I want to turn to an exposition of these marvelous verses that are found here in chapter 40, verses 9, all the way down to the end of this chapter, verse 31. And I want to stress three basic facts about God. I want to stress his greatness, I want to stress his goodness, and I want to stress his graciousness. And we see it all as we read through these verses. So I begin with the greatness of God as expressed by the prophet in who God is and what God has and will do. Now here's his proclamation. I pick it up in chapter 40 and verse 9. Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news. Lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news. Lift it up. Do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, behold your God. Now when you read this ninth verse and he addresses Zion or Jerusalem, the imperatives are get up and lift up your voice. Get up on this high mountain, and on that high mountain, I want you to lift up your voice, and I want you to say to the cities of Judah this, Behold your God. Now if I'm reading chapter 52 of this book, I'll read the words in verse 7. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, that publishes peace, that brings good news of good, that publishes deliverance, that says, desired, your God reigns. Your God reigns. So when I read the ninth verse here, he wants me to understand something of God, but he wants me to understand that God reigns. He wants me to understand something of the fact that he's the sovereign king. He is supreme, in position, and he wants me to see him, behold him. Then I come to the 10th verse. Behold, Master Yahweh, come with might, with his arm ruling for him. Behold, his reward is with him and his recompense before him. He is not only the sovereign king as expressed in verse 9, he is the powerful ruler as expressed in verse 10. And then I come to the 11th verse. Like a shepherd, he'll tend his flock, in his arms he'll gather the lambs, carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those that have young. He is a tender shepherd when it comes to his own people. And the word that I want to emphasize is the word that Isaiah emphasizes is the little word chenei, which is translated behold. You have it there in verse 9. It's translated here, but it's the same word that's used twice in verse 10. Behold, behold, behold, he is the sovereign king, he is the powerful ruler, he is the tender shepherd. And he wants us to understand that. And he wants us to look at Kim. So I think of this proclamation as he sets it forth in verses 9 through 11. But he shifts from that proclamation and he paints a verbal portrait in vivid, magnificent colors that help us to understand something of his greatness. He is a great sovereign king and a powerful ruler and a tender shepherd. And he wants me to understand it as I come into verses 12 and following. Verse 12. who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the heavens by the span, which is the span of your hand, from your thumb to your little finger, and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance, and the hills in a pair of scales. He is so great that all the waters on this planet could be held, as it were, in His hand. He is so great that He can measure the entire universe with the span, the breadth of His hand. He is so great that the dust, all of the dust of the earth could be put in a basket. He is so great that the mountains and hills could all be weighed on a small scale. That is His greatness. As I read this statement in verse 12, the earth, he created it. He created it in perfect balance. He weighs the mountains and the seas so that the earth can move perfectly in space. I mean, this is who he is. So he wants me to recognize this sovereign king, this powerful ruler, this tender shepherd is absolutely great. Look at his greatness as I read verse 12. And then I read these questions. Verse 13, who has directed the Spirit of the Lord? Or, as his counselor has informed him, with whom did he consult? Who gave him understanding? who taught him in the path of justice and taught him knowledge and informed him of the way of understanding. And all of those rhetorical questions have it implied, no one, no one can do it. No one can do this because he's utterly incomprehensible. He's incomparable, nothing, no one can be compared to him. He's utterly unique. And when you read these words, not only are we understanding something of his omnipotence, we're understanding something of his omniscience. He knows everything. Every contingency, every possibility, every actuality. He knows everything. So I read these words as he spells them out by way of these questions in verses 13 and 14. Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as his counselors informed him? No one. With whom did he consult and who gave him understanding? No one. Who taught him in the path of justice and taught him knowledge and informed him of the way of understanding? No one. No one did. He is all-powerful. He is an omnipotent God. He is all-knowing. He is omniscient. This is who he is. Now I want you to listen to the words of King David. In Psalm 39, and listen to the statement from David. Lord, make me to know my end. What is the extent of my days? Let me know how transient I am. Behold, thou hast made my days like a hand breath, and my lifetime as nothing in thy sight. Surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Every man at his best is a mere breath. And then I read these words, surely every man is a mere breath. Now I read this in Psalm 39, and he emphasizes it in verses 4 and 5, and he comes back to it in verse 11. Now listen to these words from David in Psalm 62. He uses the same words that he uses in Psalm 39. Men of low degree are only vanity. And men of rank are a lie. In the balances, they go up. That's men of low degree. That's men of rank. In the balances, they go up. They are together lighter than breath. They're lighter than breath. And the word that is used in Psalm 39 and the word that he uses in Psalm 62 is a word that means evanescence. Something that has no substance. It's worthless. It's something that appears and vanishes quickly and leaves nothing behind. It's like a vapor. It's like a breath. It's futility. It's emptiness. There's nothing to it. I mean, that's the word that he uses. So I come to this statement in Isaiah, and notice what he says about all of us. Look at verse 6 of Isaiah chapter 40, verse 6. All flesh like grass, all the goodliness thereof like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it. Surely the people are grass. Grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand forever. So we are nothing. Doesn't matter who we're talking about, we're nothing. But look at what he says in Isaiah chapter 40 about the nations on earth. Notice verse 15. Behold the nations, the goyim, the Gentile nations, are like a drop from a bucket. are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales. Behold, it lifts up the islands like fine dust. Even Lebanon is not enough to burn, nor is it a beast enough for a burnt offering. All the nations, all the nations, there are about 200 nations in the world today, all the nations, are as nothing before Him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing. How can you be less than nothing? And meaningless. So when you read the words of the prophet, and he talks about the nations, they're like a mere drop of water. They're like a dust particle on a scale. They're absolutely nothing to him. God's purpose can never be thwarted. Nothing, no one can ever prevent God from accomplishing His goals and His objectives. He has a plan. He's working out that plan. He is so great and worthy of all worship that all the wood and all the animals taken from Lebanon would be insufficient and inadequate in presenting to Him an appropriate offering. Now that's what the prophet says in verses 15 through 17. So he raises a question in the 18th verse. And the question is, to whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him? There's no comparison. Nothing can be compared to Him. And that leads the prophet into the utter folly and fallacy when you talk about idolatry. Verse 19. As for the idol, a craftsman cast it, goldsmith place it with gold, silversmith fashions chains of silver, he who is too impoverished for such an offering, Selects a tree that does not rot. He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman to prepare an idol that will not totter. If you're rich, you can use precious metals. You can build an idol on the basis of gold and silver. If you're poor, then you're looking for wood, wood that doesn't rot. But when you read this, He talks about putting up this idol and you're setting this idol according to verse 20 so that the idol will not totter and fall. And when you read this, the prophet Isaiah is mocking the whole concept of idolatry. He does it in chapter 44. He does it in chapter 45. He does it in chapter 46. God's the one who created them. God's the one who gave them the skill to make these things. But God is unlike any kind of idol. He's alive. An idol is lifeless. It's dead. It's non-existent. There's no comparison to Him. So you read 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? Adam knew this, Noah knew this. It is he who sits above the fault of the earth and his inhabitants are like grasshoppers who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He is a transcendent God. He is the creator. He's the one who maintains, upholds, and sustains everything. And then I'll read, verse 23. It is He who reduces rulers to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth Meaningless, scarcely have they been planted, scarcely have they been sown, scarcely has their start taken root in the earth. But he merely blows upon them, and they wither, and the storm carries them away like stubble. And he's talking about the rulers, and he's talking about the judges, and the rulers and judges are absolutely nothing to him. So he asked the question, In verse 25, God asks, to whom then will you liken me? That I should be as equal, says the Holy One. And then we read that imperative in verse 26, which is what I need and which all of us need. Lift up your eyes. on high, and look who has created these stars. The one who leads forth their hosts by number, he 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, oh, Jacob? and assert, O Israel, my way is hidden from the Lord, and the justice due me escapes the notice of my God. But Isaiah says he doesn't forget. He doesn't ignore. He's not indifferent. He understands exactly what's happening. So I read this, and I see the greatness of God. I understand something of who He is, and I understand something of what He has and what He will do. But from that greatness, the prophet turns and addresses the goodness of God. And he does it in verses 28 through 31. Now I want you to notice the way he does it. Look at verse 28 and the way he records it. Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives to the faint power, and to him who has no might, he increases strength. Even you shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted, but they who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint." Now, when you read these words, the Lord doesn't faint, the Lord doesn't become weary, and the Lord doesn't sleep. He gives, according to verse 29, to the faint. He gives to those who have no might, power, and strength. Even youths are going to fall. Young men are going to fall down exhausted. But, verse 31, and the key is that verb wait and that verb renew. But they who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. Now let me pause, and I want to talk just a minute about those two verbs. If you look at this verb that is used for wait, in verse 31, the they who wait, that is a very interesting verb in Hebrew. It's the Hebrew verb kavah. And if you look up the verb, originally it meant to twist or to stretch. like tension in a rope. But the thought of it is, you have different strands. The noun is the word for rope. So you have these different strands that you weave together in order to make a strong rope. That's the word for weight. So you have all of these strands, you're putting them together, you're weaving them together, twisting them together, so now you have this strong rope. That's it. That's the word weight. But then when I come to the word that is translated renewed, this is also a very interesting verb. This is a word that means to change, like you change old clothes and replace them with new clothes. So the word has to do with the change. It has to do with the substitution. You're substituting something for something else. So he uses two very interesting verbs, this verb for weight and what this word really means, and then this word that is used, that is translated renew, and what that means. So think about it this way. If he uses this word weight, and you're thinking about these strands, and you're twisting and weaving them together to make this strong, powerful rope, what is he saying? He's saying that I am to twist myself around the Lord. I am to weave myself around Him. Well, what does it mean by renew? So that my weakness can be changed and replaced by His power and His unparalleled strength. It's an exchange life. I exchange my weakness for His strength. That's what I've got to have. I've got to have His strength. So he says this. I mean, notice the statement as you read it. But they who wait for Yahweh shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. How are eagles depicted in the Bible? Eagles are depicted with vigor and speed, the swiftness of eagles. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. And when you read this, isn't he describing a climax? You have this exceptional flying, you have this occasional running, but I need strength for constant walking. I need it for that. And that's where God's graciousness comes in because I need stamina. I need strength. So I think of God's graciousness. And when I think of God's graciousness, I think about how that word is used in the Old Testament. It denotes the stronger coming to help someone who's weaker, someone who has great need. someone who is undeserving. So you have the superior who understands this inferior individual and nothing in terms of the individual, it's grace, it's undeserved blessing or favor, but he condescends and helps me because I'm afflicted and needy. That's grace. And that's what I need. I've got to understand the greatness of God. I've got to understand His goodness, but I also have to understand His graciousness. So I come to this text of Scripture. I recognize the argumentation. I get the exposition of the prophet. What's the realization? Come back with me, please, and look at the ninth verse. Verse nine. Get yourself up on a high mountain. Oh, Zion, bearer of good news, lift up your voice mightily. Oh, Jerusalem, bearer of good news, lift it up. Get up here, don't be afraid. Behold your God. Now turn with me to chapter 52, and I want you to notice verses seven through nine. How beautiful, 52 verse 7, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, that publishes peace, that brings good tidings of good, that publishes deliverance, that says to Zion, your God reigns. Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice With the voice together, they will sing. For they will see eye to eye when the Lord shall break against Zion, break forth into joy. Sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem. For the Lord has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. So what is the good news of that day? What was the good news of the day? Babylon's been defeated. The captive Jews have been emancipated. They've been released from slavery. They can go home. They can go back to their homeland. That's the good news. Well, if that's the good news of that day, what's the good news of our day? Sin and death and Satan. have all been defeated by the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. And salvation is now available for anyone who places his or her faith in Him. That's it. And the alternative is chilling. These three parts in chapters 40 through 66, they all end the same way. And there's a little refrain, and it's very ominous. Look at the way the first part ends. Chapter 48, look at verse 22. There is no peace, says the Lord, unto the wicked. Chapter 48, verse 22. Turn to chapter 57 and look at the way the second section ends, verse 21. There is no peace, says my God, to the wicked. But look at the way the third part ends. Chapter 66, look at verse 24. Last verse of the book. And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me, for their worm will not die, neither shall their fire be quenched. and they shall be a contempt into all flesh. Their worms shall not die, neither their fire will be quenched. Does that remind you of anything? That's Mark chapter nine. That's what Jesus says about hell. That's how Jesus describes hell. So if someone turns away from the only one who can save us, then the alternative is chilling. But for me, as someone who knows the one true God in Jesus Christ, He says to me in the language of verse 26 of chapter 40 of Isaiah, lift up your eyes and look. Look away from the personal and the national and the international problems. Look away from your difficult problems. Look away from your impossible tomorrows that seem to be that way. Look away from all of that and look to heaven and focus your attention upon him. And that's where my mind needs to be. So I come to those words that Gary read in Isaiah chapter 26. And it's interesting the way Isaiah 26, 3 reads, thou dost keep in, and you know what he does, if he wants to emphasize something, he repeats it. We say perfect peace, that's not, the Hebrews say, shalom, shalom, just repeats the word. Thou dost keep in shalom, shalom. And he uses a very interesting phrase. It has to do with the steadfast purpose. But it's a certain frame of mind. I have this frame of mind. Thou dost keep in shalom, shalom. Steadfast purpose. The one who has this frame of mind. Why? Because he trusts in Thee. And then he commands. May, in verse 40, in verse 4 of chapter 26, trust in Yahweh forever. For in Yah, Yahweh, everlasting rock. He's the everlasting rock. We think of the world in which we live and there is evil. There's evil everywhere. And God has a plan. and he is going to accomplish the plan. History as we know it will one day come to an end. Jesus Christ will absolutely return to this earth and he is absolutely going to right every wrong. He's absolutely going to do it. And we are to look to Him and focus our attention upon Him. When I watch videos of Ukrainian Christians who are in their apartment in Kiev, and they're singing Christian hymns, and they're smiling, and they're trusting in the Lord, and I'm thinking about all the horror those people are experiencing, and here we are in comfort and convenience and all of this. I mean... You know, it ought to be an indictment against me in terms of where I'm thinking, what I'm thinking about. I ought to be thinking about him and focusing upon him. He has a plan, and he's going to work it out. And we are passing through here. Our citizenship is not here. It's in heaven. And we focus upon that, and we know the Lord's going to give us the grace. He's going to give those poor Christians and all the terrible things. He's going to give them the grace they need to handle horrible things. But you think about it. Some of you with kids at Still Home, and you're there in that situation with your kids. I mean, just think about it. And we're here, and it could change here. And we could be very different here. So I just think about it in terms of me and how the Lord wants to work in my life and change me and cause me to think about things that really matter. Not all this nothing, but to think about what really, and that he's in control of my life and control of your life. We ought to think about him, think about the scriptures and recognize I am weak. I need his strength. I've got to have his strength. And he's promised to give it to me. Now look at 2 Corinthians 12. Paul was experiencing a difficulty here. And look at what he says. He prayed for this. He wanted it to be taken away from him, but the Lord wasn't going to take it away. And he says in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 9, the Lord says to him, this is Jesus Christ. My grace is sufficient for you. for my power is being perfected in weakness. And then I read this, most gladly therefore, this is 2 Corinthians 12 verse 9, most gladly therefore, I would rather boast in my weaknesses in order