Those Who Wait Will Gain New Strength
Isaiah 40:21-31
July 12-13, 2025
Isaiah 40 really begins a whole new section, and it is a really wonderful section. The prophecies of the Lord Jesus here are amazing in this section, beautiful. Again, Isaiah 40 begins this section, and in many ways, one of the most wonderful descriptions of the glory and the majesty of God.
Now, the backstory to Chapter 40 is very, very important. Many of you remember, before I left on the trip, as we were studying through the last chapters leading up to this, that it was about Hezekiah. Hezekiah was the king of Israel in those days. God used Hezekiah in great things. He used him to bring about a great revival, a great needed revival because the people had wandered away from God and gone after the gods of the nations around them.
He called them to a revival, which was so needed because it prepared the people for the greatest challenge, the greatest trouble that they had ever faced. The great Assyrian army came and besieged the city of Jerusalem. You remember the story, the great Assyrian army mysteriously died outside the walls of Jerusalem without a single clash of the sword. God had moved by His miraculous, intervening hand because it tells us Hezekiah prayed and asked God for help. We learned great lessons there about prayer and the significance of relying and asking on God's hand to move. Great lessons about prayer.
Then, after that amazing event, after God rescued and saved Israel from Assyria, Hezekiah became himself ill, deathly ill. Isaiah even told Hezekiah to get his house and his affairs in order, for he would die from this and he would not live. Hezekiah again prayed, he cried, literally went weeping before God, asking God to touch and to give him more life. God heard his prayer, again, great lesson in prayer, gave him 15 more years.
Then it says that Hezekiah gave no return for the benefits that he received from the hand of God. Now, another great life lesson. God had done so much, amazingly things, God had done for Hezekiah, but he gave no return. He says, "For his heart became proud." The pride of man, the great undoing, the pride of man. It tells us then that after Assyria was weakened by this event that had happened, that Babylon arose as the next great empire. The king of Babylon had heard about Hezekiah, about how the Assyrian army mysteriously died outside the walls of Jerusalem, how Hezekiah himself almost died, and then was healed. The king of Babylon sent emissaries to Hezekiah bearing gifts and great compliments.
Hezekiah, in his great pride, he showed these emissaries from Babylon all his wealth and all the treasures which had been bestowed upon him. Then Isaiah came to Hezekiah and said, "Who were those people? From where did they come to you? What did they say? What have they seen in your house?" Hezekiah answered and said, "They've seen all that's in my house. There is nothing among my treasures I did not show them." Isaiah ominously then replied, "Ah, behold, days are coming when all that is in your house and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this very day will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left. Even your own sons will serve in the palace of the king of Babylon."
Isaiah was foretelling of the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonian Empire. They would destroy Jerusalem. They would take captive those who lived in Jerusalem, and they would exile them into Babylon, modern-day Iraq, for 70 long years.
Now, that is important. That's the backstory leading to Isaiah 40. For beginning with Isaiah 40, Isaiah writes a prophetic word, a word of hope to them, a word of restoration to them. When they would encounter these great troubles, some years still to come in their future, they would turn to the scroll of Isaiah and they would then hear the words of Isaiah 40 and the next chapters that follow that they will need to hear to strengthen their faith, that God would remind them of the greatness of His hand, of His unrelenting love and the great glory and majesty of God himself.
The words of Isaiah 40 have encouraged believers for centuries since Isaiah wrote them. I know that you'll be strengthened and encouraged as we receive these very famous words from Isaiah as well. Again, I wish I had time to read the hold of the chapter because it's so amazing. We're going to begin in verse 18, where he makes a direct contrast to these gods, these so-called gods of the nations around them.
He says, beginning in verse 18, "To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness will you compare with Him? As for an idol," these so-called gods were in the form of an idol, "a craftsman casts it, and then a goldsmith plates it with gold and a silversmith fashions chains of silver. He who is too impoverished for such an offering would select a tree that would not rot," a cedar tree, "and then would seek out for himself a skillful craftsman to prepare an idol that will not totter."
