the rest of this passage from verses 3 to 11 is pointing ahead to is that this same Jesus who came once is coming again. And that's the third time horizon. As followers of Jesus, we're not home yet. We're still waiting for Christ's return. That's why the New Testament refers to Christians as exiles.

Just read 1 Peter. We're living in the tension of the already not yet.

We're like those old men who wept when they saw the temple because we have tasted and seen the goodness of what is to come and we long with groanings too deep for words to be with Christ. And if you're here today and you are groaning, if you are wondering if you can keep waiting, the promise for you from this passage is that he will. He will return and comfort you. He will return powerfully. That's what we see in verses 3 to 5.

Verses 3 to 5 describe the power and cosmic scope of Christ's return. The image is of a mighty king returning victorious in battle with his people that he has redeemed in tow. The reference to the wilderness and the desert echo the exodus when Yahweh led Israel out of Egypt, but they point ahead to a new and greater exodus.

When Jesus comes back to take us home. In the first Exodus, God parted the waters. Here, he levels the mountains. All of creation is being transformed to prepare the way for Christ's return. But notice that whereas at the Exodus only Moses saw God's glory, look at verse 5.

The glory of the Lord shall be revealed. And all flesh shall see it together. There will be no old men weeping on that day because the glory of Christ will so satisfy us that he will personally wipe away every tear. On that day there will be no more promises to be fulfilled. They will all have been fulfilled.

First Corinthians 13:12 says that for now we see as in a mirror dimly. But then face to face. 1 John 3:12 says, When he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Revelation 22:4 says, They shall see God. And the best news is that Christ's return will be permanent.

It will be permanent. That's what we see in verses 6 to 8 as the transience of flesh is contrasted with the permanence of God's word. There will be an end to the exile and there will be no more exiles. We will be forever with the Lord. Just think about how long grass lasts.

How long do flowers last? For a season, maybe? For a few months? Friends, God's promises are not like grass. They don't have an expiration date.

There's no fine print on the promises of God's Word. There's no risk of default. No chance he'll forget or fumble or fail. He will return to comfort you if you are in Christ. And friends, this is actually our future.

I think sometimes we can forget as if this is all imaginary. This is actually what God will do for you if you are in Christ. He will raise you up on that last day. He will wipe away every tear from your eyes. He will personally escort you to the seat that he has prepared for you at his table.

Jesus will return powerfully, permanently, and personally. That's what we see in verses 9 to 11. Look at verse 11. He will tend his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arms.

He will carry them in his bosom and gently lead those that are with young.

Do you ever feel too weak to keep going?

The special concern of this warrior shepherd is those who are weak, those that are with young, those who are weary. And on that day, from man to woman to child, there is only one word on the lips of everyone who sees this king coming back. And that word is look, behold, see. It's the sight of how this king will take care of the weakest among them and keep them so that no one is lost. That causes a stunned silence among the onlooking throngs.

He will return. He will comfort his people. And on that day, he will lose none of his sheep. One of the books that I love to read to my children at night is Little Pilgrim's Big Journey. It's a children's version of Pilgrim's Progress.

And in the final book, in the third book in the trilogy, there's this great last battle. It's the final battle. And after a climactic moment, just at that point when it seems that evil will win, One of the boys, Eli, cries out, I guess it's all over. We're all alone now. And just at that moment, he hears a voice.

You are not alone. You have never been alone. And they look up and they see Jesus. Returning on a white horse with his army to redeem and rescue his people. Friends, one day, one day very soon, whether you are alive in the flesh or buried in the ground, you will hear the sound of the voice of your Savior.

And you will know you are not alone.

You have never been alone. Not for one moment have you been alone. When God returns to comfort his people, it will be personal. If you are in Christ Jesus, he is coming for you.

Are you among that number? Are you one of his sheep? Are you following this Jesus? Brothers and sisters, if we are to keep going, if we are to keep waiting in exile, we need to keep these promises before our eyes. He will return.

