What the Lord's Hand Does for the Needy
Life is not easy for any of us, if we regard external conditions only; but directly we learn the divine secret, rivers flow from bare heights, fountains arise in sterile valleys, and the desert blooms like the forest-glade. To the ordinary eye there might appear no outward change in the forbidding circumstance; but faith's eye always beholds a very paradise of beauty where other eyes see only straitened circumstances and a trying lot.
Once again our minds are brought back to the great convocation announced in the opening verses of the chapter. The idols are asked to say or do something to prove that they are divine. See Isaiah 41:21-23. There is no response; with the result that a crushing verdict is passed on them as recorded in Isaiah 41:24. On the other hand, the prophet of the Lord is prepared with His predictions of Cyrus “the one from the East,” (see Isaiah 41:2 and Isaiah 44:28) which would be fulfilled before that generation had passed away. Let us give heed to the sure word of prophecy, “as unto a light that shineth in a dark place,” 2 Peter 1:19.