A Meditation Based on Isaiah 40

The Greatness of God

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,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
    and weighed the mountains in scales
    and the hills in a balance?
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 the 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 compare with him?
An idol! A craftsman casts it,
    and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
    and casts for it silver chains.
He who is too impoverished for an offering
    chooses wood that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
    to set up an idol that will not move.
Do you not know? Do you not hear?
    Has it not been told 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 off 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,
    and 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,
    and 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.

Isaiah 40:9-31

God is great, God is good,
And we thank Him for our food.
Surely, Him we need not dread
For by His hand we all are fed.

GOD IS GREAT
"Behold our God is great!" (Isaiah 40:9, 13-17) Behold, the Sovereign Lord comes with infinite power wielded by His right arm of might and majesty. Has He not measured the waters of the earth in the hollow of His hand and the heavens within the span of His hand? Does He not hold the whole earth as in a basket and weigh the mountains and hills like the small dust on a grocer's scale? How great are His works!

"Behold our God is great!" (Isaiah 40:15-17) The Lord God comes with infinite wisdom. Who taught Him? Who has directed His Spirit or given Him advice and counsel? Who imparted infinite knowledge to Him or showed Him the way of understanding? The nations, you say? Why, the combined knowledge and strength of the nations are like a drop in a bucket. Their so-called powers are nothing before God; indeed, He counts them as "nothing and emptiness.”

"Behold our God is great!" (Isaiah 40:12-31) To whom, then, will you compare our God? Face it—there is no other being like Him. The God of the Bible is the only true God. There is none other. He created all things, holds all things together, and works out His infinite, eternal, and unchangeable will with and upon all things. There is no comparison between the living God and finite, temporal, and changeable human beings.

GOD IS GOOD (Isaiah 40:18-20)
"Behold Our God is Good!" It would seem reasonable to think that we should fear the great and powerful God Isaiah describes. Isn't this true of the gods men create? Are not the idols people fashion from their depraved imaginations usually depicted as grotesque, evil-looking, and evil-doing creatures? Idolaters offer food, drink, precious stones, and silken garments to their idols in vain attempts to appease the wrath (no love here!) of the most loathsome evil spirits.

 But, "Behold, Our God is Good!" He need not be feared by those who love and adore Him. No, our God "tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms, and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young” (Isaiah 40:11). We must not compare our good God with demon idols. There is no equal to our Lord, the Holy One (v. 25). He is incomparable. He is. He lives. He knows, He cares, He comes, He comforts. So...why do you think, when times are tough, that your “way is hidden from the LORD, and your cause is disregarded by 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, and 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” (Isaiah 40:27-31).

The Apostle Paul said it like this, “And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:28-30b).

Beloved, God is great. God is good. Worship Him with thankful hearts.