ISAIAH 402008 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Isaiah 40

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2008. Now Isaiah chapter 40 starts something interesting. The book of Isaiah has been called a miniature Bible.

And the reason why it's been called a miniature Bible is, if you notice, flipping all the way to the end of the book of Isaiah, there's 66 chapters in the book of Isaiah. Now, can anybody tell me how many books of the Bible there are? 66. So just as there's 66 books of the Bible, there's 66 chapters in Isaiah. Now, for the Bible students who know their Bibles well, how many books are there in just the Old Testament?

I'm hearing a lot of numbers, none of the correct one. 39 books in the Old Testament. 39 books from Genesis all the way to Malachi. Now, what's interesting is Isaiah chapters 1 through 39 have the similar... The word just really went out of my mind. I don't know what's going on here. It has the similar emphasis, that's the word, has the similar emphasis as the Old Testament.

The judgment of God, the law of God, the righteousness of God, or the righteous judgment of God. We see that all throughout the Old Testament. Then, in the New Testament, we see a slightly different theme, and that is the theme of grace and mercy. Not that those things are absent from the Old Testament, but the emphasis is on grace and mercy. And as we look at chapters 40 all the way through the end of Isaiah, through 66, we

There's great similarity between these last 27 chapters and the 27 books of the New Testament. And so it's been often called the miniature Bible because it's a similar message in chapters 1 through 39 as it is in the first 39 books of the Bible, which is the Old Testament. And the last 27 chapters are very similar in theme and message as the last 27 books of the Bible or the New Testament.

These two sections or two divisions of the book of Isaiah are so different that many liberal scholars and those who critique the Bible and don't really believe it, but they've determined that there must have been two Isaiahs. There couldn't have been one person who wrote all of this book, but they determined that two people wrote the book because the styles are so different and the emphasis is so different.

In the same way some people talk about the God of the Old Testament as opposed to the God of the New Testament. You know, they say things like, well, the God of the Old Testament was a God of judgment and wrath and anger, but the God of the New Testament is a God of grace and mercy. There's not two gods. There's not two authors of Isaiah. It's the same God. But the message was a little bit different because he blesses the obedient and he judges the disobedient.

As we've been looking at the first 39 chapters of Isaiah, there's been lots of judgment being prophesied about. Judgment is coming. Repent. Turn. Woe to you. We read that word over and over again. Woe, woe, woe. It was the emphasis of these chapters that God was bringing His just punishment on the disobedient.

But now as we head into chapter 40, we find the emphasis that we find in the New Testament, that of Jesus Christ, of salvation and of grace. And so we see that right from the beginning in verse 1 of chapter 40. It says,

The very beginning verse of this new section of Isaiah tells us what it's all about. It's about comfort. God desires this message to be brought to his people. Comfort, yes, comfort my people. Speak comfort to Jerusalem, he says. Bring them comfort. Not affliction, not condemnation, but comfort.

And he says we're to bring them comfort because the warfare is over, he tells Isaiah. The iniquity has been pardoned. For you and I as believers in Jesus Christ, we can receive the same message. It's the same message that God wants to deliver to you and I. God wants to give you comfort.

Because the warfare has ended. The warfare is over. And the iniquity has been pardoned by faith in Jesus Christ. God wants you to have comfort. He wants you to receive this message of comfort. He wants you to know that he's not out to get you, but he wants to comfort you.

Paul in 2 Corinthians 1 calls God the God of all comfort. If you need comfort, if you're distressed, if you're freaked out, if you're just overwhelmed, God is the God of all comfort. And he wants to comfort you. His message to you is that of comfort. The warfare is ended. You know, there was a time, Romans 5 tells us, that we were enemies with God. Romans 5.10 tells us that

If we, when we were enemies, were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more having been reconciled, shall we be saved by His life? God reconciled us. He saved us when we were His enemies. When we were against God, when our flesh was in rebellion to God, God saved us when we were His enemies. But the warfare is over. We're not at war against God any longer. And so the message is the message of comfort to His people. The iniquity has been pardoned.

