WORD
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 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. ISA 40:30-31
Isaiah spoke these words to God’s people while they were in exile. He wanted them to hope in God for restoration. Whichever generation we are part of, we will all experience being faint and weary. But God promises us through Isaiah that those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. What are three things we can learn from this Scripture?
We grow faint and weary
Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”? ISA 40:27
In exile, God’s people felt like he didn’t see them or wasn’t listening to them. This is a pattern we experience even today. In this life, frustrations and tiredness are unavoidable. Today, people put emphasis on acknowledging a person’s weakness and exhaustion instead of fighting or denying it. While that’s not wrong, it shouldn’t end there. God promises a greater hope for those who feel faint and weary. Tell about a time in the last few months you felt faint and weary, even as a follower of Christ.
Rashi
Why do you say—My people (K’li Paz, mss.: the people of) Jacob, and speak in exile.
My way is hidden from the Lord—He hid from before his eyes all that we served him, and gave those who did not know him, dominion over us.
And my right is disregarded by my God? He ignores the judgment of the good reward he should have paid our forefathers and us.
4 But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my right is with the Lord,
and my recompense with my God.”
Rashi
But I said, “I have labored in vain”—When I saw that I admonish them and they do not obey.
Yet surely my right is with the Lord—He knows that it is not from me but from them i.e., he knows that their failure to obey is not due to my laziness, but to their obstinacy.
14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”
Rashi
But Zion said—She thought that I had forgotten her.
15 Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you. ISA 49:4, 14-15
Rashi
Can a woman forget her nursing child—Heb. עוּלָהּ, similar to עוֹלֵל.
That she should have no compassion on the son of her womb—Heb. מֵרֶחֶם בֶּן-בִּטְנָהּ.
Even these may forget—Even if these forget, I will not forget you.
God is everlasting
28 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.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength. ISA 40:28-29
Isaiah made the point that if the Israelites were asking such questions and doubting whether God could hear them, they must not have realized who God is. He reminded them: God is everlasting and the Creator of the whole earth; he knows and understands everything, and unlike us, he never gets tired. And as our good and merciful God, he even gives of his fathomless power to those of us who are faint and weary. How often do we need to be reminded of who God is? How can we take comfort knowing that God is above our circumstances?
John Gill
Have you not known? Have you not heard? From the history of the church in all ages; from the experience of all good men; from their own knowledge and observation; from the Scriptures, and the prophets, the interpreters of them; both that what is before suggested is wrong, and that what follows is true,
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary—Or, “the God of the world”; that has made it, and upholds it, and governs it, and judges righteously in it; who is from everlasting to everlasting, unchangeably the same; whose name alone is Jehovah, the self-existent and all comprehending Being, the Maker and Former of all things; who has not only created the earth, and the foundations of it, as the Targum, or the continent, and the habitable part of the world, that is most known and dwelt in, but even the extremities of the earth; and therefore knows and will take care of his own people, let them be where they will: and though the work of creation, and of upholding creatures in their beings, and of governing the world, and providing for all in it, and of taking care of his church and people in particular, requires so much power, as well as wisdom, yet he never sinks under it, nor is weary of it; therefore they have no reason to give way to such unbelief and despondency, as above expressed:
His understanding is unsearchable—It is infinite, it reaches to all persons and things, and therefore he cannot be at a loss to provide for his people, or plead their cause; nor can their case be unknown to him, or he want either power or skill to help them.
Rashi
The Creator of the ends of the earth . . . his understanding is unsearchable—And One who has such strength and such wisdom—he knows the thoughts. Why does he delay your benefit, only to terminate the transgression and to expiate the sin through afflictions.
He gives power to the faint—And who will eventually renew strength for your tiredness.
Taanit 2a:10
Rabba bar Sheila elaborates on this verbal analogy. It is written here: “Who does great things that are beyond comprehension,” and it is written there, with regard to the creation of the world: “Have you not known? Have you not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not grow faint or weary; his understanding is beyond comprehension” (Isa 40:28). This shows that both creation and rainfall are beyond comprehension. And concerning the creation of the world, it is written elsewhere: “Who sets firm the mountains with your power; being girded with might” (Psa 65:7). From this verse it can be inferred that rainfall, like the creation of the world, reflects God’s might.