He will return to comfort His people, and it will be powerful, permanent, and personal. How can we know? How can we know for sure that He really will? Let's point to, because he is. He will because he is.

He is the all-powerful creator. That's what we see in verses 12 to 26. See, Israel's eyes had been so myopically fixed on their captors that they had forgotten the power of their creator. It's like they'd been looking through at their enemies through a microscope. They looked so big.

So Isaiah rips away the microscope and he hands them a telescope and he takes them on a national geographic tour of the universe. First he starts with the oceans and the mountains in verse 12. Then he moves on to the skies in verse 22 and the stars in verse 26. And the point is this: God is the all powerful creator. So why are they calling into question his ability to make good on his promises?

He has all power. Verses 15 to 26 compare God to the next strongest objects Israel might be tempted to trust in: nations, idols, princes. None of these compare to God. None of them. This section is structured like an argument.

It asks 11 rhetorical questions all designed to prove the trustworthiness of God. There are two types of questions that are asked. One is a who, the other is a don't you know. The who questions all beg the answer, no one but Yahweh, no one but God, emphasizing what theologians call the singularity of God, the uniqueness of God. He is the only God and there is no other.

The other type of question, the do you not know question, these are designed to elicit a positive affirmation, yes, we have known. Kind of the way a parent might ask their child, have I not told you? Yes, you have told me. The point under dispute is God's trustworthiness and power, and these questions establish beyond question that there is no one more powerful and therefore no one more trustworthy than God. How do we know that he will?

Because He is. Verse 12 begins by describing four human measurements. There's the hollow of a hand, you know, just that cup. The span, which is the difference, it's the space between the thumb and the pinky finger. He describes a scale and a measuring cup.

Those are the four images. These are small, everyday measurements. We don't really think much of them. I mean, how much water could you hold in the palm of your hand?

But notice what fits in God's equivalent. In the hollow of his hand, he holds oceans. In the span of his hand, he measures the skies. His measuring cup holds the dust of the earth. In his kitchen scale, he weighs mountains.

How many gallons of water fill the oceans that run six miles deep? How many stars fill the galaxies that run trillions of light years. How many tons of rocks and soil comprise the mountain ranges of the Rockies and the Himalayas? All these fit in God's teacup. That is how immeasurable our Creator is.

And not only is God's power unlimited, but His wisdom is unsearchable. That's what Isaiah turns to consider next in verses 13 to 14. God's wisdom is His skill in directing all things toward their proper end. The end of all things is the glory of God. And God's wisdom directs all things towards that end.

In verses 13 to 14, Isaiah asks three questions to prove the point that God's wisdom is unbounded and unsurpassed. And it says if Isaiah is asking, has God ever hired management consultants to clue him in on the finer points of the universe? Has he ever contracted lawyers? To advise him on the finer points of justice. Has he ever hired political strategists to weigh the pros or cons of this or that action?

No, because God is all wise and God's power is guided by his wisdom. One theologian put it this way: Wisdom is naked without power to act, and power is useless without wisdom to direct. You see what he's saying, right? A tragedy of life is that those with power often lacked wisdom. And those with wisdom often lack power to enact their wisdom.

Not so with God. God's power and wisdom are married together as two essential attributes of God: divine power, divine wisdom.

And these two attributes together settle beyond all question the trustworthiness and reliability of God. So Isaiah turns next, if this is who God is, who would Israel be tempted to trust in other than that God? And he considers three rivals in verses 15 to 24. Other nations, other gods, other leaders. One after one, Isaiah's line of questioning demolishes these as alternative objects of trust.

At the height of its power, the kingdom of Babylon controlled almost the entire Near East, in a kingdom stretching from modern-day Turkey to India. Babylon was the preeminent military power with the latest technological advancements, including siege weaponry and chariots. They were the greatest economic empire. They controlled the critical trade routes connecting East and West, They were the great cultural power, boasting ancient wonders of the world, boasting architectural achievements. And it is this mighty empire and all the empires of the earth that God, in verse 15, compares to a drop from a bucket.

