Isaiah Chapter 40
Isaiah 40, Comfort and Strength for God’s People
Isaiah 40 begins the great comfort section of Isaiah. After Isaiah 39 announced that Babylon would one day carry away Judah’s treasures and royal sons, Isaiah 40 opens with the Lord speaking comfort to His people. The tone changes from heavy warning and judgment to consolation, restoration, and the glory of God. The chapter prepares the way of the Lord, announces the permanence of God’s Word, calls Zion to behold her God, reveals the Lord as returning King and tender Shepherd, displays His greatness over creation, nations, idols, rulers, and stars, then applies that doctrine to weary people who feel forgotten. The chapter ends with one of Scripture’s great promises, those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.
Isaiah 40:1-2
Isaiah 40:1-2, KJV, “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare accomplished, that her iniquity pardoned: for she hath received of LORD'S hand double for all her sins.”
Isaiah 40 opens with repeated comfort, “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people.” The repetition matters. God does not give a reluctant word of mercy. He doubles the comfort because His afflicted people need to hear it deeply. The first thirty nine chapters of Isaiah contained many promises of hope, but the dominant tone included rebuke, warning, judgment, and exposure of sin. Now the Lord speaks with tender consolation.
The words “my people” are full of covenant mercy. Judah has sinned. Jerusalem has been warned. Babylonian exile has been announced. Yet the Lord still calls them “my people.” Discipline does not mean God has abandoned His covenant purposes. The God who chastens is still the God who claims.
The command comes from “your God.” This is also covenant language. He is not merely God in a distant or abstract sense. He is their God. He has the right to rebuke them, but He also has the heart to comfort them.
Exodus 6:7, KJV, “And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you God: and ye shall know that I am LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under burdens of Egyptians.”
The Lord who redeemed Israel from Egypt remains the God who will comfort Jerusalem after judgment.
Isaiah says, “Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem.” Literally, this is speech to the heart. God’s comfort is not shallow sentiment. It reaches the inner man. The Lord does not merely say, “Feel better.” He gives reasons for comfort. Biblical comfort rests on truth, not empty optimism.
The first reason is, “her warfare is accomplished.” Jerusalem’s hard service, conflict, chastening, and appointed struggle will come to an end. At the time Isaiah spoke, much of the judgment still lay ahead. Babylon had not yet carried Judah away. But from God’s standpoint, the end was already certain. God can speak future mercy with absolute certainty because He governs the future.
The second reason is, “her iniquity is pardoned.” This is the deepest comfort. The end of warfare would mean little if guilt remained. God’s people need more than relief from circumstances. They need pardon from sin. Isaiah does not deny Jerusalem’s iniquity. He announces that it is pardoned. True comfort does not pretend sin is not real. True comfort declares that sin has been dealt with by God.
Psalm 32:1-2, KJV, “Blessed is he whose transgression forgiven, whose sin covered. Blessed is man unto whom LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit no guile.”
The blessed man is not the man who has never sinned. The blessed man is the one whose sin is forgiven.
The third reason is, “she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins.” This does not mean God punished Jerusalem unfairly. The idea is exact correspondence, full payment, the fitting measure completed. Under the Old Covenant, Judah would bear the covenant chastening described in the law. But in the fullest redemptive sense, the comfort of pardon points beyond Judah’s exile to the finished work of Christ.
God does not pardon sin by ignoring justice. He pardons sin because payment has been made. Under the New Covenant, the believer’s sin is pardoned because Christ bore wrath in the sinner’s place.
Isaiah 53:5-6, KJV, “But he wounded for our transgressions, he bruised for our iniquities: chastisement of our peace upon him; and with his stripes we healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and LORD hath laid on him iniquity of us all.”
Christ received the judgment His people deserved. Therefore comfort is righteous comfort. God remains just, and the sinner is pardoned.
Romans 3:25-26, KJV, “Whom God hath set forth propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for remission of sins that are past, through forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might just, and justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”
The God of all comfort comforts His people through completed justice and pardoned iniquity.