that the power of Christ, and the verb that is used here means something is descending down and then it's dwelling upon him. Almost as though it's dwelling upon a tent or a habitation. So when I read it here, in order that the power of Christ may descend down upon me. Wherefore? I will give pleasure in weaknesses, in mistreatments, in necessities, in persecutions, in anguishes, in behalf of Christ. Why, Paul? For whenever I am weak, then I am strong. Strong with what, Paul? With the strength of the Lord. He gives me His strength. His strength is being displayed in my weakness. That's what I gotta have. That's what I need. Hudson Taylor said it well, doesn't matter how great the pressure is, what really matters is where the pressure lies, whether it comes between you and God or whether it presses you near his heart. All of this pressure ought to cause me to come nearer to him, not some wedge between the Lord and me, nearer to him. Or as John Newton said it so well in a letter that he penned, when you cannot see your way, Be satisfied that he's your leader. When your spirit is overwhelmed within you, he knows your path. He'll not leave you to sink. He has appointed seasons of refreshment, and you shall find he does not forget you. He never will. Our gracious Heavenly Father, how we do thank Thee for this book of Isaiah. We think of all of the things that Isaiah experienced, even the horror that he experienced in his own life and the dreadful death he experienced. And yet we read his words and we recognize, Father, the realities that he communicated all of those centuries ago, and yet we know they're still valid, still true today. We look out in our world and we see horrible things happening in many, many countries. And we think, Lord, of all of this dreadful violence and how people are being killed and persecuted in dreadful ways, not just in Ukraine but in many countries of this world. And then we think of believers who are in those countries. attempting to live the Christian life in the midst of horrible things. We ask our Father that Thou would be merciful unto them, that Thou would meet whatever needs they would have, grant to them the grace that they need. And we pray, Father, that in our comfort and in all of our conveniences that we experience here, that we would not become apathetic to the things that matter most in life. We know it's not horizontal. We know it's vertical. We know it's not the things that are surrounding us. We know we're to look away from those things, and we're to trust in Thee, Father, regardless of what happens. that we're to trust in Thee. But we know this is a very volatile situation in Ukraine even now. And we do ask our Father again that Thou would be merciful to that country. And again, we pray somehow this would be stopped. We pray that the prayers of Christians who are in that country praying for deliverance, we ask our Father that Thou would be merciful unto them. And we pray, Father, something would happen. to bring all of this to a stop. We know that thou art a God who can do anything. And we know, Father, that there's a plan. And we don't – we recognize we're ignorant. We don't really understand various things. We know we live on a cursed earth. We know there's evil all around us. And we know this evil manifests itself in all kinds of ways. But we do pray for the believers there. And again, Father, strengthen them in the midst of all of their weakness, we pray, that thou would give to them the strength that they need. And again, pray that their testimony would ring true and that something good would come from all of this, not only in that country, but in every country. on this planet, and we pray for our own, all the things happening in our country. We pray, Father, for revival, pray for reformation among believers, that we would live distinctive Christian lives, that we would live lives that reflect what the scriptures teach us, that we would not, Father, be mesmerized by the various things of this world or accommodate or assimilate the thinking of this world. We pray that we would be distinct and different, that we would be lights in the midst of this darkness, and that we would be salt in the midst of all of the horror that we see. So work within us, we pray. Cause us, Lord, to flourish in our own Christian lives, and again, grant to us opportunities to be able to speak forth the name of Christ, not only verbally, but visually, in the way that we conduct ourselves and live. Pray that if there's any individual involved in this service who is not a believer in Christ, we pray for that person's salvation. Cause that person to recognize that he is outside of Jesus Christ, and outside of Jesus Christ there is nothing but sheer wrath. Help that person, Father, to understand that. And we pray that that person would flee to Christ, where alone salvation is found. We thank thee for the promise, he that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. We thank thee for the words given to us, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. We thank thee, our Father, for our salvation. Make it real to us even this day, for I pray it in Jesus' name, amen.