Isaiah 40:29
He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak.
Sermons
He Who has Power Alone Can Give itR. Tuck Isaiah 40:29
Weakness Made StrongW.M. Statham Isaiah 40:29
A Challenge to Despondent UnbeliefR. Macculloch.Isaiah 40:27-31
Despondency ReprovedE. Johnson Isaiah 40:27-31
Doubt and EncouragementProf. S. R. Driver, D. D.Isaiah 40:27-31
Faith in the Living GodJ. Baldwin Brown, B. A.Isaiah 40:27-31
God the Comfort of His PeopleH. Wonnacott.Isaiah 40:27-31
My Way Hid from the LordT. Leighton.Isaiah 40:27-31
ProvidenceW. Patten.Isaiah 40:27-31
Spiritual DespondencyE. L. Hull, B. A.Isaiah 40:27-31
The Attributes of God: a Reply to UnbeliefT. Scott, B. A.Isaiah 40:27-31
The Unbelief of the Jews ReprovedIsaiah 40:27-31
Unbecoming SpeechF. B. Meyer, B. A.Isaiah 40:27-31
When the Way Seems HiddenHomiletic ReviewIsaiah 40:27-31
Energy and WisdomJ. Parker, D. D.Isaiah 40:28-31
God Never Grows WearyIsaiah 40:28-31
God's Moment the Perfect Miniature of His Everlasting DayT. G. Selby.Isaiah 40:28-31
God's Power the Comfort of His PeopleJ. Parker, D. D.Isaiah 40:28-31
Heartening Conceptions of GodBishop of Chester.Isaiah 40:28-31
Profitable Reflection in Dark HoursF. B. Meyer, B. A.Isaiah 40:28-31
The Inexhaustible Energy of GodHomilistIsaiah 40:28-31
The Inexhaustibleness of the Divine PowerHomilistIsaiah 40:28-31
The Unwearied God and Wearied MenA. Maclaren, D. D.Isaiah 40:28-31
A Spiritual TonicF. W. Brown.Isaiah 40:29-31
Almighty God Helps the WeakJ. Bromley.Isaiah 40:29-31
Causes and Cure of FaintingIsaiah 40:29-31
Encouragement to the WearyG. W. Hills.Isaiah 40:29-31
God's Power in the Heavens and on EarthA. Maclaren, D. D.Isaiah 40:29-31
God's Strength for the WeakF. B. Meyer, B. A.Isaiah 40:29-31
God's Untiring PatienceC. Silvester Home, M. A.Isaiah 40:29-31
Strength Attracted by WeaknessF. B. Meyer, B. A.Isaiah 40:29-31
The Aid of the Holy SpiritJ. Marriot, M. A.Isaiah 40:29-31
The Divine HelperJ. Parker, D. D.Isaiah 40:29-31
The Influence of the Holy GhostJ. H. Evans, M. A.Isaiah 40:29-31
The Need and the Gift of Spiritual PowerW. Clarkson Isaiah 40:29-31
Two Operations of God's PowerA. Maclaren, D. D.Isaiah 40:29-31
Unfailing Stars and Fainting MenA. Maclaren, D. D.Isaiah 40:29-31














He giveth power to the faint, etc. The pilgrim to Zion is often weary. Lassitude and faintness steal over the soul, and energy is gone. At such seasons we cannot recover ourselves. No effort of will can give tone to the spirit and zeal to the activities.

I. FAINTNESS RELIEVED. Our principles have not changed; nor have our ideals. To live for Christ is still our aim. But somehow the heart, which is the centre of the life, beats feebly. God has varied ways of relieving our weakness and restoring our strength. But whatever the instrumentality, it is God that does it, God's Spirit that fills it. Blessed hours are those when the heavenly breath revives the soul; when the graces lift up their faded heads like dew-bathed flowers; when courage revives, and the soul rejoices in God.

II. STRENGTH INCREASED. "To them that have no might." Further than this we cannot go. And it should comfort those who regard their experiences of feebleness as indications that they are not the children of God, that such a state is recognized in Holy Scripture as possible to us. "No might." Patience gone. Endurance gone. Perseverance gone. It is almost like moral paralysis. But it is not, indeed, so. The nerve is weakened, but not snapped. Divine communication can and will come, even to the most enfeebled and dejected. While we say "no might," there is a little strength, or it could not be "increased.' And this increase is often very slow and imperceptible. When we are physically feeble, we cannot measure progress as we inhale the air of sea or mountain; only steadily does the tide of health, like the ocean tide, return. But it does come, if we wait upon God; for God is faithful who hath promised. It is all of him. - W.M.S.

