Isaiah 40:11, commentary and pictures

He feeds His flock with daily temporal and spiritual nourishment and watchful protection, draws the helpless lambs close to His heart with personal compassion, and guides those needing special care gently at a pace proportioned to their strength. The shepherd is Christ, the good and true Messiah and keeper of the flock, in contrast to failing and domineering leaders. In Him absolute power and invincible rule are united with gentleness, mercy, and compassion for the vulnerable, revealing God as merciful and gracious and not cold or hard-hearted. He knows each one by name with all its circumstances, needs, and burdens, values every sheep and lamb individually as given Him by His Father and earned as the reward of His work, and seeks and saves even the guilty, rebellious, and lost. This is good tidings to be lifted up without fear in the call to behold God, inviting thirsty sinners to come just as they are to be forgiven, washed, and saved to the uttermost, and it is the pattern His under-shepherds are to follow in guarding, nourishing, and restoring those entrusted to them.

Chapter Setting and Context

The verse stands within God's comfort to His people that her warfare is accomplished and her iniquity is pardoned. That comfort is joined to preparing the way of the Lord, to the revelation of His glory to all flesh, to the withering of all flesh as grass, and to the endurance forever of the word of God. It is part of the good tidings to Zion, to Jerusalem, and to the cities of Judah to behold their God as coming with strong hand and ruling arm, with His reward with Him and His work before Him. That coming is to be lifted up with strength and without fear, proclaiming Behold your God.

The setting displays God's infinite power and wisdom, before which human pride and self-exaltation have no place. It teaches that the Lord alone is to be trusted, and that men are not to trust in men or make flesh their arm. The chapter calls for diligent work for repentance and most earnest work, with strength given to His own people, because the Lord will not be trifled with.

The chapter was written to comfort true believers amid judgments and affliction. Its assurance of the Lord's care encourages Christ's humble followers when calamities come upon the world. The verse belongs to a significant parable about spiritual things describing work to be done before both Christ's first advent and His second appearing in the clouds of heaven.

Words and Imagery Meaning

To feed the flock is to give daily nourishment with watchful protection, providing for need day by day and carefully guarding those entrusted to care. That provision includes both temporal and spiritual food for the people as sheep under a shepherd's care. It also includes close watchfulness and faithful searching for any who stray until they are found and restored.

To gather the lambs with the arm and carry them in the bosom is to draw the helpless close to himself and close to his heart. It is personal, compassionate, and attentive care for the vulnerable, tending the flock and tenderly carrying those who cannot care for themselves. It is protective care that holds the young lambs in the arms and keeps them near with tenderness.

To gently lead those that are with young is to guide with special tenderness those needing special care. He moves gently and at a pace they can endure, proportioning the path to their strength and capacity rather than despising, neglecting, or leaving them behind. He gently guides those burdened with young and those who are vulnerable, carrying the lambs close while leading the burdened forward.

The lambs are the helpless, vulnerable, and young of the flock. They include youth, children, young disciples, and young sinners, and all who are bruised, lame, weak, burdened, or most in need receive special help grounded in intimate knowledge of every burden. Little children left motherless by death are lambs whom he will gently lead. Children are hoped to become lambs of his flock and may yet belong to his fold, and those who speak kindly and do what is right are called lambs of his flock whose character he can approve.

Strength Joined With Tenderness

The verse joins the majesty of an omnipotent King with the gentleness and tender care of a shepherd, so that absolute power is united with personal gentleness, mercy and compassion for the vulnerable. He feeds His flock, gathers the lambs close to Himself, carries them tenderly in His bosom, and gently leads those with young. His great power is joined with personal, attentive care that draws the helpless close and guides the vulnerable with strength and tenderness.

He is a strong yet tender ruler whose authority is supreme and whose power is invincible, and His rule includes compassionate care for His people. In its setting of God coming with strong hand and ruling arm, the verse belongs to the call to behold God and is connected with Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem amid the people's praise. It is good tidings to be proclaimed with strength and without fear, announcing that He comes with reward and work before Him, redeems by the power of the cross, and shepherds His flock with feeding, gathering, carrying and gentle leading.

