Saturday 9th – Isaiah 40:21-31
We come today to the last verses in Isaiah 40, and today I will bring the devotion from verses 28-31 ‘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.’
These verses commence with two question, ‘Have you not known?’ and ‘Have you not heard’? Known and heard what? That ‘the LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.’ That is good, but listen further, ‘He does not faint or grow weary.’
I want us to think sheep and Shepherd again, and when it says ‘The LORD is . . .’ think ‘The SHEPHERD is and then consider what it says about this Shepherd. ‘He does not faint or grow weary’
You can ask any farmer who works alone during the lambing season and they will tell you that it is hard work and it can be very tiring because you have to be available to watch the flock day and night, it is a 24 / 7 job. And the first night or two are not so bad, but then you begin to get faint and weary through lack of sleep, through toil and hard work and through the demands of needing to give the sheep your full attention. NOT SO WITH OUR SHEPHERD! He does not faint or grow weary and imagine the size of his flock! Imagine also how awkward and time demanding some of the sheep might be and yet he looks after the flock with his full and undivided attention.
Continue the picture of these verses referring to the Lord as our Shepherd, and it tells us that not only does he not grow tired and weary but that he gives power to the faint and to him who has no might he increases strength. Taking Thursday’s thought, he sees us when we are like the weak helpless lambs and he is willing to nurture us back to strength and to revive our cold hearts. Without wanting to seem irreverent with my illustrative mind, there have been many times when the Shepherd has needed to wrap me in a hessian sack and warm me up, and bottle feed me till I have gained strength again. Maybe that is where you are today, feeling weak and helpless, maybe low in spirit, allow the Shepherd to nurse you back to strength again, to revive your faint heart and to reinvigorate you in your weariness.
See, there is not one of us who can say we never feel like this, verse 30 says ‘EVEN the youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted.’ We all know periods of weakness and lacking in power or strength spiritually, but our Shepherd in his care for us comes to renew.
The final verse is so well known, ‘but they who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength’ – there is no doubt about it – we need to know what it is to come and to wait in the Shepherd’s presence, come into his ‘farmhouse’, come into the warmth of his love and care and know what it is to mount up again with wings like an eagle, to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint.’
Thou Shepherd of Israel, and mine,
The joy and desire of my heart,
For closer communion I pine,
I long to reside where thou art.
The pastures I languish to find
Where all who their shepherd obey
Are fed, on thy bosom reclined,
And screened from the heat of the day.
Ah! show me that happiest place,
The place of thy people’s abode,
Where saints in true happiness gaze
And hang on a crucified God.
Thy love for a sinner declare,
Thy passion and death on the tree;
My spirit to Calvary bear,
To suffer and triumph with thee.
‘Tis there, with the lambs of thy flock,
There only, I covet to rest,
To lie at the foot of the rock,
Or rise to be hid in thy breast.
‘Tis there I would always abide,
And never a moment depart,
Concealed in the cleft of thy side,
Eternally held in thy heart.
How good is the God we adore,
Our faithful, unchangeable friend,
Whose love is as great as his power,
And knows neither measure nor end.
‘Tis Jesus the first and the last,
Whose Spirit shall guide us safe home,
We’ll praise him for all that is past,
And trust him for all that’s to come.
Charles Wesley CCLI 788682