Your sin is forgiven. We've seen it many times here in the Old Testament as we've been studying through. God doesn't deal with us according to our sin. He doesn't give us what we deserve. He is a merciful and gracious God. Your iniquity has been pardoned. Sometimes we allow our iniquity to keep us from God, but God says your iniquity has been pardoned.

come draw close to me yes you need to repent yes you need to turn from it but that is not to be something that keeps you away from me he wants to give you a message of comfort sometimes we're overwhelmed and burdened by our sin but god says let it go it's been pardoned you've been set free the warfare is over receive comfort from god there at the end of verse two he says for she has received from the lord's hand double for all her sins this was somewhat of a

Curious saying for me as I was preparing for this evening. Seems like God is saying she's received double punishment for all her sins. Some people say that that's justly so because they knew more, they had more information. With knowledge comes responsibility. And so they were judged double for their sin because they were the ones who God had revealed himself to.

But there's an interesting custom of old during this time that they would do that it seems fits for what he is saying here. And that is that when someone owed a debt that they could not pay, the creditor would post up a piece of paper or papyrus or whatever else they used at that time, but they would post up an announcement of that debt that this person could not pay. And if one of the relatives...

their kinsmen, were to pay that debt for them, then that paper that they had posted up would be folded over so that that announcement would be canceled. And it would be kind of a clean slate from there on. And it's the same word, to fold over and to double. And so what it looks like God is saying is, look, your debt that you owe, the debt that you couldn't pay, it's been folded over. The slate is clean. I've taken care of your sin.

I've canceled your debt, or not really canceled it, but I've paid it on your behalf so that you no longer owe that debt. And so for you and I this evening, the message of God to us is comfort. God wants to comfort you. Don't be distressed. Don't be far off. Don't be aloof because of your sin. But draw close to God. Receive His comfort. He's not out to get you. He's not angry with you. He desires for you comfort.

Verse 3, Here as we go on, now...

Does any of this sound like the New Testament? The voice of one crying in the wilderness. Right there in Matthew chapter 3, we see John the Baptist and the religious leaders come up to him. Well, who are you? Are you Elijah? No. Are you Isaiah? No. Are you one of the prophets? No. Well, who are you then? He says, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare the way of the Lord. He was the forerunner to prepare the way for Jesus Christ. It was a precursor or a pre-fulfillment.

to the second coming of Jesus Christ. It was fulfilled there at the time of Jesus Christ, but it will be fulfilled again when Jesus comes to establish his kingdom on the earth. It's the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. The whole point here is God is coming. He wants to be in our midst. He wants to be with us.

He says,

The message is prepare, make sure the road is ready, make sure it's ready that you are ready for God to come, that he has smooth roads into your life, that they're not bumpy and crooked and jagged and he has to kind of finagle his way in, but make sure you have a wide open repaired road for God to come into your life. It's the voice of one crying in the wilderness to prepare the way.

He talks about the valleys being exalted, the mountains being brought low, the crooked places being made straight, and the rough places being made smooth. We can see that analogy when they're building a road, that there's some places that have to be lifted up so the road can be flat and straight, and there's some places that have to be brought down so that the road could be flat and straight. But, of course, this message is more than physical construction of roads, right?

The scripture tells us that those who exalt themselves will be brought low, but those who humble themselves will be exalted. I believe what the Lord is saying here is that we're to make the path ready, make the road ready to humble ourselves before him and he will exalt us in due time. That's what the scripture says in James as well as I think it's Peter.

The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together for the mouth of the Lord has spoken, verse 5 says. God is going to be revealed. We need to get ready. We need to make straight the path of the Lord to get rid of those obstacles in our lives that keeps God from having full access to us in a smooth road into our hearts and into our lives. We need to keep open the communication and clear from obstacles and things that would keep us from God.

Going on in verse 6. The next message. What is this message? Grass doesn't last. And all flesh...

