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Sorrow ever brings God nearer to us, if it do not bring us nearer to God; and whilst Isaiah was pondering the greatness of his apparent failure, God was preparing to chase away his darkness and to rekindle his hopes. Above him in the silent vault of night God was bringing out His solemn stars. And from that heaven where God numbered and named and watched over His stars, the eternal chorus swept down into the prophet's soul — "Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel?" etc. Now, from a like despondency of heart, not one of us is entirely free. But some there are who dwell always in the region of gloom. The language of their whole life is, "My way is hid from the Lord. and my judgment is passed over from my God." Or, perhaps, it is that the shadow of a long-past grief is upon their life. Or, maybe, it is that they walk in a labyrinth of difficulty. Or, like Isaiah, they mourn apparent failure; they see life's highest purpose ingloriously defeated.

I. GOD'S POWER THE COMFORT OF HIS PEOPLE. Certain it is that our only true comfort is found in God. Life, when we can turn to God, is never cruel and hard; however full of trial it may be it never seems unkind; for we know that a hand of love appoints what a heart of love designs, and that all things must work together for good. And God has surrounded us on every side with reminders of what He is. When the heart is sad and low go out and be a witness of God's power; go out in the quiet evening when the gold and fire and purple of the sunset have paled away, and see God bringing out His stars. And as you remember that the infinite mind, your Father, knows their number, calls them all by names, as the Eastern shepherd used to call his sheep, and so follows each with His love, surrounds each by His care, so bathes each in His smile that "not one faileth" — do they not with a loud shout of song pour down upon your soul the same consolation? Not only God's power as manifested in the sky, but His power as seen on earth may be our hope. God is about you on every side. No star, no bird, no flower is hid from Him. Never, then, can we say, "My way is hid from the Lord," etc.

II. But a further source of consolation is GOD'S TENDERNESS. "He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increaseth strength." God's tenderness is only rightly seen when viewed in conjunction with His greatness. We see the tender in contrast with the mighty. And this is real tenderness. Tenderness is strength in gentle action. When the power that might crush heals, uplifts, and strengthens, then we see tenderness. Gentleness is not weakness, but it is calm, quiet, loving strength. When the wind — which might wrench the oak from its moorings, snap the cables it has thrown around the rocks, and carry it away on its wings — lifts the hair and fans the cheek of the dying child, it is gentle. When the sun — mighty in his strength, pouring his scorching light on far-off worlds — shoots down a golden ray to cheer the drooping plant, or to "increase strength" in the little seedling which a raindrop would almost crush, it is gentle. And such is the God of whom we speak. The great Father has also a mother's tenderness. "He giveth power to the faint." He who Himself is never weary stoops to those who have no might, that He may increase strength. The faint and weak, they are the children of the strong and mighty! And to the faint He giveth "power" — power to suffer, to endure. To the weak He giveth "strength" — strength to labour, to accomplish. There is nothing in this world so mighty as the weakness which takes hold of the Divine strength. Yonder the ocean is white with foam. Wave chases wave across the dark surface of the deep as cloud chases cloud across the blackened sky. No ship could live in such a storm. The mightiest anchor ever forged could give no safety in such an hour. But out, where the storm is fiercest, on those dreadful rocks against which the waves dash themselves into clouds of spray, is a tiny, helpless shell-fish. Its very strength is weakness. It clings simply by its emptiness; but, clinging to that rock, not all the thunders of the ocean dislodge it thence. It is weakness taking hold of strength. Tender and yet mighty is our God, and His tenderness is His people's comfort. Whilst we bow in reverence before that power which holds untold worlds in their shining courses, we bow in profounder reverence and love before that power when we behold it in gentle exercise, giving power to the faint.

III. There is a further source of consolation open to us — GOD'S WISDOM. "There is no searching of His understanding." To say merely that man cannot understand God is to say very little; but the language is the statement of an eternal fact. There is no searching of His understanding; not by the brightest intellects of earth nor by the grandest intelligences of heaven. And God's infinite wisdom is to us the needful complement of His infinite power. Power, uncontrolled by wisdom, is rather to be feared than worshipped and loved. And shall He who has conceived that mighty plan — that plan which embraces all worlds in its grand conception — not understand the plan of our short life? Never let us think "our way is hid from the Lord"; to Him every circumstance of our life is known.

(H. Wonnacott.)

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KJV: Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?

WEB: Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, "My way is hidden from Yahweh, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God?"