Isaiah 40:29-31 He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increases strength.… (with ver. 26): — 1. The strength that restores is greater than the power that preserves. 2. The power that is given to the faint is greater than the strength that keeps the stars from falling, because there is in it an actual communication of actual Divine strength. God keeps the planet in its course by an act (for we must not speak about "effort" in regard to Him) of power brought to bear upon it. But He brings strength to us, not by ministration from without, but by impartation within. 3. Once more, this mirror gives us back the reflection of a power which is not only restoration and communication, but multiplication. "To those that have no might He increaseth strength." 4. The power that redeems, ministers not only restoration and communication and multiplication, but assimilation. There is in the context a very remarkable play upon words. "Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the ever. lasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?" He stoops to the faint, and gives them strength, and what is the result in them? "They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." What God is, God's child in his measure becomes, unfainting and unwearied like his Father in the heavens. God gives, not omnipotence, but something that is a kind of shadowy likeness of it. "All things are possible to him that believeth." (A. Maclaren, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.WEB: He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might. |
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