Isaiah 40:3-5
Isaiah 40:3-5, KJV, “The voice of him that crieth in wilderness, Prepare ye way of LORD, make straight in desert highway for our God. Every valley shall exalted, and every mountain and hill shall made low: and crooked shall made straight, and rough places plain: And glory of LORD shall revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for mouth of LORD hath spoken it.”
Isaiah now hears a voice crying in the wilderness. The message is, “Prepare ye the way of the LORD.” The picture is of a royal road being prepared for the arrival of a king. In the ancient world, when a king came, the way had to be cleared, leveled, repaired, and made suitable for his arrival. The Lord Himself is coming, and the road must be prepared.
The preparation is described in four images. “Every valley shall be exalted.” Low places must be lifted. “Every mountain and hill shall be made low.” Proud, high places must be brought down. “The crooked shall be made straight.” What is twisted must be corrected. “The rough places plain.” What is uneven and difficult must be smoothed.
This is more than road work. It is heart work. The Lord prepares people for His coming by humbling pride, lifting the lowly, straightening crookedness, and smoothing rough rebellion. Repentance is spiritual road construction. It clears the way for the King.
This passage is directly fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist. John came preaching repentance to prepare Israel for the Messiah.
Matthew 3:1-3, KJV, “In those days came John Baptist, preaching in wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for kingdom of heaven at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by prophet Esaias, saying, Voice of one crying in wilderness, Prepare ye way of Lord, make his paths straight.”
John did not come to entertain Israel. He came to prepare Israel. His message of repentance leveled pride, exposed sin, and called men to readiness for Christ.
Luke 3:3-6, KJV, “And he came into all country about Jordan, preaching baptism of repentance for remission of sins; As it written in book of words of Esaias prophet, saying, Voice of one crying in wilderness, Prepare ye way of Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall filled, and every mountain and hill shall brought low; and crooked shall made straight, and rough ways shall made smooth; And all flesh shall see salvation of God.”
Luke quotes Isaiah and emphasizes that “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Isaiah says, “the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” The coming of the Lord is not a small, hidden event in its final outcome. The glory of the Lord will be revealed publicly and universally.
In Christ’s first coming, the glory of God was revealed in humility, incarnation, miracles, truth, cross, and resurrection. In His second coming, His glory will be revealed openly to all flesh.
John 1:14, KJV, “And Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of only begotten of Father, full of grace and truth.”
Revelation 1:7, KJV, “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”
The certainty is grounded in the final phrase, “for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” God’s promise does not depend on human optimism. It stands because God has spoken.
Isaiah 40:6-8
Isaiah 40:6-8, KJV, “The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh grass, and all goodliness thereof as flower of field: The grass withereth, flower fadeth: because spirit of LORD bloweth upon it: surely people grass. Grass withereth, flower fadeth: but word of our God shall stand for ever.”
The voice commands, “Cry.” The question follows, “What shall I cry?” The answer is a message that humbles man and exalts God’s Word. “All flesh is grass.” Human life, strength, beauty, achievement, reputation, wealth, military power, kingdoms, and glory are all temporary.
Isaiah compares man to grass and flowers. After the rains, the hills may look green and alive, but the heat comes, the wind blows, and the grass withers. Flowers appear beautiful for a moment, then fade. So it is with man. Even the best of human glory is brief.
Psalm 103:15-16, KJV, “As for man, his days are as grass: as flower of field, so he flourisheth. For wind passeth over it, and it gone; and place thereof shall know it no more.”
The frailty of man is not accidental. Isaiah says the grass withers “because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it.” God is sovereign over human frailty. Man is not God. He is not permanent. His glory cannot save him. The Lord reminds man of his weakness so that man will stop trusting flesh.
This message prepares the way of the Lord because pride must be broken before men receive the King. John the Baptist’s ministry did exactly this. He warned religious men not to trust ancestry, ceremony, or outward privilege.
Luke 3:7-9, KJV, “Then said he to multitude that came forth to baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to father: for I say unto you, That God able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also axe laid unto root of trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit hewn down, and cast into fire.”
John preached the frailty and accountability of man so that men would repent before the Lord.
The contrast is, “but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” Man fades. God’s Word stands. Nations rise and fall. God’s Word stands. Philosophies change. God’s Word stands. Critics attack. God’s Word stands. Cultures shift. God’s Word stands. Flesh withers, but Scripture remains.