He giveth power to the faint.
I. OUR SPIRITUAL CONDITION IS INTIMATELY KNOWN TO THE DIVINE FATHER. He knows the strong and the faint alike. As a wise Shepherd, He is acquainted with the state of His entire flock.

1. There is our inherent antagonism to evangelical truth. Man is prone to self-leaning. When we leave the Cross we faint; while we glory in its Sufferer we are armed with irresistible might!

2. There is the seductive influence of worldly association.

3. There is the fierce battle for daily bread.

4. There is our ever-recurring unbelief.

II. MORAL FAINTNESS DOES NOT INVALIDATE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. Were all the "faint" to be excluded, how many of you would remain as children of God? Does the parent cast off the crippled child? It will be necessary, however, to guard this assurance with two explanations —

1. It contains no encouragement to moral indolence. You are not to exonerate yourselves from the stern duties oF life on the plea that you are "faint." The toiler grows strong; exercise develops muscle.

2. It affords no palliation for inconsistency. We are never allowed to plead weakness as a reason for sin.

III. INFINITE POWER IS ACCESSIBLE TO THE MORALLY FEEBLE.

1. God never communicates surplus power. "As thy days so shall thy strength be."

2. God's method of communicating power teaches the dependence of humanity. God's alone is original; but it is enough for man if he can shine with radiance borrowed from the Fount of uncreated light.

3. God's willingness to communicate power fearfully increases the responsibility of the Church. What power we might have! I regard the declaration in the following aspects(1) As the sublimest encouragement to the Church. "He giveth power to the faint." Who is this Being represented, in the pronoun?(2) As the tenderest assurance to the penitent. "The bruised reed He will not break, the smoking flax He will not quench."(3) As the highest tribute to the work of Christ.(4) As a glorious pledge of God's interest in humanity.(5) As a presumptive proof of man's immortality. But how so? Can they who faint be immortal? Why all this feeding like a shepherd? Why this gentle tending — this inspiration of life — this sustaining of vigour — this communication of power? Is the mysterious process undertaken when God has determined that all shall end in dust? Does the Divine Being sustain merely that earthly life shall be prolonged? Why should Jehovah stoop to impart power to the faint, when He knows that in a few brief years the faint one will have crumbled to dust?

(J. Parker, D. D.)

The arguments which demonstrate the folly and guilt of worshipping false gods, and of confiding in them, equally demonstrate the duty and obligation of worshipping the true and living God, and of placing our confidence in Him. Indeed, to remove our adoration from an idol is doing but little, unless at the same time it be given to the Holy and Great Jehovah; it is but renouncing polytheism — a grievous and horrible delusion — for atheism, a delusion still more horrible and grievous.

I. JEHOVAH, THE TRUE GOD, IS A BEING OF UNLIMITED POWER (ver. 26).

II. THE POWER OF JEHOVAH, THE TRUE GOD, IS LIKE HIMSELF, UNDIMINISHABLE AND ETERNAL. "He fainteth not, neither is weary." That the power of Jehovah, the true God, is undiminishable and eternal, is proved by the conservation of nature, as the existence of that power is proved by nature's production. Were the hand which framed the universe utterly withdrawn, the universe would return to its original nothing. The motion, order, and safety of all things depend upon God. What a contrast does this perfection of undiminishable and eternal power form to the weakness of the creature — of fallen and helpless man especially! Weakness is the attribute of the human body. Man is no less weak as it relates to his mind. Sublime therefore in the highest degree is this account of Jehovah. He never lets fall the reins of dominion; He never retires, overcharged, by attention to His friends, resistance to His enemies, or the superintendence of all!

III. THE POWER OF JEHOVAH THE TRUE GOD IS CONDESCENDINGLY EMPLOYED IN BEHALF OF FALLEN, HELPLESS MAN. "He giveth power to the faint," etc. Let us attend to some instances in which this truth is illustrated.

1. In His providential interpositions in favour of the more helpless of men. Some persons constitutionally feeble in body, or perhaps made so by disease, are often mysteriously succoured. The victim of oppression also ever finds a Friend in heaven.

2. In the work of our redemption by Christ Jesus. "When we were yet without strength Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 5:6). One of the most afflictive circumstances attending man's fallen state is that of utter helplessness. When sin entered into the world it not only erased from the soul of man the image of his Creator; it also annihilated, as far as man was concerned, all the means of his recovery. The nerves of obedience were cut, and the spirit of reverence and love utterly blasted.