The verse reveals God's character in Christ as infinite love, mercy, grace and glory, shown in words, actions and miracles. He is merciful and gracious, not cold, iron or hard-hearted, but a husband to the widow and a father to the fatherless and a present help in every time of need. That revelation brings a message of faith, hope and assurance, bearing fruit in true religion that never oppresses, never neglects the needy and suffering, and never gathers all to glorify self.

His shepherd care is both mighty and gentle, His compassion does not fail, and His promises to His church stand firm. As King of kings and covenant-keeping God He unites absolute omnipotence with tender shepherd care, and His absolute power pledges the sure fulfillment of His promises and unalterable covenant, so that nothing can stand in His way. When obstacles to the advancement of His work appear there is no need to fear, for He can remove all obstructions and has means for the removal of every difficulty, delivering those who serve Him and respect the means He employs. The plans of enemies may seem firm and well established, but He can overthrow the strongest of them in His own time and way when faith has been sufficiently tested and His people draw near to Him and make Him their counselor, so that even in the darkest days when appearances seem forbidding there is no cause to fear or despond. The strength of those who love and serve Him will be renewed day by day, His understanding will be placed at their service that they may not err, their faith is to endure pressure, He will more than fulfill the highest expectations of those who trust Him, and He will give the wisdom their varied necessities demand.

Christ the True Shepherd

The shepherd is Christ, the Messiah, the Good, Great, and True Shepherd and keeper of the flock. He stands in contrast to Israel's leaders who failed in their care, and to proud, domineering, self-important leaders who neglect those entrusted to them and are eager to rule. The verse belongs to the prophecy of His coming and describes His mission among people, reaching them and joining humanity to God. It foretold the sending of a Teacher from heaven when darkness had covered the earth and the people, and He redeems by the power of the cross.

After the Fall left His people wandering and facing destruction, He left the honor and glory of His Father's house to save them. He calls them to the safety of His fold, strengthens the weak, and nourishes those who suffer. He knows His people by name and knows the circumstances, needs, and every burden of every soul, calling each sheep individually. His care is grounded in His intimate knowledge and in His own experience of suffering, and He knows and pities His flock with special help for those who are bruised, lame, weak, or otherwise most in need.

He highly values His flock and loves every sheep and lamb individually with uttermost kindness under His tender watchcare. Believers are regarded as His own sons and daughters given Him by His Father and earned as the reward of His work, and He loves them both for His Father's sake and for their own sake as His children. No tribulation can separate them from Him, so they can trust Him. His watchcare and personal interest are far greater and more intimate than Jacob's tender, sympathetic, protective care for Laban's sheep through drought by day and frost by night for twenty years. The reason is that He gave His life for the sheep and purchased them through His suffering, regarding them as His own and looking on them with deep affection.

His shepherd work means feeding and protecting the flock, carefully guarding it from harm, and leading it in safe paths. It means strengthening the weak, nourishing the suffering, caring for the afflicted, patiently seeking the straying, bearing long with the unruly, and supplying with loving solicitude the necessities of the young and the feeble. He leaves the paths to help sheep that are wounded, sick, or bruised, and the lame have His special care. Rather than crushing weak faith and hope with censure, He sustains and encourages the afflicted and distressed.

He cares for every person, including those who are guilty, helpless, and in danger of destruction, as a shepherd cares for the sheep in his flock, and His purpose is to bring people back to God. His shepherding expresses patient love and condescension toward fallen humanity even when people reject and neglect Him. He takes the first step toward people even while they are in rebellion, seeking the lost and joyfully rescuing, gathering, and carrying to safety those who are bruised and wounded by sin. He is very tender toward the bruised lambs of His fold and pardons the Christian in whom He dwells by faith as a fortress when, while struggling against opposing influences, he is overcome and speaks and acts in a manner unbecoming to a Christian.

In His earthly ministry His words, actions, and miracles revealed the Father's infinite love. His compassion was seen as He drew near to mothers with sick children, took a child in His arms, healed the child, and comforted the mother. He gives the same attentive care to each urgent need.

Gospel Call to Behold

Isaiah 40:11 belongs to the good tidings to be lifted up with strength and without fear to prepare the way of the Lord. It proclaims Behold your God, declaring that the Lord God comes with strong hand and ruling arm, with His reward with Him and His work before Him, and that He cares for His people as a shepherd with special tenderness for the lambs. It manifests the character of God as revealed in Christ and sounds the divine call by word and life for all who thirst to come and take the water of life freely.