Peter applies this passage directly to the gospel.
1 Peter 1:23-25, KJV, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh grass, and all glory of man as flower of grass. Grass withereth, and flower thereof falleth away: But word of Lord endureth for ever. And this is word which by gospel is preached unto you.”
The enduring Word is the Word by which sinners are born again. The gospel is not perishable seed. It is incorruptible seed. Therefore, God’s people are to build their lives on the eternal Word, not on fading flesh.
This also means faithful preaching must not center on man’s greatness. It must center on God’s Word. The preacher is grass. The hearers are grass. The culture is grass. But the Word of God stands forever.
Isaiah 40:9
Isaiah 40:9, KJV, “O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, afraid not; say unto cities of Judah, Behold your God!”
Isaiah now calls Zion and Jerusalem to proclaim good tidings. The message is so great that it must be shouted from a high mountain. It must be lifted up with strength. Fear must not silence it. God’s people are to declare to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”
This is the central command of the chapter. The afflicted people of God need comfort, but their comfort comes by seeing God rightly. The message is not first, “Behold your circumstances.” It is not, “Behold Babylon.” It is not, “Behold your weakness.” It is, “Behold your God.”
To behold God is more than to glance at Him. It is to consider, study, worship, trust, and know Him. God’s people are strengthened when their vision of God becomes larger than their fear, grief, enemies, and exhaustion.
This is also the calling of faithful preaching. The preacher must help the people behold God. Sermons may address sin, duty, doctrine, family, church, prophecy, holiness, and suffering, but all faithful preaching should lead men to see God more clearly.
Jeremiah 9:23-24, KJV, “Thus saith LORD, Let not wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let mighty man glory in his might, let not rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in earth: for in these things I delight, saith LORD.”
The highest pursuit is to know the Lord. Isaiah 40 calls God’s people to behold Him in His power, tenderness, wisdom, sovereignty, and faithfulness.
Isaiah 40:10
Isaiah 40:10, KJV, “Behold, Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward with him, and his work before him.”
The first thing Isaiah shows us is the coming Lord as ruling King. “The Lord GOD will come with strong hand.” He does not come weakly. He comes with power. His arm will rule for Him. His authority will not be symbolic only. It will be effective, public, and victorious.
This points to the Lord’s future coming in glory. Christ came first in humility, but He will come again in power.
Matthew 24:30, KJV, “And then shall appear sign of Son of man in heaven: and then shall all tribes of earth mourn, and they shall see Son of man coming in clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”
The Lord’s return includes reward and inspection. “His reward is with him, and his work before him.” He comes as King, Judge, and Rewarder. He will reward His servants and judge His enemies.
Revelation 22:12, KJV, “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”
God’s people are comforted because the Lord is coming, and He will set all things right. The world is not left to endless injustice. The King will come with strong hand.
Isaiah 40:11
Isaiah 40:11, KJV, “He shall feed his flock like shepherd: he shall gather lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.”
The same Lord who comes with strong hand also comes as a tender Shepherd. His arm rules in verse 10, and His arm gathers in verse 11. He is powerful enough to rule the nations and gentle enough to carry the lambs.
He “shall feed his flock like a shepherd.” Sheep cannot survive without care. They need direction, pasture, protection, correction, and provision. The Lord does not merely command His people from a distance. He feeds them.
Psalm 23:1-3, KJV, “The LORD my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.”
The Lord’s shepherd care includes provision, rest, restoration, and righteous guidance.
Isaiah says, “he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom.” The lambs are the weak, young, vulnerable, and easily frightened. The Lord does not despise them. He gathers them. He carries them close to His heart. The bosom is the place of tenderness and love.
Jesus identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd.
John 10:11, KJV, “I am good shepherd: good shepherd giveth his life for sheep.”
John 10:14-15, KJV, “I am good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As Father knoweth me, even so know I Father: and I lay down my life for sheep.”
The Shepherd’s care reaches its highest expression at the cross. He does not merely feed the flock. He dies for the flock.