3. In that invigorating peace communicated to the heart of man, when he believes to the salvation of his soul. Perhaps we are never fully prepared for the mercy of God, through the sacrificial merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, until we see that there is mercy in no other way.

4. In that successful resistance which is made by the faithful Christian, to the assaults of our great spiritual adversary, the devil.

5. In the season of personal affliction.

6. In the case of every one who dies in the Lord.

(J. Bromley.)

No words can do justice to the feelings of joy and gratitude which this gift should excite in all those who partake in its inestimable benefit. When the heathen sage had sketched out virtue in her goodliest forms; when he had pointed to the steep and arduous path which must be trodden by her successful votaries; when he had urged his disciples to enter upon it by the most stimulating motives with which the light of nature could supply him, what could he do more? What words of cheering import could he address to them, when sinking with dismay under a sense of their own infirmity, when trembling with apprehensions of failure, from a comparison between their strength and the task allotted to them? He had no authority to refer them to one who "giveth power to the faint, and increaseth strength to them that have no might." What he could not, the Christian philosopher can say.

(J. Marriot, M. A.)

I. THE SPIRITUAL HEALTH OF THE HEBREW CHURCH HAD FALLEN BELOW PAR.

1. They felt they had lost the favour of God. Their way was hidden from Him, and they walked in darkness, as if they were the sport of chance or the victims of fate.

2. They felt they were left to the mercy of man. It appeared as if judgment upon them and their way was transferred to caprice of men.

II. THE IMPAIRED SPIRITUAL STRENGTH OF THE HEBREW CHURCH MIGHT BE RESTORED. The people needed —

1. Faith in the power of God.

2. Hope in the pity of God. He does not crush the feeble and the faint, but increases their power.

3. Love for the service of God. As the hearts of the people became enthusiastic for the worship of Jehovah, and longed to get back to Zion to restore the temple and rebuild the city, their energies would revive as an incoming tide; revived spirit would bring revived strength.

III. WITH RESTORED SPIRITUAL HEALTH THE HEBREW CHURCH WOULD RESUME ITS WONTED ACTIVITIES. The people are promised —

1. Renewed vigour. Strength would come from waiting upon God.

2. Renewed vivacity. The people are told they shall "mount," "walk," "run," without weariness or sense of exhaustion.

3. Renewed vitality. Though the body may grow old, and physical life decline, the soul shall remain young.

(F. W. Brown.)

(with ver. 26): — These two verses set forth two widely different operations of the Divine power as exercised in two sadly different fields, the starry heavens and this weary world. The one verse says, "He is strong in power"; the other, "He giveth power." In the former verse, "the greatness of His might" sustains the stars; in the latter verse, a still greater operation is set forth in that "to them that have no might He increaseth strength." Thus there are three contrasts suggested; that between unfailing stars, and men that faint; that between the unwearied God and wearied men; and that between the sustaining power that is exercised in the heavens and the restoring power that is manifested on earth. There is another interlocking between the latter of these two texts and its context, which is indicated by a similar recurrence of epithets. In my second text we read of the "faint," and in the verse that follows it again we find the expression "faint" and "weary," while in the verse before my text we read that "the Lord fainteth not, neither is weary." So again the contrast between Him and us is set forth, but in the verse that closes the chapter we read how that contrast merges into likeness, inasmuch as the unfainting and unwearied God makes even the men that wait upon Him unwearied and unfainting.

(A. Maclaren, D. D.)

(with ver. 26): —

I. A SAD CONTRAST. The prophet in the former of these verses seems to be expanding the thoughts that lie in the name, "the Lord of hosts," in so far as that name expresses the Divine relation to the starry universe. The image that underlies both it and the words of my text is that of a commander who summons his soldiers, and they come. Discipline and plan array them in their ranks. The plain prose of which is that night by night, above the horizon, rise the bright orbs, and roll on their path obedient to the Sovereign will; "because He is strong in might, not one" is lacking. Scripture bids us think of God, not as a creative energy that set the universe in motion, and leaves it to roll or spin, but as of a Divine Presence. But in our second text we drop from the illumination of the heavens to the shadowed plain of this low earth. It is as if a man looking up into the violet sky, with all its shining orbs, should then turn to some reeking alley, with its tumult and its squalor. Just because man is greater than the stars, man "fails," whilst they shine on unwearied. For what the prophet has in view as the clinging curse that cleaves to our greatness is not merely the bodily fatigue which is necessarily involved in the very fact of bodily existence, since energy cannot be put forth without waste and weariness, but it is far more the weary heart, the heart that is weary of itself, weary of toil, weary of the momentary crises that demand effort, and wearier still of the effortless monotony of our daily lives. It is ever to be remembered that the faintness and the ebbing away of might, which is the truly tragic thing in humanity, does not depend upon physical constitution, but upon separation from the Source of all strength.

