Isaiah 41:1. Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.
God invites people to argue with him. He bids them first «listen» to him, and then speak to him. They had been worshipping idols, so the Lord shows them that the idols are nothing, and that all worship paid to them is a lie. He begins by asking a question:?
Isaiah 41:2. Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his east, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow. He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet.
These words are supposed to allude to Cyrus, who came «from the east», and conquered «the nations», and then did good to the house of Israel. It was God who spoke of Cyrus long before he was born. What idol god has been able to utter any prophecy? Only the Most High who lives in heaven can foretell things to come. One of the best proofs of our holy religion is to be found in the prophecies which have been fulfilled to the letter in various countries, and at different periods. Now, when they dig up old stones, that have been hidden for hundreds of years from the eyes of men, they see the proofs of how God saw into the future, and bade his prophets foretell the things that should be hereafter.
Isaiah 41:4. Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he. The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.
They helped every one his neighbour; and ever one said to his brother, Be of good courage. So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the soldering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
A very graphic picture of the making of an idol. The people were afraid of Cyrus, so they began to appeal to their gods. A pretty god it must have been that had to be made by a carpenter! Then the wood had to be covered with gold plates by the goldsmith, and the god would not be complete without the help of a man smoothing with a hammer and a smith smiting upon an anvil. When it was made, they had to solder it to keep it together; and they had to get nails to fasten it in its place lest, like Dagon, it should fall down and be broken. This is nothing but literal truth; yet what sarcasm it is upon idolatry! What good can come of idols that are made by men, idols that cannot move, and must be fixed in their places with soldering irons?
Isaiah 41:8. But thou, Israel, art my servant,
You do not worship idols; you worship Jehovah, the living and true God.
Isaiah 41:8. Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
What a title for God to give to a man, «Abraham my friend»! Could not we also endeavor to get into God's friendship, where Abraham was; to trust and love God much; to talk with him much, and enjoy high and holy fellowship with him?
Isaiah 41:9. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
To many here this verse will come home very sweetly. God is your God. and you are God's servants. he has chosen you; he will never repent of his choice; his election is never changed. «I have Chosen thee, and not cast thee away;» and you have chosen him, and you will not cast him away. By his grace, you will never leave your God, nor forsake the ways of Christ. May his mercy keep you faithful, even to the end!
Isaiah 41:10. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God:
Where God is, there is no cause for fear: «Fear thou not; for I am with thee.» That is a grand argument. «Be not dismayed; for I am thy God.» Everything we need lies within the compass of those words.
Isaiah 41:10. I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Beloved believer, are you weak tonight? Claim this precious promise, «I will strengthen thee.» Have you something to do that is quite beyond your strength? Take hold of this comforting word, «I will help thee.» Are you ready to slip? Do you feel as if you must fall? Lean on this gracious message, «I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.» Do not let these precious pearls lie at your feet to be trodden on; pick them up, and wear them, and beautify the neck of your faith with them.
Isaiah 41:11. Behold, all they that are incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.
Your sins, your temptations, everything that would keep you out of heaven, and drive you away from God, the Lord will overcome all these enemies of yours, and deliver you.
Isaiah 41:12-13. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
That is the second time that we have had that precious promise to forbid our fear; first in verse 10, and now in verse 13, «I will help thee.»
Isaiah 41:14. Fear not, thou worm Jacob,
You are earthly, groveling, weak, like a worm; yet even you need not fear:
«Fear not, thou worm Jacob.»
Isaiah 41:14. And ye men of Israel; I will help thee,
That is the third time that we have had that promise, «I will help thee.» «Ring that silver bell again,» says the Holy Spirit to Isaiah, «let it comfort my tired ones.» «I will help thee.»
Isaiah 41:14. Saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy one of Israel.
I was wonderstruck, as I looked at this verse, to find it put «Thou worm Jacob, I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy God,» that is the Hebrew word which is translated «Redeemer», «Thy next of kin.» Is the next of kin to a worm the Almighty God? Does he undertake to be our Brother, to pay the redemption price for us, because he is our Kinsman? So the text says. Let us drink in the comfort of it: «Thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.» In order to become our Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel himself became «a worm, and no man.»
Isaiah 41:15. Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small. and shalt make the hills as chaff.
The Easterns drag a wooden machine over the corn to fetch out the grain from the ear. This is called a corn-drag, and they put teeth in it, similar to the teeth of a harrow. God said that he would turn his Church, his people, into a new corn-drag, with teeth sharp and tearing, and that they should go against their difficulties, which were like mountains, and against their trials, which were like hills, and they should thresh them small, and make them to be like chaff.
Isaiah 41:16. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
All difficulty is gone, torn to pieces small as chaff, and then winnowed away, as the chaff is blown from among the heap on the threshing floor. What a promise this is! You who fear God, believe it, go and practice it, and see if God does not make your greatest difficulties utterly to disappear. Now come two sweet verses:?
Isaiah 41:17. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
See what God can do. Men are thirsty, they have no water; and lo! of a sudden, behold rivers, fountains, springs, pools, floods; for God does nothing in halves. He is an all-sufficient, overflowing God. When he gives, he gives like a king. He does not measure his gifts of water by the pint and by the gallon; but here you have pools, and springs, and rivers. When he has given waters, he will give trees to grow by the waters. When God gives blessing, he makes other blessings to spring out of it.
Isaiah 41:19. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:
Making a paradise of streams of water and lovely trees, evergreen trees of the most comely aspect, and of great variety. See what God can do. Where there is a wilderness, where there were hills and valleys, and all was dry and parched, he makes woods and forests, rivers and fountains. He can do all things. Oh, that we had faith in him! But we forget him: we turn not to him; we look everywhere but to God; we try every method except that of trusting in the living God. Have we a God? If so, why do we act as we sometimes do? Martin Luther was a very cheerful man, as a rule; but he had terrible fits of depression. he was at one time so depressed that his friends recommended him to go away for a change of air, to see if he could get relief. he went away; but he came home as miserable as ever; and when he went into the sitting-room, his wise wife Kate, Catherine von Bora, was sitting there, dressed in black, and her children round about her, all in black. «Oh, oh!» said Luther, «who is dead?» «Why,» said she, «doctor, have not you heard that God is dead? My husband, Martin Luther, would never be in such a state of mind if he had a living God to trust to.» Then he burst into a hearty laugh, and said, «Kate, thou art a wise woman. I have been acting as if God were dead, and I will do so no more. Go and take off thy black.» If God be alive, why are we discouraged? If we have a God to look to, why are we cast down? Let us rejoice and be glad together; for God will do all that he has promised, for this reason:?
Isaiah 41:20. That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.
God wants you to know that he is at work on your behalf. he wants you so to trust him as to see how his promises can be applied to your case, and what his right hand can accomplish even for you. Let us trust him tonight with all our hearts.