Like John the Baptist, those who bear this message point men and women to Jesus by word and life. It reveals Christ to men as the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last. It is to be voiced in every city as the last message of mercy to the world, calling men and women to behold Christ and come to Him.

It is the gospel to be taught to the young, proclaiming Christ as the sin-pardoning Saviour who pardons all sins and is to be believed in and spoken of by all. It shows the character of God as revealed in Christ to be manifested to the world and exemplified in daily life by young and elderly disciples. The call to behold God is fulfilled in His coming with strong hand to rule, bringing His reward and His work with Him. He invites young sinners to come to Him just as they are, without waiting for special feeling or agonizing struggle, to repent of sins, look to Him and believe in Him as personal Saviour, and commit the keeping of their souls to Him as faithful Creator. As they advance to Him He advances to them, sees their sin-diseased condition, forgives whatever sins they have committed, washes them away in His blood, gives power to become sons of God, and saves to the uttermost all who come. His dying love proves His willingness to save, and His resurrection and ascension prove His power to save.

Pattern for Shepherding Others

The picture sets the standard for faithful, loving service by under-shepherds toward those entrusted to them. They are to guard carefully those in their charge, providing daily nourishment together with watchful protection, since lambs need more than food. Any that stray are to be diligently, faithfully sought until found and restored. The true Shepherd tenderly gathers the helpless, carries them close to His heart, protects the flock, cares for each one, and leads those needing special care.

His tenderness, mercy, and other qualities are to be reflected in the lives of His followers. They are to reveal that same tenderness and sympathy to all classes, high and low, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, while earnestly sharing truths that bring eternal life. Service for God demands the whole being — heart, mind, soul, and strength — joining tenderness with intense desire to impart the truths that give eternal life to the receiver. This compassion and love comforts God's people and draws them to desire His blessings.

This knowledge of God cannot be gained by the highest education in the most scientific schools, but only in the school of Christ, where meekness, lowliness, and reverence are learned. As a keeper of sheep Moses learned these same traits, and by developing them he was drawn nearer to the great Shepherd and united to Him. He held communion with the Father through humble prayer and looked to the Highest for education in spiritual things and for understanding of his duty as a faithful shepherd. His shepherd work means caring for the afflicted, patiently seeking the straying, bearing long with the unruly, and supplying with loving solicitude the necessities of the young and the feeble.

His shepherding character is part of the picture of God in Jesus Christ that His people are to proclaim to the world. He feeds and protects His people, gathers the vulnerable close, and gently guides those needing special care, revealing God as merciful and gracious, not cold, iron, or hard-hearted. He is a husband to the widow and a father to the fatherless and a present help in every time of need. True religion bears the fruit of that love, never high-handed oppression, never neglect of the needy and suffering, and never gathering everything to glorify self regardless of others.

The image calls for older, more experienced people to treat young disciples with patience, sympathy, and compassion when they struggle with temptation or are tried and overcome, rather than harshness or indifference. The lambs represent youth who need patient, kind guidance. Educators should follow Christ's example by showing pitying tenderness and mercy while faithfully correcting faults. Christ continues to bear with the erring and welcomes back even the rebellious, so teachers should not become harsh, indifferent, or give up on those in their care.

Leading children to accept the faithful shepherds' tender guidance requires tact, wisdom, human love, and sanctified affection. God's children are to show the gentleness of Jesus. He has purchased them through His suffering and regards them as His own, looking on them with deep affection and giving His righteousness to those who believe in Him. Christ as shepherd does not despise, neglect, or leave behind the children of the flock. He moves gently and at a pace they can endure, proportioning the path to their strength and capacity, and parents are to lead children along the narrow way with the same patient care.

Children are lambs of His flock and are under His care as the True Shepherd who watches over them. Children who speak kindly and do what is right are lambs of God's flock, whose character God can approve and bless. Christians share in seeking out straying lambs and bringing them back to the fold. Ministers and lay members are to unite with Christ in seeking and saving the lost, and in encouraging and helping people beset by temptation who do not know where to turn. God calls His church to appreciate her exalted privilege in having the wisdom of the Infinite at her demand as part of these good tidings to Zion and Jerusalem to lift up the voice without fear.