That's every person. Every human being is grass, he says in verse 6. Here's the message. You're grass. Grass doesn't last. Therefore, you, well, you're not going to flourish. You're not going to stay green forever. It's just like the hills around here. We can see them when the rain comes and they turn green, but it doesn't last very long. It's not very long after that that

They turn brown and it happens very quickly, almost overnight it seems. The grass will fade and be no more. So you and I, we're temporary in that sense. We're going to fade. We're not going to thrive forever. But then he goes on in verse 8 to say, The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. So we have, related to grass, being temporary and it's going to fade, but the word of God...

in contrast to us, is going to endure forever. It's going to stand forever. The word of God will not go unfulfilled. It will not perish. It will not pass away until it all is fulfilled, Jesus said. And so the word of God is eternal. We are temporary. Now, how then do we obtain eternal life? If we don't want to be temporary, if we don't want to just fade away, how do we obtain eternal life?

The Word of God is eternal. And so if we will partake of the Word of God, we will stand forever with the Word of God. Consider for just a moment Psalm chapter 1. It tells us there in Psalm chapter 1 that blessed is he who does not sit in the seat of the scornful and stand in the way of sinners and walk in the path of the unrighteous.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law he meditates day and night. And what shall he be like? A tree. All flesh is grass, but if we will meditate on the word of the Lord, on the law of the Lord, if we will dig into and dive into the word of God, we will be transformed from grass, which fades, to a tree, which shall flourish. Its fruit shall ever be abundant.

Psalm chapter 1 makes it clear. It's planted there along the rivers of water and it does not wither, it does not fade. Then consider with me John chapter 1 verse 1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word of God stands forever. The Word of God being Jesus Christ. The point is, you and I without Jesus Christ, we're like grass. We might be green for a few moments, but it won't last long and we'll be brown for the rest of eternity.

But if we will partake of the Word of God, if we will partake of Jesus Christ and have a relationship with Him, if He would live within us, the Word of God within us, we will stand forever. If we will partake of His Word, the written Word, we will become like a tree. We will flourish. We will have abundant fruit. The way that we cease from being temporary and that we will fade away is

is to partake of the word of God, which is eternal. Verse 9.

Now the message goes on, the message that God desires to bring to His people. And He says, listen up, guys.

Bring the good tidings. Stand on the mountains. Make sure everybody hears. Let everybody know. Say to the cities of Judah, behold your God. Behold your God. Now this is an incredible message. Because remember back in the wilderness when God came to Moses on Mount Sinai and the dark cloud covered Mount Sinai and the people freaked out and said, this is too fearful for us. We can't do it. Moses, you go.

And we'll hear what you say and what he says to you, but we don't want to have any dealings with him because he is too fearful for us. But now the message to all the people, to everyone who will hear, that you can shout from the mountains, behold your God. Behold your God. Jesus Christ, being God, became a man. The express image of his person so that we would understand who God is, so that we could behold God. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment.

The word behold, it's the idea of not just a glance, not just a look, but to study, to search, to know, to behold, to find out, to dig in.

And you and I are called to do that. Not to just have a passing relationship with God, a somewhat subtle understanding of God, but to really know Him, to search to know Him, to behold Him, and stare at Him, and analyze Him, and find out why is God so good, and what are His characteristics, and how much does He love us? We're to dig in and get to know God as best we can.

He says, the Lord God will come with a strong hand. His arm shall rule for him. But his reward is with him and his work is before him. He goes on to say he'll feed his flock. He's going to be, well, what did Jesus say he was in John chapter 10? The good shepherd. He's going to take care of and lead those who are young and take care of them and carry them in his bosom and gently lead them. This is the relationship that God wants to have with us. He wants us to behold him.

Not that he's some mystery that we cannot know, although he far surpasses what we can understand. He's not so mysterious that we cannot grasp who he is, that we cannot behold him. He wants to lead us and guide us and help us and strengthen us. He wants his work to be established in us and his reward to come upon us for what we've allowed him to do in us and through us. This is the message of God to us. Look at verse 12. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand?

Measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure. Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance. Who has directed the spirit of the Lord or as his counselor has taught him.

Verse 15. Verse 15.

Here, the message goes on to let us know, God is big. And that's much an understatement. But God is big. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, in the palm of His hand here? The Atlantic, the Pacific, the Indian, the Arctic, all of those oceans, the lakes, the streams, the water.

fits in the hollow of God's hand. Or measured the heaven with a span. Everybody go like this. Put your fingers out and spread them out as far as you can, as far as you can. Okay, a span is the distance from your thumb, the end of your thumb, to the end of your pinky, as far as you can stretch it. On the average person, it's about nine inches, depending on the size of your hands. But the span of God's hands... Okay, you can put them down, sorry...

