Isaiah 40:29 He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increases strength.… He giveth power to the faint. "The final verses of this chapter are remarkable for the frequent occurrence of 'fainteth' and 'is weary.' They come in every sentence, and if we note their use we shall get the essence of the hope and consolation which the prophet was anointed to pour into the wounds of his own people, and of every heavy-laden soul since then. Notice how, first, the prophet points to the unwearied God; and then his eyes drop from heaven to the clouded, saddened earth, where there are the faint and the weak, and the strong becoming faint, and the youths fading and becoming weak with age. Then he hinds together these two opposites - the unwearied God and the fainting man - in the grand thought that he is the giving God, who bestows all his power on the weary. And see how, finally, he rises to the blessed conception of the wearied man becoming like the unwearied God. 'They shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint'" (Maclaren). I. A MAN MUST GIVE WHAT HE POSSESSES. He only truly enjoys it by giving it. The miser who holds is miserable. To have anything is simply blessed because we can share it, we can give it. This is more true than we think it, in all the best relations of life, even under our present depraved conditions. Ideally it is the only noble conception of life. Mothers only care for possession because it brings power, to give. Thinkers only acquire truth for the joy of imparting. We are permitted to think that this is true of God. He has no joy in possession. His joy is giving. He is always spending and working; and the gift of his Son is only the sublimest instance of what he is always doing - giving away his possessions. II. A MAN CAN ONLY GIVE WHAT HE POSSESSES. We seek out each man for the skill he possesses. This man can give us healing, that one comforting, and this one teaching. Each has his own possession, and each can help us in his own way. No one man can do all things for us; and we are foolish indeed if we expect of a man what he has no power to give. III. WHAT GOD HAS IS THE FULL, ABUNDANT SUPPLY OF ALL OUR WANTS. "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." In the passage now before us the provision of God for us is gathered up into the significant word "strength." Paul's great want is also our great want - the great want of every man the world over, in whom a trace of the Divine image is left. It is power - "power to perform that which is good;" some spiritual force to act on our souls, and make us more than conquerors over self and sin. And that is within Goal's ability. To bestow it is the purpose of his good will. "Giving power to the faint" is his Divinest work. - R.T. Parallel Verses KJV: He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.WEB: He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might. |
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