Taanit 9b:13
As it is stated, with regard to the creation of the world: “Who does great things past finding out” (Job 9:10), and as an example of this it is written: “He gives rain on the earth” (Job 5:9-10). And it is written below: “Have you not known? Have you not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint and is not weary; his understanding is past finding out” (Isa 40:28). The repetition of “past finding out” indicates that rainfall is as wondrous as the creation of the world. The Gemara adds: And it is written in a psalm that deals with rainfall: “Who by your strength sets fast the mountains, being girded with might” (Psa 65:7).
TRUST WORTHY God’s Passion: God is uncreated
Idols aren’t necessarily carven images or statues. They can be anything that takes the place of God in our lives. For the Israelites, they trusted in foreign military power, silver and gold, and their leaders. Unlike other things we may put our trust in, God is the greatest. There is no one above him or higher than him. He is uncreated; He doesn’t depend on others to exist. Because he is above all, he is the only one with the power and authority to bless us and provide for our every need. In God, we can be certain that he has the power over all things on earth. How can we respond to the truth that God has highest power and remains faithful to his covenant with us?
God renews our strength
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 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. ISA 40:30-31
To wait for the Lord means we look forward with hopeful expectation that something good is coming. We may experience frustrations and our future may seem bleak, like the Israelites in exile, but we eagerly wait for God because we can’t overcome our frustrations and struggles on our own. Even young people, who are known for their passion and reserves of energy, can grow tired, but we can put our hope in our everlasting God, who will give us this strength if we wait on him. What does waiting on the Lord look like for you in your situation?
Kiddushin 82a:10
The mishna explains: With regard to his youth, what does it say about a law scholar? “But they that wait for the Lord shall renew their strength” (Isa 40:31). With regard to his old age, what does it say? “They shall still bring forth fruit in old age” (Psa 92:15), and it likewise states with regard to Abraham our forefather: “Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things” (Gen 24:1). We found that Abraham our forefather fulfilled the entire law before it was given, as it is stated: “Because Abraham listened to my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws” (Gen 26:5), which indicates that Abraham observed all the commandments of his own accord and was rewarded in his old age as a result.
Kiddushin 82b:5
The mishna taught that Rabbi Nehorai says: I set aside all the trades and I teach my son only the law. It is taught in Tosefta (Kiddushin 5:14): Rabbi Nehorai says: I set aside all the trades in the world, and I teach my son only the law, as all other trades serve one only in the days of his youth, when he has enough strength to work, but in the days of his old age, behold, he is left to lie in hunger. But the law is not like this: It serves a person in the time of his youth and provides him with a future and hope in the time of his old age. With regard to the time of his youth, what does it say about a law scholar? “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength” (Isa 40:31). With regard to the time of his old age, what does it say? “They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green” (Psa 92:15).
Rashi
Even youths shall faint—Heb. נְעָרִים. The might of your enemies who are devoid (מְנֹעָרִים) of commandments, shall become faint.
And young men shall fall exhausted—Those who are now mighty and strong, shall fall exhausted, but you, who put your hope in the Lord shall gain new strength and power.
Wings—The Hebrew אבר means a wing.
Sanhedrin 92b:1
And if you say: During those years when the Holy One, blessed be he, is destined to renew his world, as it is stated: “And the Lord alone will be exalted on that day” (Isa 2:11), what are the righteous to do? How will they survive? The Holy One, blessed be he, will make wings like eagles for them and they will fly over the surface of the water, as it is stated: “Therefore we will not fear though God changes the land, and when the mountains are moved in the midst of the sea” (Psa 46:3). Although God will renew the land, they will not fear, because they will be in the sky over the sea at that time. And lest you say that they will endure suffering from flying uninterrupted for an extended period, the verse states: “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 tire” (Isa 40:31).