He says, "Really? These are the gods that you have pursued? These are the ones that you would compare to the Great Almighty?" Then he says in verse 21, famously, "Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? That it is He who sits above the vault of the earth, that its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. It is He who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. You would compare God to some local deity? Do you not understand?"
Verse 23, "That it is He who reduces rulers to nothing. All rulers are reduced to nothing. It is He who makes judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, scarcely have they been sewn, scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, and He merely blows on them and they wither, and the storm carries them away like stubble. 'To whom then would you liken me that I should be His equal?' says the Holy One."
"Lift up your eyes on high. See who has created these stars, the one who leads forth their host by number and calls them all by name. Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, why do you assert, O Israel, and you say, 'My way is hidden from the Lord and the justice due to me escapes the notice of my God.' Why do you say this?"
"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, He does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. It is He who gives strength to the weary and to him who lacks might He increases their power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain due strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not faint."
I. Faith Comes by Knowing the Greatness of God
Famous words, wonderful reminder of the greatness and the majesty and the glory of God. We need to take hold of these words for us today. Be encouraged by them. Starting with this, that faith comes by knowing and understanding the greatness of God. See, Israel's downfall came when they forgot. They forgot of the majesty and the glory and all that God had done in his great power. They cast God behind them and turn their eyes toward the gods of the world.
Now, the gods and the nations around them were appealing to them. You say, "Well, what was it? What was it about these gods of the world that were so appealing?" Well, it appealed to their flesh, their fleshly nature. Everyone understands the fleshly nature. Everyone is born in that understanding of the fleshly nature, that that desires those fleshly things: money, sex, power. It's the base nature, it's the lone nature of man that says, "Me want woman. Me want money. Me want power. Me want--" It's that base nature, the fleshly nature that's drawn to these things, but the fleshly nature of man is poison to the soul and brings death and brings corruption. That's why God wanted to save them from it, and God wants to save today from it.
Notice Galatians 6, very famous words, "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked. For that which a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh," and everyone has that nature, everyone understands it, "the one who sows to his own flesh will then from the flesh reap corruption." Israel turned away from God and went after these fleshly gods of the nations, and it resulted in weakness, spiritual weakness, destruction.
That thing of the flesh will drain you of all life. It will just weaken you in every sense. Spiritual weakness meant they no longer had faith to believe in the greatness and the majesty and the glory of God. See, there's more to man than the base nature. There's more to man than the low nature. No, God made you with a soul, God made you with the Spirit, and God made your soul to be alive.
Galatians 6 continues, verse 8, "The one who sows to the Spirit, he will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." See, in Israel's trouble, God sent Isaiah to remind them, to write this out to them. When they opened the scroll of Isaiah, they would be reminded of the greatness of God. To stir up their faith, they needed to remember for what they were following, and what they were pursuing was a great burden.
A. All other gods are a burden
See, that's the point. He says in another chapter, "All other gods are such a burden to you." Notice he says in those first verses we read, "To whom will you liken God? What likeness will you compare with Him? As with an idol?" He really marks the idea. They have to go out and get a log, a piece of cedar, hire a craftsman, and the craftsman would carve it and mold it into the image of Baal or Molech, or Astaroth, or whatever you know, very graphic images. Then this block of wood would be fashioned with some trinkets of gold or silver or whatever.
Then he says, "Then you got to put it on a cart and haul it around with you. What a burden it is." It's a picture. It's a picture. He marks the whole idea. This thing that you have, this thing, you have to carry it. It doesn't carry you, it doesn't help you, it doesn't rescue you. It cannot deliver you. It's a burden to you. You got to carry this thing around. It doesn't carry you. You have to carry it.
Isaiah 46, we just looked at this Wednesday, he says, "These things, these things that you carry, they're burdensome. They're a load for a weary beast." He's mocking the whole thing. They cannot save you from the burden. It cannot deliver you from distress. It's a picture, isn't it? It's a picture that the flesh is heavy. It's a burden. It will weigh you down. It will make the soul weary and make you empty and despair and depression. The spirit is just dying within.