Now, he actually goes a step further. He compares them to dust in verse 15.

Like dust on the scales. Dust is a measurement so small, its weight is negligible. I mean, when was the last time you went to weigh yourself and you step on the scale, but first you notice I should dust off my feet just so it doesn't make the weight inaccurate. Nobody dusts off their feet before stepping on the scale because the weight of dust is negligible.

It's nothing. Its weight is almost nothing. Recently, scientists have actually developed the ability to measure the weight of dust. They use scales known as a microbalance that measure weight in micrograms. For context, a microgram is a millionth of a gram.

And they use these scales to measure dust particles, the kind that you might see floating in a beam of sunlight. Do you know how much a speck of dust weighs? Between one and ten micrograms. That is what God says all the nations of the earth are like compared to him. Take all the superpowers of Isaiah's day, Assyria, Syria, Egypt, and Babylon.

Take all their chariots, all their horses, all their armies, all their influence, All their economic might and what are they compared to God? Dust. Specks of dust. Nations can't compare to God. And neither can their idols, which is where Isaiah turns next in verses 18 to 20.

This passage is full of irony, and we're going to spend more time on idols next week in chapter 41. But what I want you to notice here is two attributes that Isaiah zeroes in on. Impotence and Fragility. Two attributes of idols are impotence and fragility. Unlike the eternal, uncreated God, idols are made by craftsmen.

They have no life in themselves. These craftsmen need to find the most durable objects possible so that their idols don't rot. Because if the idol rots, it'll topple over. And if the idol topples over, then everyone will know that the emperor has no clothes and these idols are in fact not God. So what do they do?

Well, they look for the best stones they can find. They look for the hardest wood they can find. Anything to mask the lie that these idols are real rivals with God. Even political leaders, the third and final point of comparison in verses 21 to 24 will wither and fade like grass and can't compare to the eternal God. The image Isaiah uses is of young plants.

They have no developed root system. Such are the rulers of the earth who seem so permanent and powerful in one moment, and the next moment they're gone, like statues in congressional cemetery, and no one knows their names. All of this theology is marshaled for the sake of calling God's people to trust him. God will because He is. And the point is this: if God can track millions of stars, if He calls them all out one by one, if He knows them by name, how is it possible that He will forget about His people?

How is it possible that He will fail to make good on His promise to return to comfort you?

I love that verses 11 and 12 are back to back. Did you notice that? In verse 11, God is holding a sheep in his bosom. In verse 12, God is holding the oceans in his hand. With one hand he holds the oceans; with the other, he holds his lamb.

In that most protected place where no one can touch them.

This is your God, the all-powerful God, the ruler of the heavens and the earth. This Jesus is the one who is coming for you. And it's because he is, it's because of what he will do, that we can keep going. That's the point of verses 27 to 31. He will because He is, so we can.

We can. We can keep going. We can keep believing. We can keep waiting.

The empowering truth of verses 27 to 31 is that the power of the infinite God becomes the power of his finite people as they wait on him. God's infinite power becomes the power of finite people as they wait on him. Isaiah isn't saying that we can keep going because our strength is great. He's saying we can keep going because God's strength is great. We can keep going because the Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint. Or grow weary. And it's because he does not grow weary that people like you and me can go to him and renew our strength. The question is how. This is the question many of you have asked me this week.

How does God's power become our power? The answer is in verse 31.

They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. But how does waiting strengthen? A waiting is exhausting. Waiting is tiring. Waiting is draining.

Who feels renewed by waiting? I mean, whoever has gone to a restaurant and after 20 minutes of waiting for the table, when the waiter comes to get you, you tell them, no, I think I'm good. I'm refreshed by my 20-minute wait. I don't need to eat. Waiting is exhausting.

None of us like waiting. How is waiting strengthening? I think part of the answer is in the image Isaiah gives next in the verse. Look at verse 31. They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.

They shall mount up with wings like eagles. Just think about eagles for a moment. How do eagles How do eagles ascend and soar to great heights? It's not by relentlessly thrashing their wings. It's by riding the power of the wind.