II. ANOTHER SAD CONTRAST, MELTING INTO A BLESSED LIKENESS. "He fainteth not, neither is weary." "He giveth power to the faint." Is that not a higher exercise of power than to "preserve the stars from wrong"? What are the consequences that the prophet traces to this restoring power? "They shall mount up with wings as eagles," etc.

III. THE WAY BY WHICH THESE CONTRASTS CAN BE RECONCILED, AND THIS LIKENESS SECURED. "They that wait upon the Lord" — that is the whole secret. What does waiting on the Lord include? Keep near Him; keep still: expect.

(A. Maclaren, D. D.)

(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.)

I. THE LORD SPEAKS OF HIS PEOPLE AS BEING SOMETIMES "FAINT." The expression is very significant; it implies that there is life, yet life for a time dormant, inactive, powerless either for defence, service, or enjoyment. There is one, for instance, who has watched long by the bedside of a beloved sick one. Others, again, are sorely tried by anxieties connected with their business; by the difficulty of providing daily bread. There, again, is another deeply vexed and grieved with the plague of his own heart. Of such as these the Lord seems to be speaking. "He giveth power to the faint." His people are further described as having "no might." Self-sufficiency is one of the plainest marks of the ungodly. And thus are they led truly into the third mark of His people, which the Lord here mentions, "They that wait upon the Lord."

II. HOW HE DEALS WITH THEM. Three expressions are employed to describe this.

1. To the faint "giving" strength, because, under their sore trials and afflictions, they have utterly fainted; their strength has for a time entirely departed — to them the Lord "gives" strength.

2. Then observe the other word describing His dealings — "He increaseth strength." That is a very suitable word. It is the experience of every gracious soul, that his own strength decreaseth. He learns more fully that he hath in himself no strength. Wherever the Lord removes any of the props of the believer's earthly pride and self-sufficiency, there He reveals Himself as the believer's strength. So that growth in humility is necessarily connected with growth in spiritual strength.

3. They that wait on the Lord shall "renew" their strength. They renew their strength because the Lord renews it. He manifests Himself to them just at those times and in that manner in which they are led to see their need of Him.

III. THE BLESSED RESULTS OF THE LORD'S DEALINGS WITH HIS PEOPLE. These also are described as three-fold —

1. "They shall mount up," borne aloft heavenward, with a power in comparison with which the eagle's mighty wings are powerless. And why? Because they are borne aloft by omnipotent grace. This is one blessed result to those who wait upon the Lord — heavenward tendency.

2. There is also promised zeal and rapid progress in their heavenly course. "They shall run and not be weary." Waiting upon the Lord, they shall be so renewed in strength, that not only their affections, desires, and hopes shall be lifted up to heaven, but they shall also be carried forward swiftly and mightily in their gracious course. They shall run in the way of God's commandments, and not be weary. Look at all mere human strength; how soon it fails, how quickly it is exhausted.

3. This is the third blessed result — a steady perseverance in the way to Zion. Whilst their progress is "running" for zeal and success, it is "walking" for steady persistency unto the end. It is harder sometimes to walk than to run. There are many who would gain heaven if it were to be won by a hasty run; but when the heavenly course requires not merely a short, quick, impulsive run, but the slow, weary, painful walk, they soon grow tired, and ready to give all up.

(G. W. Hills.)

The grand subject here is, "waiting upon the Lord." The term is of frequent occurrence in God's Word. It sometimes means nothing more than a quiet, restful frame of soul; and sometimes it will be found to set forth a waiting for the Lord, a patient waiting on Him in expectation of deliverance. But "waiting on Him" seems to imply more than this; it implies a diligent use of those means that He has appointed for the communication of His grace — waiting on Him in the use of those means. It is not an indolent waiting.

I. GOD'S GRACIOUS COMMUNICATION OF NEEDFUL HELP TO HIS POOR, TRIED, WEAK, AND HELPLESS PEOPLE.

1. Every creature is of necessity weak; it is not his fault — it is his nature. When Adam left his hold on God he necessarily fell; as necessarily as any branch would fall if cut off from the parent stem. The creature has no power to sustain himself, nor to help himself; and it was never intended that he should have.