The span of God's hands, everybody's like, ooh, nice hands. The span of God's hand is the measurement of the heavens. Now, how many galaxies and universes or solar systems are there? How big is the heavens? How big is outer space? How big is it? Well, for God, it's the span of his hands. You know the song, he's got the whole world in his hands? He's got a lot more than that in his hands.

God is big. He's calculated the dust of the earth in a measure. Now, can any of us do that? I think we could get the highest scientific minds in the world and they would not be able to calculate the amount of dust, the grains of sand on the earth. Or weigh the mountains and the scales. How many of you know how much Mount Everest weighs?

Really, it's only been somewhat recent that we can accurately measure how high mountains are, much less how much they weigh, but God can weigh the mountains. Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord? Now, we try to sometimes direct the Spirit of God, tell Him what He ought to do. We try to counsel God sometimes, but to no avail. Who counseled God in the path of justice? Who taught Him to know things? Who taught Him the way of understanding?

There's no one greater than God. God is almighty. He is all-powerful. He is all-knowing. The nations are as a drop in a bucket, it says. Now we get concerned, what about Al-Qaeda? And what if this happens in that nation in China, you know, the sleeping giant? God's not concerned. There's a drop in a bucket to Him. They're counted as small dust on the scales compared to God. We're very small. We're like little pieces of dust on a scale.

That's not how God thinks of us and that's not how God considers us. But in comparison to His grandness, His largeness, how big He is, we're nothing at all. Verse 18. To whom then will you liken God? It's a good question. So if God is so big, who are you going to liken Him to? Or what likeness will you compare to Him? Verse 19. The workman molds an image. The goldsmith overspreads it with gold. And the silversmith casts silver chains. Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution...

chooses a tree that will rot, will not rot rather. He seeks for himself a skillful workman to prepare a carved image that will not totter. So who are you going to compare God to? What are you going to compare God to? If God is big, if he is this big,

How are you going to compare him to a little statue? Now, that's something that was very real in those days, as it is very real today in parts of the world. But here we face different kinds of idolatry, and we strive after, and things become the passion of our life, and they become false gods for us. But we need to stop and think, to whom are you going to compare to this God? Who are you going to compare this God with?

can that job can that career can that path can that item really compare to god he he talks about the workman who molds an image and they put gold on it but then he says the guy who's too poor he doesn't do that he just gets a piece of wood that hopefully won't rot it'll last a while and and he gets someone to carve it out but he says to prepare a carved image that will not totter now can you imagine taking your idol back to the dealer hey uh

My God's defective. He's tottering. He can't stand up straight. What kind of God is that? That's not the kind of God that we want. We don't want those gods that we have to send back to the dealer to get repaired. We need a God like this God, who is the creator of the heavens and the earth. Verse 21, "'Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?'

It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings the princes to nothing, and he makes the judges of the earth useless. Verse 24, Scarcely shall they be planted, scarcely shall they be sown, scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth.

When he will also blow on them and they will wither and the whirlwind will take them away like stubble. Who are you going to compare God to, he says? Are you really going to worship these other things? Are you going to let those things consume your life and be your passion and take the place of God in your life? Haven't you known? Haven't you heard? He is the creator of the heaven and the earth. It is he who sits above the circle of the earth.

He stretches out the heavens like a curtain. I think about that verse often as I close the shower curtain. It's like, for God, the heavens are just like closing the shower curtain. He's infinite. We are finite. He goes on to say, He brings princes to nothing and makes the judges of the earth useless. Again, God's not concerned about who's going to rise up in authority. He's not concerned about who's going to come to power. It goes on in verse 24 that they're barely going to be planted. They're barely going to be established. And

He's going to cause them to wither. They're going to be blown away like stubble. Verse 25, Again, to whom then will you liken me? Or to whom shall I be equal? Says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these things, who brings out their hosts by number. He calls them all by name. By the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one is missing.