To quote from one of the great hymns of the church, "Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer." Great, great hymn of the church. Oh, what needless trouble we bring. Oh, what needless burdens. Oh, what needless difficulties. Oh, what needless pain. The things of the flesh are heavy. They weigh down the soul and the spirit in emptiness and guilt and shame. There's no life in them. They weigh you down and they drain you all spiritual life.
God wants to set you free. That's why He sent the prophet. Like, "I will carry you." In fact, in that same Isaiah 46, he says, "When you were born, I carried you, and I will carry you all through your life. Even when you're old and gray, I will still be carrying you." I tell you what, that's such a great encouraging word. I got some gray hairs of my own now. I've lived long enough that I have seen God carry me through many troubles and many difficulties. He has saved me. He has delivered me. He has rescued me. He's put His hand to favor on my life. He's done it over and over and over. I know He'll do it again, and He'll do it for you. Amen. Can we give God praise? I know He'll do it for you. Amen.
That's why He writes the word. Like, "This thing cannot carry you, but I will. I will carry your burden." To quote from another hymn, "Come home, all who are weary, come home. Earnest, tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling, "Oh, sinner, come home." He's the one who will set you free. He says, "I know it's a burden to you. I love you, and I want you to be set free from it."
There was a movie in the '80s that really portrayed the idea, the wrongful way that many people think of such a burden. The movie was called The Mission. Some of you might remember the '80s. This movie was famous in the day. It took place in South America and centered around this man, Rodrigo Mendoza, who was a slave trader. He was hard of heart, very cold-hearted. One day, he finds his brother in bed with his fiancée. In a fit of rage, he kills his brother and falls into despair. In his deep grief, he goes to a priest, a Jesuit priest, Father Gabriel, and the Jesuit priest suggested penance.
Now, if you're not familiar, penance is the idea of punishing oneself to pay for the wrong that you did. Some self-inflicted punishment to pay for the wrong that you did. The penance the priest suggests is to fill a net with his armor and his weapons, and to drag them up the mighty Iguazu Falls to the Guarani tribe there that they were trying to minister and serve to.
He takes a net, puts all his armor and his weapons, and he ties them with a rope to his own body, and he begins to climb the Iguazu Falls. It's very, very hard. The very weight of this is trouble. He's struggling and struggling and falls and stumbles and struggles as he is going, climbing, climbing up the Iguazu Falls. About halfway up, some of the Jesuit brothers with them cannot stand it anymore. Under the weight of it, under the struggle of it, under the sheer exhaustion of it, some of the Jesuit brothers cannot stand it anymore, and they take a knife and they cut the rope, and it falls crashing down to the bottom.
Now, if the movie would've ended right there in some grand finale, we would've thought, "Ah, there's a gospel right there. He cuts the burden. He sets you free from the burden that you carry." That's not what the movie did. Rodrigo looks at the Jesuit brother with anger and determination, and climbs all the way down to the bottom, ties the rope back, and he starts all over again.
That's not the gospel of Jesus Christ. He's the one who sets you free from the burden. He's the one who will Himself carry the burden. In fact, Isaiah 53, just a few chapters in front of us here, some of the most famous words, prophetic words, "Surely our griefs, He Himself bore our griefs, He carried our sorrows. He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities, and by His scourging we are healed."
That's the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's the freedom. That's the release of the burden. There's a great worship song that we love to sing, Come to the Altar. Great words. Are you hurting and broken within? Oh, are you overwhelmed by the weight of your sin? Jesus is calling. Have you come to the end of yourself? Have you finally come to the end of it? Do you thirst for a drink from the well? Jesus is calling, "Oh, come to the altar. The Father's arms are open wide." This is the message of the gospel. The Father's arms are open wide to any sinner who's tired of carrying it. This is important because so many people think that God repels sinners. No, His arms are open wide to sinners. "Come home, oh sinner, come home. I love you. You're tired of carrying it. I will carry it."