Isaiah also says, “and shall gently lead those that are with young.” The Lord knows the condition of His sheep. He does not drive the weak beyond their strength. He leads with wisdom. He knows when to correct, when to carry, when to feed, when to defend, and when to be gentle.
Christ is the Good Shepherd who dies for the sheep, the Great Shepherd who rose from the dead, and the Chief Shepherd who will appear.
Hebrews 13:20-21, KJV, “Now God of peace, that brought again from dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of sheep, through blood of everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
1 Peter 5:4, KJV, “And when chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive crown of glory that fadeth not away.”
The Lord’s people are comforted because their God is both King and Shepherd.
Isaiah 40:12
Isaiah 40:12, KJV, “Who hath measured waters in hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with span, and comprehended dust of earth in measure, and weighed mountains in scales, and hills in balance?”
Isaiah now calls us to behold God over creation. The Lord measures the waters in the hollow of His hand. He measures the heavens with the span. He comprehends the dust of the earth in a measure. He weighs mountains and hills in scales and balances.
This is poetic language using human imagery to communicate divine greatness. God the Father is Spirit, not a giant physical being with literal hands as men have hands. Yet the picture teaches that all creation is small before Him. Oceans fit in His hand. The heavens are measured by His span. The dust of the earth is counted and measured. Mountains can be weighed by Him.
John 4:24, KJV, “God Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
The point is not that God has a body like man. The point is that creation is completely under His power and knowledge.
The Lord’s greatness includes both power and wisdom. He is not merely strong enough to create. He is wise enough to measure, order, weigh, and govern every part of creation. The universe is not random. It is made, measured, and upheld by God.
Colossians 1:16-17, KJV, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things created by him, and for him: And he before all things, and by him all things consist.”
All things were created by Christ and for Christ, and by Him all things hold together. Isaiah 40 teaches the same truth from the Old Testament, God is sovereign over creation.
Isaiah 40:13-14
Isaiah 40:13-14, KJV, “Who hath directed Spirit of LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and instructed him, and taught him in path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him way of understanding?”
Isaiah now moves from God’s power over creation to God’s perfect wisdom. No one has directed the Spirit of the Lord. No counselor has taught Him. No one instructed Him in judgment. No one taught Him knowledge. No one showed Him the way of understanding.
God has no teacher. He has no advisor. He does not learn. He does not improve. He does not gather missing data. He does not need correction. His knowledge is original, perfect, eternal, and complete.
Paul quotes this same truth when worshipping God’s wisdom in His plan of redemption.
Romans 11:33-36, KJV, “O depth of riches both of wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known mind of Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, all things: to whom glory for ever. Amen.”
God’s wisdom is unsearchable. His ways are past finding out. Therefore, man must not judge God as though God needs human counsel.
This matters pastorally. When God’s people suffer, they may think God has forgotten, miscalculated, or mishandled their case. Isaiah 40 says no. The Lord needs no instruction. He knows exactly what He is doing, even when His people do not understand it.
Isaiah 40:15-17
Isaiah 40:15-17, KJV, “Behold, nations as drop of bucket, and counted as small dust of balance: behold, he taketh up isles as very little thing. And Lebanon not sufficient to burn, nor beasts thereof sufficient for burnt offering. All nations before him as nothing; and they counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.”
Isaiah now compares God to the nations. To men, nations look powerful. Empires rise with armies, wealth, rulers, monuments, laws, and influence. Assyria looked terrifying. Babylon would look unstoppable. But before God, the nations are “as a drop of a bucket.” They are like “small dust of the balance.”
A drop in a bucket does not change the bucket. Dust on a scale does not affect the weight. That is how small the nations are before God. This does not mean people are worthless in the sense that God does not care about them. It means nations in their pride, power, and rebellion are nothing compared to Him.
Even Lebanon, with its great forests, would not provide enough wood for a sacrifice worthy of God. Its beasts would not be enough for a burnt offering. Man cannot gather enough from creation to honor God adequately. God’s worth exceeds all created offerings.
Psalm 50:10-12, KJV, “For every beast of forest mine, and cattle upon thousand hills. I know all fowls of mountains: and wild beasts of field mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for world mine, and fulness thereof.”