2. If man as an unfallen creature is weak; well may we say, that as a fallen creature, he is altogether weakness.

3. But even as a renewed creature he is weak, and if left to himself, unable to cope with one enemy, or to maintain his own standing for one single moment. "Without Me ye can do nothing."

4. Besides this, there are certain periods in which the believer is more than ordinarily faint and weak. There are many things that try him.

5. Oftentimes too, through want of watchful, prayerful, holy seeking and turning over the page of conscience, he weakens his little strength. But it is to these very souls that the Lord communicates strength. "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength." The necessities of God's people seem to touch the very heart of God. But there is something in the very glory of God that constrains Him to grant them His help in their hours of need. This was David's plea: "pardon mine iniquity, for it is great," but "for Thy name's sake," he says.

II. OBSERVE THROUGH WHAT CHANNEL IT COMES. It is not a natural channel; it is not the strength of nature, but it is in the way of waiting dependence on Himself. There is a wondrous analogy between the operations of God in grace and in nature. God has given to us the promise that "seed-time and harvest shall never fail" while the world remains; but does this hinder the necessity of casting in the seed? Does it hinder the necessity of ploughing the land before it, and of harrowing it in, and protecting it? The more I look at this appointment of God, the more I see of infinite wisdom in it. I am in great distress, in great need, no one knows of my pressure. Perhaps I tell my friend, but I find no relief at all. And now I cast myself on the Lord — God reveals Himself to me as my Father-it quiets me, it comforts me. See how the Lord makes one step preparatory to another, and makes one thing the means of obtaining another. Prayerfulness leads to strength; that leads to courage; that leads to submission; that leads to patience, and that leads to praise. Observe the same, too, of all other means of grace. Talk we of the Bible, or hearing the Word unfolded? In prayer we speak to God; in His Word He speaks to us by His Spirit. Look at the very means of grace themselves: there is the unfolding of the same wisdom in the means appointed. What a suitable and reasonable ordainment it is!

III. THE ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY OF THIS CHANNEL OF COMMUNICATION. "They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength." When God puts forth His promise He pledges all that is in Himself to fulfil that promise. This is God's appointed way. Perhaps we can say there are no instances upon record in which it was otherwise, but I dare not say that God may not in one moment so break in upon a man's soul, by the holy anointing of the Spirit, as to give him the most perfect conviction that he is a child of God. See the greatness of the communication. They shall "run"; they shall "walk"; and they shall "mount up." Concluding remarks —

1. Would that the saints of God did more deeply feel that they are fainting and full of weakness!

2. Though it is no small mercy to be deeply conscious of our utter weakness before God, take heed how you abuse this glorious doctrine of the blessed Spirit by living a life of ceaseless and useless complaint. There is an observation, I think in Owen, that the religion of some consists in little more than in going from house to house, from friend to friend, from saint to saint, telling one's nothingness, sinfulness, and wretchedness. They make a sort of secret balm of it.

3. What vast encouragement is here!

(J. H. Evans, M. A.)

I. WHAT MAKES US FAINT?

1. We will consider the case of the awakened sinner.(1) They may very well faint, for they have made a most alarming discovery.(2) They have tried to escape from their dangerous position, but they have not succeeded.(3) We have known some grow so faint through a sense of sin and a dread of its punishment and a consciousness of their own inability to save themselves, that they have even wished to die; yet, when they have looked at their condition aright, they have asked themselves what use death would be to them?(4) Perhaps also, at such a time, a sore trouble may happen to the man; for, in the parable of the prodigal son, it appears that he was quite as much influenced by the peculiar circumstances without as by his sense of sin within.

2. I pass on to another character, namely, the child of God in his fainting fits. There is a degree of sinfulness about some of those faintings which is not found in others.(1) Sometimes the children of God faint through want of faith (Psalm 27:13). So the cure of fainting is faith, and the best way to prevent fainting is to believe.(2) Some are brought into a state of faintness through a selfish want of resignation. e.g., Jonah and the gourd. It was not alone the heat of the sun that caused him to faint; it was also the heat of his temper. Some of those who have lost dear children seem as if they will not forgive God for taking them.(3) There are children of God also who fall into faintness through trusting in themselves. "Even the youths shall faint," etc. Why is that? Because the youths felt themselves able to do anything.(4) Faintness may also arise from another cause which is sinful, namely, neglect of prayer.(5) Children of God fall into faintness because of the length of the way.(6) The heaviness of their burden.(7) A sense of weakness.(8) Another frequent cause is the spirit itself sinking (Psalm 42.).(9) Some get faint through lack of spiritual food. (10) Sometimes God's children faint when they are in adversity. (11) There are some who faint through increasing infirmity.

