31 But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness.
For which cause we do not give way to weariness; but though our outer man is getting feebler, our inner man is made new day by day.
He makes your mouth full of good things, so that your strength is made new again like the eagle's.
And he said to me, My grace is enough for you, for my power is made complete in what is feeble. Most gladly, then, will I take pride in my feeble body, so that the power of Christ may be on me. So I take pleasure in being feeble, in unkind words, in needs, in cruel attacks, in troubles, on account of Christ: for when I am feeble, then am I strong.
I had almost given up my hope of seeing the blessing of the Lord in the land of the living. Let your hope be in the Lord: take heart and be strong; yes, let your hope be in the Lord.
For this reason, as we are circled by so great a cloud of witnesses, putting off every weight, and the sin into which we come so readily, let us keep on running in the way which is marked out for us,
Troubles are round us on every side, but we are not shut in; things are hard for us, but we see a way out of them; We are cruelly attacked, but not without hope; we are made low, but we are not without help; In our bodies there is ever the mark of the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be seen in our bodies.
They go from strength to strength; every one of them comes before God in Zion.
You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I took you, as on eagles' wings, guiding you to myself.
When my cry came to your ears you gave me an answer, and made me great with strength in my soul.
For this cause the Lord will be waiting, so that he may be kind to you; and he will be lifted up, so that he may have mercy on you; for the Lord is a God of righteousness: there is a blessing on all whose hope is in him.
For it is our desire that you may not be without knowledge of our trouble which came on us in Asia, that the weight of it was very great, more than our power, so that it seemed that we had no hope even of life: Yes, we ourselves have had the answer of death in ourselves, so that our hope might not be in ourselves, but in God who is able to give life to the dead: Who gave us salvation from so great a death: on whom we have put our hope that he will still go on to give us salvation;
Still the upright keeps on his way, and he who has clean hands gets new strength.
And their strength will be in the Lord; and their pride will be in his name, says the Lord.
Give thought to him who has undergone so much of the hate of sinners against himself, so that you may not be tired and feeble of purpose.
Let no servant of yours be put to shame; may those be shamed who are false without cause.
And I will be waiting for the Lord, whose face is veiled from the house of Jacob, and I will be looking for him.
And if he has mercy on him, and says, Let him not go down to the underworld, I have given the price for his life: Then his flesh becomes young again, and he comes back to the days of his early strength; He makes his prayer to God, and he has mercy on him; he sees God's face with cries of joy; he gives news of his righteousness to men;
See! as the eyes of servants are turned to the hands of their masters, and the eyes of a servant-girl to her owner, so our eyes are waiting for the Lord our God, till he has mercy on us.
And Samson, crying out to the Lord, said, O Lord God, do have me now in mind, and do make me strong only this once, O God, so that I may take one last payment from the Philistines for my two eyes.
<To the chief music-maker. Of David. A Psalm.> When I was waiting quietly for the Lord, his heart was turned to me, and he gave ear to my cry.
For my clean and upright ways keep me safe, because my hope is in you.
<A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath.> It is a good thing to give praise to the Lord, and to make melody to your name, O Most High;
Those who are planted in the house of the Lord will come up tall and strong in his gardens.
Who is this, who comes up from the waste places, resting on her loved one? It was I who made you awake under the apple-tree, where your mother gave you birth; there she was in pain at your birth.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 40
Commentary on Isaiah 40 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 40
At this chapter begins the latter part of the prophecy of this book, which is not only divided from the former by the historical chapters that come between, but seems to be distinguished from it in the scope and style of it. In the former part the name of the prophet was frequently prefixed to the particular sermons, besides the general title (as 2:1; 7:3; 13:1); but this is all one continued discourse, and the prophet not so much as once named. That consisted of many burdens, many woes; this consists of many blessings. There the distress which the people of God were in by the Assyrian, and their deliverance out of that, were chiefly prophesied of; but that is here spoken of as a thing past (52:4); and the captivity in Babylon, and their deliverance out of that, which were much greater events, of more extensive and abiding concern, are here largely foretold. Before God sent his people into captivity he furnished them with precious promises for their support and comfort in their trouble; and we may well imagine of what great use to them the glorious, gracious, light of this prophecy was, in that cloudy and dark day, and how much it helped to dry up their tears by the rivers of Babylon. But it looks further yet, and to greater things; much of Christ and gospel grace we meet with in the foregoing part of this book, but in this latter part we shall find much more; and, as if it were designed for a prophetic summary of the New Testament, it begins with that which begins the gospels, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness' (40:3), and concludes with that which concludes the book of the Revelation, "The new heavens and the new earth,' (66:22). Even Mr. White acknowledges that, as all the mercies of God to the Jewish nation bore some resemblance to those glorious things performed by our Saviour for man's redemption, so they are by the Spirit of God expressed in such terms as show plainly that while the prophet is speaking of the redemption of the Jews he had in his thoughts a more glorious deliverance. And we need not look for any further accomplishment of these prophecies yet to come; for if Jesus be he, and his kingdom be it, that should come, we are to look for no other, but the carrying on and completing of the same blessed work which was begun in the first preaching and planting of Christianity in the world.
In this chapter we have,
And we, through patience and comfort of this scripture, may have hope.
Isa 40:1-2
We have here the commission and instructions given, not to this prophet only, but, with him, to all the Lord's prophets, nay, and to all Christ's ministers, to proclaim comfort to God's people.
Isa 40:3-8
The time to favour Zion, yea, the set time, having come, the people of God must be prepared, by repentance and faith, for the favours designed them; and, in order to call them to both these, we have here the voice of one crying in the wilderness, which may be applied to those prophets who were with the captives in their wilderness-state, and who, when they saw the day of their deliverance dawn, called earnestly upon them to prepare for it, and assured them that all the difficulties which stood in the way of their deliverance should be got over. It is a good sign that mercy is preparing for us if we find God's grace preparing us for it, Ps. 10:17. But it must be applied to John the Baptist; for, though God was the speaker, he was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, and his business was to prepare the way of the Lord, to dispose men's minds for the reception and entertainment of the gospel of Christ. The way of the Lord is prepared,
Isa 40:9-11
It was promised (v. 5) that the glory of the Lord shall be revealed; that is it with the hopes of which God's people must be comforted. Now here we are told,
Isa 40:12-17
The scope of these verses is to show what a great and glorious being the Lord Jehovah is, who is Israel's God and Saviour. It comes in here,
Isa 40:18-26
The prophet here reproves those,
Isa 40:27-31
Here,