*Scripture: Isaiah 40:18—41:10 (NKJV)* 40:18 To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him? 19 The workman molds an image, the goldsmith overspreads it with gold, and the silversmith casts silver chains. 20 Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution chooses a tree that will not rot; He seeks for himself a skillful workman to prepare a carved image that will not totter. 21 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 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 out like a tent to dwell in. 23 He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. 24 Scarcely shall they be planted, scarcely shall they be sown, scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, when He will also blow on them, and they will wither, and the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.
25 "To whom then will you liken Me, or to whom shall I be equal?" says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; Not one is missing. 27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel: "My way is hidden from the LORD, and my just claim is passed over by my God"? 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on 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. 41:1 "Keep silence before Me, O coastlands, and let the people renew their strength! Let them come near, then let them speak; Let us come near together for judgment. 2 Who raised up one from the east? Who in righteousness called him to His feet? Who gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? Who gave them as the dust to his sword, as driven stubble to his bow? 3 Who pursued them, and passed safely by the way that he had not gone with his feet? 4 Who has performed and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? 'I, the LORD, am the first; And with the last I am He.'" 5 The coastlands saw it and feared, the ends of the earth were afraid; They drew near and came. 6 Everyone helped his neighbor, and said to his brother, "Be of good courage!" 7 So the craftsman encouraged the goldsmith; He who smooths with the hammer inspired him who strikes the anvil, saying, "It is ready for the soldering"; Then he fastened it with pegs, that it might not totter. 8 "But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham My friend. 9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest regions, and said to you, 'You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: 10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'" *Devotion* The Scriptures say that "men are without excuse" (Rom. 1:19-20) concerning the existence of God's eternal power and divine nature, because of the creation of the world. Similarly, Isaiah points us to the stars in the sky as proof of God's power. Isaiah says that God stretched out this magnificent stellar backdrop and sits well above these stars. Our God is not a part of creation, like man-made idols, but He is "the Creator of the ends of the earth, [Who] neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable." You might think that this great Creator-God would care nothing about someone as small and weak as you. But that is not true. The creation teaches us that God exists, but it doesn't reveal who He is and what He has done and is doing to save us. Isaiah 40 and 41 confidently teach us that the Triune God "gives power to the weak. And to those who have no might He increases strength." God's Word teaches that our God became weak so that He might save his weak and mightless creatures. The God-man Jesus Christ became the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 42) so that our sin would be forgiven. He places His seven-fold Spirit (Isaiah 33:6) in us. Having begun with the description of idolatry, we end with a description of the meaning of the First Commandment, "Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." Blessed are "those who wait on the LORD."
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