God owns everything. Man gives nothing to God that God did not first own.
Isaiah says, “All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.” This humbles political pride. No empire is ultimate. No government is divine. No military power can threaten God. The Lord is exalted over all nations.
Isaiah 40:18-20
Isaiah 40:18-20, KJV, “To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? Workman melteth graven image, and goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. He that so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him cunning workman to prepare graven image, that shall not moved.”
Because God is so great, Isaiah asks, “To whom then will ye liken God?” There is no comparison. Idolatry is not merely wrong because it chooses the wrong object. It is absurd because it tries to represent the infinite Creator with something made by human hands.
The workman makes the image. The goldsmith covers it with gold. The silversmith makes chains. The poor man who cannot afford such a costly idol chooses wood that will not rot and hires a skilled craftsman to make an idol that will not fall over.
The satire is sharp. A god that must be made, plated, chained, balanced, and stabilized is no god at all. If an idol must be designed so it does not topple, it cannot uphold the worshipper.
Psalm 115:4-8, KJV, “Their idols silver and gold, work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so every one that trusteth in them.”
Idols are dead, and idol worship makes men spiritually like what they worship, blind, deaf, mute, and lifeless.
Modern idols may not always be carved images. Men worship money, sex, power, self, nation, career, entertainment, family, comfort, technology, reputation, and even ministry. Anything that replaces God as the heart’s trust, joy, identity, or authority becomes an idol. Isaiah’s question still stands, “To whom then will ye liken God?”
There is no rival to the Lord.
Isaiah 40:21-24
Isaiah 40:21-24, KJV, “Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not told you from beginning? have ye not understood from foundations of earth? It is he that sitteth upon circle of earth, and inhabitants thereof as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out heavens as curtain, and spreadeth them out as tent to dwell in: That bringeth princes to nothing; he maketh judges of earth as vanity. Yea, they shall not planted; yea, they shall not sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.”
Isaiah presses the obviousness of God’s greatness, “Have ye not known? have ye not heard?” The testimony of creation has been present from the beginning. Men are without excuse because the created order declares the Creator.
Psalm 19:1-3, KJV, “The heavens declare glory of God; and firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There no speech nor language, where their voice not heard.”
God sits above the “circle of the earth.” He is enthroned above creation, and the inhabitants of earth are like grasshoppers before Him. This language emphasizes His transcendence. He is not part of creation. He rules over it.
He stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them like a tent. What seems immeasurable to man is like fabric in God’s hand. The universe is vast beyond human comprehension, yet it is created, spread, and governed by God.
Isaiah then applies God’s greatness to rulers. He brings princes to nothing and makes judges of the earth vanity. Political and legal powers may seem permanent, but they are fragile. They are barely planted, barely sown, barely rooted, before God blows upon them and they wither. The whirlwind carries them away like stubble.
This is a needed reminder for every generation. Rulers come and go. Judges come and go. Empires rise and fall. The Lord remains.
Daniel 2:21, KJV, “And he changeth times and seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.”
God removes kings and sets up kings. Therefore, His people should not fear rulers as though they are sovereign. The Lord sits above them all.
Isaiah 40:25-26
Isaiah 40:25-26, KJV, “To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I equal? saith Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by greatness of his might, for that he strong in power; not one faileth.”
The Lord Himself asks, “To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal?” The answer is no one. He is the Holy One, set apart from all creation, all nations, all idols, all rulers, and all heavenly hosts.
The Lord then commands, “Lift up your eyes on high.” Creation is meant to lead men to worship. The stars are not gods. They are creatures. They are not objects of worship. They are witnesses to the Creator.
God brings out their host by number and calls them all by names. Man cannot count the stars fully, but God numbers them. Man cannot name them all, but God calls them by name. Not one fails because God is strong in power.
Psalm 147:4-5, KJV, “He telleth number of stars; he calleth them all by names. Great our Lord, and of great power: his understanding infinite.”
The same God who names the stars knows His people. This is where Isaiah is going. If God knows the stars and none are missing, then Jacob cannot say his way is hidden from the Lord.
Jesus makes the same kind of argument concerning God’s detailed care.
Luke 12:6-7, KJV, “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them forgotten before God? But even very hairs of your head all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.”