Again, God asks, to whom will you liken me? Who are you going to compare me to? There's no one that compares to God. He has all power, all wisdom, all knowledge. He's not a false God. You won't have to take him back to the dealer because he's defective. No. He says, lift up your eyes on high. Look up and see who has created these things. Think about that. Romans chapter 1 tells us that creation...

is enough. The evidence of creation, it speaks of God's eternal characteristics. It speaks of God's almightiness. It speaks of God's all-knowing and having all wisdom. The creation itself declares the wonders of God. He says, "...who brings out their hosts by number." He calls them all by name. Speaking of the stars, scientists have tried, astrologers have tried,

They say that the stars are innumerable. They can't be numbered. There's more than can be counted. Yet God brings out their hosts by number. They're not innumerable to God. They're not beyond God's comprehension or his mathematical abilities. Not only does he know how many there are, he calls them all by name. Do you know innumerable amounts of names? But God does for each of the stars.

Scripture goes on later to tell us that He knows every one of us as well. Past, present, future, He knows all our names. Not only He knows our names, but He knows our waist size. He knows the number of hairs on our head. He knows the color of our eyes. He knows the beginning of our life and the end of our life. He knows our friends, our family. He knows everything that could ever possibly be imagined to be known. He is God. By the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one is missing.

Remember Jesus said, not even a sparrow falls to the ground without God's knowing. So not only does he know the number of stars and know each of them by name, and he knows every human being that ever lived, past, present, or future, and their names and the number of hairs on their head, but he also knows the sparrows and when they fall to the ground, the number of feathers that they have. And he knows the deer and the antelope and the tigers and the lions and the dogs and the cats. And he knows everything. There is nothing that God does not know.

Now when it comes to our lives, that can be kind of scary, doesn't it? Can't it? God knows every detail about you. He knows where you've been. He knows what you do when nobody's looking. He knows what you read. He knows what you look at. He knows what you watch on TV. He knows what you think. He knows every detail of every thought that you've ever had for your whole life. And He even knows the thoughts that you haven't even thought yet, that you don't even know how to think about yet. God knows them. And yet, going back to verse 1, His message is, "'Comfort, yes, comfort my people.'"

God wants you to know. He knows everything. He's God. He's almighty. He's all-powerful. He knows every detail of everything. But knowing every detail about you is not cause for Him to neglect you, to kick you out, to keep you away. Knowing every detail, knowing every dark, dirty secret, He says, come and receive comfort. Your iniquity has been pardoned. Draw close to Me. I want to live within you. Partake of Me that you may inherit eternal life.

God is the creator of the universe. He is all-powerful and all-knowing. His arms aren't short to save. He has exactly what you need. He has everything that it takes, and he desires to use it to help you, to comfort you. Verse 27, So here God kind of comes to the point.

He's talking all about himself and making sure that we know that nothing can compare to him, that he is God Almighty. So now he says, how can you say that my way is hidden from the Lord? If God knows every star, the numbers of the stars, and every star by name, and it's by his power that they exist and they come out night by night by night, how is it that you can say that God exists

God can't see my ways. He can't see what's going on. He doesn't know how much I'm struggling. He doesn't know how difficult it is. He doesn't know how much I have these problems and He doesn't know what I'm going through and He doesn't know how can we think that? Although we do think that, don't we? And we struggle with those issues. Man, God must not see. He doesn't know what I'm going through.

God says, how can you think that? I am God Almighty. I know exactly what you're going through. I know what the financial situation is like. I know what the job difficulties are. I know what the problems are at home. I know what the difficulties are on the freeway. I know every detail. I know the car is breaking down and the oven broke and the water heater, you know, just split out water everywhere and flooded the garage and

I know you have to replace those clothes and I know you have to pay this bill and deal with this issue and put up with that boss. I know all those things. Your way is not hidden from God. The next question, why is my just claim passed over by my God? Lord, I'm righteous and I'm just in this claim. I'm righteous in this complaint to you. Yet, you're just ignoring me and you can't see it. You've just totally forgotten. You've had me on hold for the past 24 months. What's going on, Lord? Have you forgotten about me?