That's how eagles soar. The majesty of the eagle is not the strength of his wings, but the power of the wind. The eagle gives us a picture of what it means to wait on the Lord. Waiting is resting. That's why it's rejuvenating.

The eagle's strength is renewed mid-flight as his wings rest on the power of the wind. And in the same way, the Christian renews his strength as he rests on the promises of God's Word. This waiting is different from all other kinds of waiting because of its object and its posture. Waiting that renews is waiting that rests on God. And waiting that renews is not passive but active.

It looks to Christ. It listens to God's Word. As you fix your mind upon God and the promises of His Word, He promises you that He will renew your strength.

What are you waiting for?

Is it leaving you feeling exhausted, Are you tired of waiting? The Lord offers you his strength if you would wait upon him. What we are doing in this gathering is learning how to wait well. As we fix our gaze on God's Word, God's character, and God's promises, we are strengthening each other's resolve to keep going. So if you come here this morning and you're feeling discouraged, disappointed, and tired, please keep coming.

Even if you don't feel that you have the strength to sing, it's okay. You can sit in your seat and you can listen to the sound of other Saints singing God's promises to you. But what I would invite you to do after closing your eyes for a few minutes is to look up and to look around. The people singing to you are not people who have nothing to wait for. They're not people who have received everything they could possibly want.

The people singing around this room are waiting.

Some of us are waiting for diagnoses. Or for an illness to go away. Some of us are waiting for a spouse or a child.

Some of us are waiting for the clouds of depression to lift or for a sin-struggle to cease. Some have been waiting for a very, very long time.

But we're not waiting alone. We're waiting together. And we're not waiting in vain.

Oh, friends, let me just say as one of your pastors, one of the greatest encouragements to me is to see you and what you're going through continue to gather and to sing the promises of God. As you do, we are strengthening each other and encouraging each other to keep going. We're not promised that we will receive everything we're waiting for in this life, but we are promised that there is coming an end to our waiting. There is coming a day very soon when there will be no more waiting. And like the eagle's wings, God promises to renew your strength so that you can wait until that day.

If you know my wife, you know that she loves to run. She was a competitive cross-country runner in high school. Every Saturday morning in the fall, she would race the hills and forests of Vermont. 5Ks were her specialty. And every runner knows that there comes that place in every race where you're tempted to slow down.

Maybe it's at the foot of a hill. Maybe it's toward the end of the race. But every race my wife ran, she had someone to encourage her to keep going. Her dad. Claire's dad was almost maniacal about mapping out every race ahead of time.

Most parents just stood and cheered at the finish line, not Claire's dad. He would study the course and make a plan for how to zigzag through the course so many times so he could see his daughter. He even invented a cone-shaped tool out of an old Wendy's cup that he would slip over his arm so he could run more quickly, and then pull it up over his mouth so he could shout louder so she could hear him.

Every race, Claire knew that when she hit that hill, when she would be tempted to slow down and give up, she could look up and see the sight of her dad bounding through the woods, shouting, through Wendy's cup, saying, Claire, keep going. You're strong. You're gaining their beat. Keep going.

Through his voice and his presence, his strength, became her strength. Brother, sister, your Savior has no less meticulously mapped out the course of your life. He knows every hill and every valley. He knows those places where you're tempted to give up. And when you feel weak and weary, when you feel like you can't keep going, Lift your eyes and look.

He's there. He's calling your name. He's saying, Keep going. You're strong. You're gaining.

Keep going.

Friends, one day very soon our waiting will be over. And we will declare together with all the saints from all the ages, Behold our God. This is our God. We have waited for Him. We have waited that He may save us.

Let us rejoice in His great salvation.

He will. He is.

You can.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, it's because of your promises that we ask. That you would strengthen us by your Spirit to behold Christ, to see and to savor his goodness and to believe his promises. Help us to keep going as we fix our eyes on him. In Jesus' name, amen.