If God numbers stars and hairs, He does not forget His people.
Isaiah 40:27-28
Isaiah 40:27-28, KJV, “Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way hid from LORD, and my judgment passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that everlasting God, LORD, Creator of ends of earth, fainteth not, neither weary? there no searching of his understanding.”
After revealing God’s greatness, Isaiah applies it to weary Israel. The people say, “My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God.” In other words, they feel forgotten. They think God does not see their path or has overlooked their cause.
This is the language of discouraged believers. They know God exists, but they live as though He does not see their particular trouble. This is practical unbelief. It believes in God generally, but doubts His care personally.
Isaiah answers with doctrine. “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard?” The cure for discouraged faith is not vague emotion. It is renewed knowledge of God. The God of Israel is “the everlasting God.” He does not fade. He is “the LORD.” He is covenant God. He is “Creator of the ends of the earth.” Nothing is outside His reach.
He “fainteth not, neither is weary.” God does not run out of strength. He does not become exhausted by ruling creation, sustaining His people, judging nations, and answering prayer. Human strength fails, but God’s strength does not.
His understanding is unsearchable. His wisdom cannot be fully traced by man. Therefore, when God’s people do not understand His timing, they must not conclude He has forgotten. His understanding is beyond them, not beneath them.
Psalm 139:1-4, KJV, “O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and acquainted with all my ways. For there not word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.”
The believer’s way is not hidden from the Lord. God knows the path, the pain, the thoughts, the words, and the need.
Isaiah 40:29-31
Isaiah 40:29-31, KJV, “He giveth power to faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even youths shall faint and weary, and young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon LORD shall renew strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Isaiah now gives the great promise of renewed strength. The Lord gives power “to the faint.” He increases strength to those who have “no might.” God’s strength is not given to the proud who think they are sufficient. It is given to those who know they are weak.
This is a consistent biblical principle.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10, KJV, “And he said unto me, My grace sufficient for thee: for my strength made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I weak, then am I strong.”
The Lord’s strength is made perfect in weakness. The weak man who waits on God is stronger than the strong man who trusts himself.
Isaiah says, “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall.” Natural strength is not enough. Youth, vitality, ability, discipline, and human energy all fail. The strongest men eventually become weary. The best natural strength cannot carry the soul through every trial.
The contrast is, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength.” Waiting on the Lord is not passive laziness. It is active trust, patient dependence, prayerful expectation, and refusal to run ahead of God. It means looking to the Lord as the source of strength rather than leaning on flesh.
The promise is renewed strength. The idea is fresh strength, strength put on again, strength supplied by God for the next step. God does not merely give one initial supply and leave His people empty. He renews strength as they wait on Him.
The result is threefold.
First, “they shall mount up with wings as eagles.” God gives strength to rise above the weight of circumstances. Eagles soar above the terrain. This pictures spiritual elevation, perspective, and victory.
Ephesians 2:6, KJV, “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
The believer’s position in Christ is higher than earthly trouble.
Second, “they shall run, and not be weary.” God gives strength for urgent obedience, endurance, and the race set before His people.
Hebrews 12:1-2, KJV, “Wherefore seeing we also compassed about with so great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience race that set before us, Looking unto Jesus author and finisher of our faith; who for joy that set before him endured cross, despising shame, and set down at right hand of throne of God.”
The Christian race requires endurance, and endurance comes by looking unto Jesus.
Third, “they shall walk, and not faint.” Walking may seem less dramatic than soaring or running, but it is where most faithfulness happens. The Christian life is daily walking with God, steady obedience, ordinary faithfulness, and continued endurance.
Colossians 2:6-7, KJV, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”
God gives strength to soar, strength to run, and strength to walk. The weary believer is not told to find strength in himself. He is told to wait upon the Lord.
Isaiah 40 therefore ends where comfort must end, in renewed strength from the everlasting God. The God who pardons iniquity, prepares the way, reveals His glory, causes His Word to stand forever, rules as King, carries lambs as Shepherd, measures creation, needs no counselor, surpasses nations, mocks idols, names the stars, and never faints, is the same God who gives power to the weak.