Verse 28. So we think these things sometimes, don't we?

Man, the Lord can't see me. He doesn't know what's going on. Why isn't He dealing with this? I'm really righteous in this, and I don't understand why He hasn't helped me yet. Why isn't He provided yet? Why hasn't He come to my aid? So God says, hey, haven't you known? Did you forget already? Haven't you heard? The everlasting God. He's not a new kid on the block. He's been around a while. He's the everlasting God. He's the creator of the heavens and the earth.

Again, he's almighty and all-powerful. He has all wisdom and all knowledge. He neither faints nor is weary. He doesn't faint and nor is he weary. Now, that means a lot. Number one, it means God's not too tired to help you. Sometimes we think, you know, God's so busy. He's got all those other things to worry about. And why even bother, you know, with the little things in my life? But God's not faint. He doesn't get weary. Sometimes we think, man, God must be tired of

hearing me come and ask for this, or hearing me come back and repent for that, or hearing me come and desire this, he doesn't get weary. He does not faint. He doesn't get tired. He's not tired of you. He's not tired of you. And he's not too tired to help you. His understanding is unsearchable. We don't know why most of the time. It's unsearchable. But he's not weary. He's not tired. Verse 29, He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might, he increases strength.

Our God is a God who gives power to the weak. Now, the problem is a lot of times we won't admit that we're weak. But when we are weak, He is strong. And when we have no might, He increases strength. When we come to the Lord acknowledging and recognizing our weakness, when we recognize that we have no might, it's then that we can live in His strength. Like George was sharing earlier in Galatians 2.20, I've been crucified with Christ, Paul said. And yet I live, but...

Not me, but it's Christ who lives in me. The life I live, I live by faith in the Son of God. It's the strength of Christ. It's by His strength that I live. When we are weak, He is strong. Verse 30, Even young people get tired. Now, I was spending some time with toddlers this last week and find it hard to believe that young people can get tired, but they do.

Even young ones can get tired. Youth shall faint and be weary. Young men shall utterly fall. The youth speaks of the height of strength. The older people always talk about, oh man, when I was young, I was doing this, I could have done that, I could eat twice as much as you're eating right now, I could run twice as far as you could run right now. The youth, it was the ultimate time, right? You had the best strength, the best physique, the good looks, everything. But even in those days, you didn't have all strength.

Even youths, they faint and they grow weary. They fall short. Verse 31, But those who wait on 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. And so what we need is not the strength of youth, but we need the strength of God. And how do we get the strength of God? He says, But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.

Here's the message of comfort that God wants to bring you. Listen, you don't have to live life on your strength. The Christian life can be difficult, and you've probably given up many times, but you don't have to do it on your strength. You don't have to get through these things on your strength. Those who wait upon 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. The strength that God has for us is supernatural.

God has what you need. He has what it's going to take for you to live the Christian life, to be Christ-like, to represent Him, to be a good witness, to share the gospel, to do what He's called you to do. He has what it takes. And they shall run and not be weary. They shall run the race with endurance that was set before them, Hebrews 12. You can do it. God's message of comfort is you don't have to fail. You don't have to live as a Christian failure. You don't have to live as a Christian failure.

He has the strength that you need. He desires to be with you, to walk with you, to give you strength. Why do you think that God has abandoned you? He hasn't. He hasn't forgotten about you. He's not blind to your troubles and worries and cares. But the way that you receive His strength is not to go out and do it on your own and try to figure it out and worry and fret. The way that you endure, the way that you get through is to wait upon the Lord. You don't have to be weary.

You don't have to be stressed out and bummed out. You don't have to stumble and faint. Wait upon the Lord and you will renew your strength. And you'll mount up with wings like eagles. You'll run and not be weary and walk and not faint. The need for you and I is to wait upon the Lord. To wait on the Lord. Recently, trying to do something fun that's also good exercise, I picked up skateboarding again. Yeah, I know.