B. Worship His Majesty
Forgiveness was bought for you with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. "Oh, what a Savior. Isn't He wonderful?" the song says. Sing hallelujah, Christ is risen from the dead. He's the one who set you free from the burden. Then he goes into the next section of Chapter 40, where he wants to remind them of God's majesty. You got to remember the majesty. You got to remember the glory. You're called to worship His majesty. We used to sing this song, Worship His Majesty.
Faith is strengthened when you understand the greatness of God. See, those who have blinded their eyes give way to the beholding of the beauty and the majesty, and the glory of the Almighty. It's when you see it that faith is strengthened. He wants to remind them of it. "Do you not know?" he says in verse 21. "Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? That it is He who is the great one, the majesty of God."
This is what many people do not understand. To understand the greatness, the beauty of God's majesty, and His glory. David understood this. I love quoting from Psalm 27, where David said, "One thing I have asked from the Lord, one thing that I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to dwell there in His temple, to meditate in His presence."
David understood what many do not understand. That's why Isaiah says, "Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the very beginning? That it is He who sits above the vault of the earth. It is He who reduces rulers to nothing. To whom then would you liken me that I should be His equal?" A great word says the Holy One. "Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars. The one who leads forth their hosts by number and calls them each by name. Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing."
II. Wait in the Lord; and Find New Strength
Be reminded again of the glory and the majesty, and your faith will be renewed. You'll be strengthened and encouraged. Then he makes it personal when He says in the last section, "Therefore, wait, wait, wait in the Lord and you will find new strength. The gods of the world cannot do this. I will do this. I will strengthen you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Notice, though, I didn't say wait on the Lord. Wait in the Lord is a whole deeper thing. Waiting in the Lord means that in your waiting, you are dwelling in the nearness of God. Your soul is abiding in the shadow of the Almighty. While you are waiting for God's hand to move, you are abiding in the nearness of God.
See, and there in Babylon, they would wait. 70 years, they would dwell there in Babylon waiting. Waiting and waiting, waiting year upon year, waiting. Would they complain while they waited? Would they get angry with God because He did not move according to their expectation? Many people do this today, even. God doesn't move the way that they think that God should move, and so they get angry with God, complain against God. He knew that they would. That's why He says in verse 27, "Why do you say, O Jacob? Why do you assert, O Israel? Why do you say, 'My way is hidden from the Lord, and the justice due to me escapes the notice of my God?' Why do you say this?"
A. Wait and do not grow weary
He knew that they would complain. "God doesn't care. God doesn't see. God doesn't notice." Then he says, "No, wait. Wait." He reminds them of the majesty and the greatness and the glory. God's always moved. God's always caring. God has always done it. Wait. Wait and do not grow weary. Waiting in the Lord means that you are waiting with eager expectation. Don't be impatient. Wait, God will do it. He's always moved.
If you look to God to be your help in time of trouble, then wait. Don't move until you have waited for the Lord, and He will show you the way. That famous Psalm 27 that I mentioned before, David finishes Psalm 27:14. "Therefore, wait. Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage while you are waiting." Yes, wait. For He reminds us here in Isaiah 40:28, "For God does not become weary. He's not tired. He notices. He knows. He's not weary. He's not tired. He doesn't slumber or sleep."
It reminds us of Psalm 121, very famous words, "I will lift up my eyes through the mountains. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord." I know in whom I have believed. I know my God. See, this is important. David wrote those words. "I lift up mine eyes through the hills. Where does my help come from? I know my God."
See, this is what Isaiah 40 says. "Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?" David writes, "Oh, I know. Oh, I know my God. I know how my God moves. That's why I lift up my eyes. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." In other words, God knows, God sees, God cares. He neither slumbers nor sleeps.
Sometimes you wait and you wait, wanting God to answer and to help more quickly. You think He's taking longer than He should. He who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. He is attentive to your way. He's understanding. He's inscrutable. He says your part is to pray and to watch and to wait. Not only does God neither slumber nor sleep, I love Psalm 127, He keeps the night watch. He pours favor and blessing even when you are sleeping.