II. HOW THE LORD DEALS WITH HIS FAINTING PEOPLE. "He giveth power," etc.

1. See how tenderly the Lord deals with His fainting people. He does not desert them, saying, They are no longer any use to Me; they can do nothing for Me; I will leave them where they are. He gives them power.

2. What sort of power?(1) You may be sure that He does not give them any of their own. That has all gone from them.(2) It will be sufficient for the emergency, for He has all-sufficient power. "As thy days," etc.(3) It is a power that the devil can neither defeat nor take away.

3. Why is it that He gives power to the faint?(1) Because, in His great goodness, He looks out for those who need it most.(2) Because they will praise Him most for it.(3) Because they will be sure to use it. When a person who has been faint receives power from God he will be likely to be sympathetic, tender, and gentle towards others; at least, that is how he should be.Conclusion —

1. If God gives power to the faint, let us be thankful if we have fainted and have been revived by Him.

2. Let us have done with fainting in the future, because we ought to have no more fainting now that we have received God's power.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

We have seen a little weakling child draw to its cot some strong and burly man, the champion athlete of the country-side. Such a spell can weakness exert over might, and helplessness over helpfulness. It is the burden of Scripture that the strong should bear the infirmities of the weak, and not please themselves. Such is the law of God's existence. All that He is and has He holds in trust for us, and most for those who need most.

(F. B. Meyer, B. A.)

Many of us are too strong, self-reliant, and resourceful to get the best that God can do. Jacob must halt on his thigh ere he can prevail with God and man.

(F. B. Meyer, B. A.)

God is ever blotting out sins from His remembrance — never tiring. I will tell you what it is like. It is like the infinite, tireless patience of the sea. The children ply their spades upon the sands, to make work for the sea. They heap the sand up, they dig deep into it. Hundreds of them disfigure the hard, golden surface, and leave their scars upon it; and then quietly the old sea turns upon its course, and rolls its waves across the sands, and every trace of scar is obliterated, becomes as if it had never been; when the tide ebbs again there is no trace upon the smooth, shining surface of the sand to show that it had ever known disturbance. Day after day, day after day, the scene is repeated, and the sea is never tired of putting things to rights; it never complains, it never resents the new work imposed upon it. And the secret is that there is such infinite reserve of power that all that man can do frets it no whir. It is only a question of time, and it will put all things to rights again. Again and again, as I have stood by the sea, this sense of its tirelessness has come over me. It fainteth not, neither is weary. And it has seemed to me an emblem, as the stars are emblems, moving on their courses, as the world is an emblem, swinging through space, as nature is an emblem, pursuing so patiently and unweariedly her age-long business — of that mighty God whose glorious characteristic it is that He fainteth not, neither is weary; but He giveth power to the faint, and increaseth strength to him that hath no might.

(C. Silvester Home, M. A.)

People
Isaiah, Jacob
Places
Jerusalem, Lebanon, Zion
Topics
Faint, Feeble, Force, Gives, Giveth, Giving, Increases, Increaseth, Increasing, Lacks, Power, Strength, Strong, Weak, Weary
Outline
1. The promulgation of the Gospel
3. The preaching of John Baptist foretold
9. The preaching of the apostles foretold
12. The prophet, by the omnipotence of God
18. And his incomparableness
26. Comforts the people.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 40:27-31

     6233   rejection, experience

Isaiah 40:28-31

     5537   sleeplessness
     8724   doubt, dealing with

Isaiah 40:29-31

     5057   rest, physical
     5457   power, human
     5957   strength, spiritual
     8031   trust, importance
     8359   weakness, spiritual
     8413   edification
     8713   discouragement

Library
April 18. "They Shall Mount up with Wings" (Isa. Xl. 31).
"They shall mount up with wings" (Isa. xl. 31). "They shall mount up with wings as eagles," is God's preliminary; for the next promise is, "They shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint." Hours of holy exultation are necessary for hours of patient plodding, waiting and working. Nature has its springs, and so has grace. Let us rejoice in the Lord evermore, and again we say, rejoice. And let us take Him to be our continual joy, whose heart is a fountain of blessedness, and who
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