Not doing tricks or nothing, but just to get my body going and it's very aerobic and so it's good for me. But I had to stop because there was one time, it was just a couple of weeks ago that I was going and I really started to feel bad. I mean, I can't even really express how I felt. It just, I was about ready to faint. I knew it was going to happen and my whole body was hurting and my stomach was sick and

My eyes were messing with me and playing games and all these things were happening and so I just kind of had to sit down. I just put my skateboard on the sidewalk and I just sat on it and for like 10-15 minutes I just had to sit there and just try to calm down. Now,

It was about a week or two later that I found out why. Well, many of you guys know I've been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, and so my heart rate when I was off the medication was 108, 120 without doing anything. And so when I was skateboarding, I mean, I was really high up there. I didn't know how to count it at that time. But something was out of place. Something was wrong, and so what happened? What happened?

I was weary. I was about to faint. I was stumbling. In the same way spiritually. Listen, if you're weary like that, if you're about to faint, if you're stumbling, it's because there's something out of order. Because those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They'll have strength. They will endure. They'll run and not be weary. They'll walk and not faint.

I had a medical condition, a physical condition that caused me to be that way. But when we are going to stumble, when we're going to faint spiritually, it's because we have a spiritual condition that causes that. And the way that we treat that spiritual condition is to go back and wait upon the Lord. We need to wait upon the Lord. What does it mean to wait upon the Lord? In the one sense, it means just what the word wait means. It means that we need to wait, to have patience.

to not rush ahead, to not do it on our own. We need to wait to hear instruction from God. We need to sit at His feet and worship Him. We need to just be still and know that He is God, to sit at His feet and in His presence, to enjoy relationship with Him. We need to wait on the Lord. So this evening, we want to do just that. The worship team is going to come up and during this first song, they're not going to sing. You got that, Isa? They're not going to sing.

They're just going to play for us. And during this song, we're just going to wait without being distracted by the singing or trying to know the words or know what comes next. Just wait upon the Lord. Spend time with Him. Seek Him with all your heart. Surrender your cares. Cast your cares upon Him. Wait upon the Lord and you will renew your strength. What you need, what I need, the message of comfort for us is that God loves.

desires to give us what we need, more than we need, that we would mount up with wings like eagles. You want to soar in this Christian life? You want to be blessed and do well? All it takes is for us to learn to wait upon the Lord. And when we stumble and when we're faint, it's because it's a spiritual condition. There's something wrong. God desires to give us strength, to give us comfort. He desires for us to partake of Him. So let's take this time just to seek the Lord, to sit at His feet,

to allow Him to speak to us, to be patient, to give Him all of our cares and problems, to allow Him to work in us just as He sees fit, the way that He wants to. Let's spend time at His feet. There's another aspect to the word wait that is also important in our desire to wait upon the Lord, and that is that of one who would wait on tables.

And a person who waits on tables, who does it well, is one who pays attention. They pay attention to the table to see what needs there are, to see what needs to be done, to see where there needs to be some service, some cleanup, some taking care of things. In the same way, those who wait upon the Lord. Like someone who waits on tables, we are to be focused on the Lord, have our attention upon the Lord, to see what needs to be done, to see what He wants to do.

where there needs to be some cleanup, where there needs to be some area of service. And so this evening, I want to encourage you as we continue on in worship, that you would wait upon the Lord, that you would look to Him with the intent, with the request, Lord, what do you want to do? What do you need done? Where are His hands? Where are His feet? And let's use this opportunity to minister to one another, to wait on Him, to hear from Him. What does God want to use you for this evening?

to pray for someone, to share with them a scripture, to share with us corporately at the end. How does God want to use you? Someone who waits on tables, if they're focused on themselves, as we often are as we come to church, I just want to be ministered to, I don't want to have to do this, I don't want to have to go pray with someone, I want to be ministered to. That would be not a good waiter or waitress in the same way, if we're going to wait on the Lord, and we're just here to be consumed with ourselves and focus on ourselves.

It's not good for us. It's not what God desires. God wants to use us. So I want to encourage you to wait upon the Lord. Maybe God wants to speak to your heart and do something in you. Maybe there's some cleanup that needs to take place. But very likely, God wants to use you to minister to someone else, to pray for them, to share with them something, to encourage them, to give them the message of hope and comfort. Let's wait on the Lord. Pay attention to Him and see what He wants to be done. Let's worship the Lord together.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.