Psalm 127, very famous. Love these words. "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain." Empty, vain, vanity. Unless the Lord's hand is in it, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, unless the Lord is in it, it's vanity, it's empty. It's man's effort without God. He keeps watch in vain. Then he says, famous words, "It's vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors. For it is He who blesses your life. It is He who gives to His beloved even while he sleeps." These are famous words, great words.
Notice how he's contrasting the self-effort of man. It's vanity to rise up early, to retire late, to think by one's own self-sufficiency and self-reliance and self-effort that one can save himself. It's vanity. It's beating after the wind to eat the bread of painful labors. Do you not know? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? That it is He who gives to His beloved even while he's sleeping. God is on the move.
B. Those who wait will mount up with wings
That's why he says, "Wait." "Those who wait," he says, "will mount up with wings." Isaiah uses the picture of an eagle in flight to speak of those who gain new strength to mount up with wings of eagles, eagles who soar high, riding on the currents that lift them. To watch an eagle in flight is a picture of majesty itself, as they glide on the currents seemingly effortless, but they're rising to great heights, just riding on the currents that lift them, the air beneath them that lifts them in the currents. The contrast is the albatross that is just beating and beating and beating the wind, trying to get off the ground at all.
When a contrast is that, the albatross, you've seen the picture of it just beating and beating and beating, trying to get off the ground. Contrasted to the eagle that just soars seemingly effortless. So much desperation, so much beating after the wind, so much vanity. He says, "Wait, cease all this striving." Psalm 46:10, "Be still. Cease striving and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. Stop."
When He says, "I will be exalted," He's reminding them of the majesty, glory. High and lifted up. Striving in oneself is the picture of someone thinking that by their own self-reliance and self-sufficiency, they can pull themself up by their own bootstraps or by their own self-effort, they could win the battles of life. They're like the albatross beating the wind just to get off the ground.
"It's vanity," He says. "It's emptiness itself. Cease all this striving and know." Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? It is He who sits above the vault of the earth." So much striving. Cease all the worries and the fears and the anxieties. Do you not know to wait in God in times of trouble. Speaks of a heart that is at peace with God. I know my God. That's why he says, "Do you not know? Have you not heard?" David writes, "Oh, I know. I know my God. I know how my God moves. He is my refuge. He's my strength. I will not allow my heart to be troubled. God has saved me over and over and over, and I know He'll do it again."
Wait, cease all this striving. Do not be anxious or fearful, taken captive by doubt. Let all such worries and fears and striving cease. Oh, I know my God. Do you not know? Have you not heard? Oh, I know. I know my God, and I know how He moves. He's done it before, and He'll do it again. Do not let your heart be troubled. Those who wait will gain new strength. Even young men stumble badly, but those who wait in the Lord will gain new strength. They'll rise with wings like eagles, and they'll live at heights that they have never known. Not by their own self-effort, not by the beating of the wind, but by the hand that moves, by the Spirit that lifts, by the glory that abounds.
Do you not know? Have you not heard? Oh, I know my God, and I know how He moves. He's done it before, and He'll do it again, and He'll do it for you. Lord, we are so thankful for such glorious reminders. Have you not heard? Do you not know that it is He who sits above the vault of the earth? He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing. Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created the stars, the one who leads forth their host by number. Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing. Do you not know?
Church, how many would say to the Lord today, "I believe. I know my God, and I know how He moves. I will believe. I will trust in Him. He would be the strength of my life. He will be the wind that lifts that I might arise to heights unknown. I will believe. I know my God, and I know how He moves. I will believe. God is great. God is glorious and majestic. I know my God. I will trust in Him for all the concerns of my life"?
Was that you? Would you say that to the Lord by just lifting your hand as a way of declaring it? I know my God, and I know how He moves. I know my God, I will trust Him. He is the majestic, glorious one. Thank you, Lord, for everyone who trusts in you, who has said to you, "I am done with all the striving and the beating after the wind. I will believe. I know my God." Thank you for revealing yourself to me in all of your glory. I will believe. I know my God, and I know how He moves. We love you and trust you.