'Have Ye Not? Hast Thou Not?'
'Have ye not known, have ye not heard? hath it not been told yon from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?... Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard?'--ISAIAH xl. 21 and 28. The recurrence of the same form of interrogation in these two verses is remarkable. In the first case the plural is used, in the second the singular, and we may reasonably conclude that as Israel is addressed in the latter, the nations outside the sphere illumined by Revelation are appealed
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Unfailing Stabs and Fainting Men
'...For that He is strong in power; not one faileth.... He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength.'-- ISAIAH xl. 26 and 29. These two verses set forth two widely different operations of the divine power as exercised in two sadly different fields, the starry heavens and this weary world. They are interlocked, as it were, by the recurrence in the latter of the emphatic words of the former. The one verse says, 'He is strong in power'; the other, 'He giveth
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

O Thou that Bringest Good Tidings
'O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain: O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!'--ISAIAH xl. 9. There is something very grand in these august and mysterious voices which call one to another in the opening verses of this chapter. First, the purged ear of the prophet hears the divine command to him and to his brethren--Comfort Jerusalem with the message of the
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Shepherd and the Fold
... Thou hast guided them in Thy strength unto Thy holy habitation.' EXODUS XV. 13. What a grand triumphal ode! The picture of Moses and the children of Israel singing, and Miriam and the women answering: a gush of national pride and of worship! We belong to a better time, but still we can feel its grandeur. The deliverance has made the singer look forward to the end, and his confidence in the issue is confirmed. I. The guiding God: or the picture of the leading. The original is 'lead gently.' Cf.
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Secret of Immortal Youth
'Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.'--ISAIAH xl. 30, 31. I remember a sunset at sea, where the bosom of each wavelet that fronted the west was aglow with fiery gold, and the back of each turned eastward was cold green; so that, looking on the one hand all was glory, and on the other
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Salvation Published from the Mountains
O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid: say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! I t would be improper to propose an alteration, though a slight one, in the reading of a text, without bearing my testimony to the great value of our English version, which I believe, in point of simplicity, strength, and fidelity, is not likely to be excelled by a new translation
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

The Consolation
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received at the LORD 's hand double for all her sins. T he particulars of the great "mystery of godliness," as enumerated by the Apostle Paul, constitute the grand and inexhaustible theme of the Gospel ministry, "God manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

The Harbinger
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD , make straight in the desert a high-way for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. T he general style of the prophecies is poetical. The inimitable simplicity which characterizes every
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

The Withering Work of the Spirit
THE passage in Isaiah which I have just read in your hearing may be used as a very eloquent description of our mortality, and if a sermon should be preached from it upon the frailty of human nature, the brevity of life, and the certainty of death, no one could dispute the appropriateness of the text. Yet I venture to question whether such a discourse would strike the central teaching of the prophet. Something more than the decay of our material flesh is intended here; the carnal mind, the flesh in
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

This Sermon was Originally Printed
"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God."--Isaiah 40:1. WHAT A SWEET TITLE: "My people!" What a cheering revelation: "Your God!" How much of meaning is couched in those two words, "My people!" Here is speciality. The whole world is God's; the heaven, even the heaven of heavens are the Lord's and he reigneth among the children of men. But he saith of a certain number, "My people." Of those whom he hath chosen, whom he hath purchased to himself, he saith what he saith not of others. While
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858

8Th Day. Reviving Grace.
"He is Faithful that Promised." "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint."--ISAIAH xl. 31. Reviving Grace. "Wilt thou not revive us, O Lord?" My soul! art thou conscious of thy declining state? Is thy walk less with God, thy frame less heavenly? Hast thou less conscious nearness to the mercy-seat,--diminished communion with thy Saviour? Is prayer less a privilege than it has
John Ross Macduff—The Faithful Promiser

"And the Redeemer Shall Come unto Zion, and unto them that Turn,"
Isaiah lix. 20.--"And the Redeemer shall come unto Zion, and unto them that turn," &c. Doctrines, as things, have their seasons and times. Every thing is beautiful in its season. So there is no word of truth, but it hath a season and time in which it is beautiful. And indeed that is a great part of wisdom, to bring forth everything in its season, to discern when and where, and to whom it is pertinent and edifying, to speak such and such truths. But there is one doctrine that is never out of season,
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Hillis -- God the Unwearied Guide
Newell Dwight Hillis was born at Magnolia, Iowa, in 1858. He first became known as a preacher of the first rank during his pastorate over the large Presbyterian church in Evanston, Illinois. This reputation led to his being called to the Central Church, Chicago, in which he succeeded Dr. David Swing, and where from the first he attracted audiences completely filling one of the largest auditoriums in Chicago. In 1899 he was called to Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, to succeed Dr. Lyman Abbott in the pulpit
Various—The World's Great Sermons, Volume 10

Of Loving Jesus Above all Things
Blessed is he who understandeth what it is to love Jesus, and to despise himself for Jesus' sake. He must give up all that he loveth for his Beloved, for Jesus will be loved alone above all things. The love of created things is deceiving and unstable, but the love of Jesus is faithful and lasting. He who cleaveth to created things will fall with their slipperiness; but he who embraceth Jesus will stand upright for ever. Love Him and hold Him for thy friend, for He will not forsake thee when all
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Prayer and Devotion
"Once as I rode out into the woods for my health, in 1737, having alighted from my horse in a retired place, as my manner commonly had been to walk for divine contemplation and prayer, I had a view that for me was extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of God. As near as I can judge, this continued about an hour; and kept me the greater part of the time in a flood of tears and weeping aloud.. I felt an ardency of soul to be what I know not otherwise how to express, emptied and annihilated; to love
Edward M. Bounds—The Essentials of Prayer

The God of all Comfort
"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." Among all the names that reveal God, this, the "God of all comfort," seems to me one of the loveliest and the most absolutely comforting. The words all comfort admit of no limitation and no deductions; and one would suppose that,
Hannah Whitall Smith—The God of All Comfort

Appendix xi. On the Prophecy, Is. Xl. 3
ACCORDING to the Synoptic Gospels, the public appearance and preaching of John was the fulfilment of the prediction with which the second part of the prophecies of Isaiah opens, called by the Rabbis, the book of consolations.' After a brief general preface (Is. xl. 1, 2), the words occur which are quoted by St. Matthew and St. Mark (Is. xl. 3), and more fully by St. Luke (Is. xl. 3-5). A more appropriate beginning of the book of consolations' could scarcely be conceived. The quotation of Is. xl.
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Justification.
Among all the doctrines of our holy Christian faith, the doctrine of Justification by Faith alone, stands most prominent. Luther calls it: "The doctrine of a standing or a falling church," i.e., as a church holds fast and appropriates this doctrine she remains pure and firm, and as she departs from it, she becomes corrupt and falls. This doctrine was the turning point of the Reformation in the sixteenth century. It was the experience of its necessity and efficacy that made Luther what he was, and
G. H. Gerberding—The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church

The Humble Worship of Heaven.
1 Father, I long, I faint to see The place of thine abode, I'd leave thy earthly courts and flee Up to thy seat, my God! 2 Here I behold thy distant face, And 'tis a pleasing sight; But to abide in thine embrace Is infinite delight. 3 I'd part with all the joys of sense To gaze upon thy throne; Pleasure springs fresh for ever thence, Unspeakable, unknown. 4 [There all the heavenly hosts are seen, In shining ranks they move, And drink immortal vigour in, With wonder and with love. 5 Then at thy feet
Isaac Watts—Hymns and Spiritual Songs

At Rest
Gerhard Ter Steegen Is. xl. 11 O God, a world of empty show, Dark wilds of restless, fruitless quest Lie round me wheresoe'er I go: Within, with Thee, is rest. And sated with the weary sum Of all men think, and hear, and see, O more than mother's heart, I come, A tired child to Thee. Sweet childhood of eternal life! Whilst troubled days and years go by, In stillness hushed from stir and strife, Within Thine Arms I lie. Thine Arms, to whom I turn and cling With thirsting soul that longs for Thee;
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

His Schools and Schoolmasters.
(LUKE 1.) "Oh to have watched thee through the vineyards wander, Pluck the ripe ears, and into evening roam!-- Followed, and known that in the twilight yonder Legions of angels shone about thy home!" F. W. H. MYERS. Home-Life--Preparing for his Life-Work--The Vow of Separation--A Child of the Desert Zacharias and Elisabeth had probably almost ceased to pray for a child, or to urge the matter. It seemed useless to pray further. There had been no heaven-sent sign to assure them that there was any
F. B. Meyer—John the Baptist

Impiety of Attributing a visible Form to God. --The Setting up of Idols a Defection from the True God.
1. God is opposed to idols, that all may know he is the only fit witness to himself. He expressly forbids any attempt to represent him by a bodily shape. 2. Reasons for this prohibition from Moses, Isaiah, and Paul. The complaint of a heathen. It should put the worshipers of idols to shame. 3. Consideration of an objection taken from various passages in Moses. The Cherubim and Seraphim show that images are not fit to represent divine mysteries. The Cherubim belonged to the tutelage of the Law. 4.
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

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