Isaiah 40:27, commentary and pictures

Israel is reproved for complaining that the Lord no longer sees its path and has overlooked its rightful cause. That complaint grows from feeling forgotten and fearing rejection in returning to God, though He sees and receives those who come to Him. The answer is that the everlasting Creator of the ends of the earth never faints nor grows weary, His understanding is unsearchable, and nothing is too small for His notice. He measures the heavens and the waters, counts the nations as less than nothing, and calls every star by name without one failing. Therefore doubting ones are to trust that their way is not hidden and their case is not passed over, and He gives power to the faint and renews the strength of all who wait on Him so they do not faint.

Complaint and Setting

The verse is a rebuke to Jacob and to Israel for saying that their way is hidden from the Lord and their judgment, their just cause and their circumstances, is passed over, overlooked and unnoticed by God. It corrects the claim that God has lost sight of His people and failed to take account of their case. No one's way is hidden from Him and no one's judgment is passed over by Him.

It is spoken to those who felt forgotten and feared they would not be received if they returned to God. Israel wrongly felt overlooked, as though God did not see their way or attend to their cause. Against that sense of being forgotten stands the assurance that God sees them and will receive them, that He has not overlooked Jacob and Israel or failed to notice their circumstances.

The chapter to which the verse belongs is given as comfort and assurance to true believers amid coming judgments. When judgments fall on a rebellious world the righteous may be afflicted by them, but its assurances encourage them to trust that God will fulfill His promises. It confirms God's sure mercies, grace and glory, and gives a message of faith, hope and assurance. It is to be studied in connection with Isaiah 42 and 2 Peter as a call for reformatory work to be carried forward in deeply spiritual lines, for thorough reformation with no haphazard work, led by men of clear understanding who are worked by the Holy Spirit.

Creator's Unfailing Care

The complaint that the way is hidden and the just cause overlooked is answered by unmeasurable greatness, for the One who measures the waters in His hand and the heavens with a span, who weighs the mountains, who counts the nations as a drop and as nothing, who sits above the circle of the earth and brings princes to nothing, creates and numbers and names every star without one failing. The rebuke is framed as a question setting that greatness against the claim of being forgotten, showing that no person's way is hidden from Him or forgotten by Him. This supremacy is part of the proof that no likeness can be compared to Him.

The reason given is that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint or grow weary and His understanding cannot be searched. Finite minds cannot comprehend Him, for He purposely conceals more than He reveals and shrouds Himself in mystery, yet every part of nature testifies that nothing is too small for His notice, a message the Sabbath keeps in memory. His limitless creative power and unfailing understanding mean no one's way is hidden and no one's judgment is passed over, for the Creator who numbers and names every star sees each person and governs what finite people cannot fully comprehend. To those who feared they would not be received if they returned, this assures that God sees them and will receive them.

He gives power to the faint and increases strength to those who have no might, and those who wait on Him renew strength so they mount up with wings as eagles and run and walk without weariness or fainting. The assurance that the everlasting Creator never grows faint or weary answers the fear that lives and just claims are hidden or overlooked, giving strength to the weak and help to those without might.

Because He is this living, all-seeing Creator, making any image to liken to Him or to represent Him or to associate in any way with His worship is forbidden. He must not be limited by human judgment such as head-reading, and men must not trust in men or make flesh their arm, for the Lord alone is to be trusted and will not be trifled with. Though Satan has nearly obliterated the image of God in man, all who connect themselves with God will have His moral image restored in them, hereditary peculiarities and deficiencies of character need not shape the course but may be overcome through faith and the imputed righteousness of Christ in the new birth, and God by His grace gives fitness to do the very work He has chosen, making them successful agents cooperating with divine agencies.

Trust, Repentance, and Warning

The question is put to Jacob and Israel for saying their way is hidden and their just cause overlooked, and it is directed to doubting ones now as well as then to trust that their lives are not hidden and their case is not passed over. The assurance that answers the fear is that the everlasting Creator of the ends of the earth never grows faint or weary, gives strength to the weak, and renews those who wait for Him, and that the One who numbers and names the stars is not unaware of His people or their needs. The chapter belongs as comfort for true believers when judgments fall on a rebellious world, encouraging the righteous though afflicted to trust that God will fulfill His promises. Doubting ones are therefore to keep the mind stayed upon the Lord and to feed on His holy Word filled with spiritual life, practicing its teachings so its promises and heaven full of blessings will be fulfilled to them. Unbelief and encouraged distrust grieve the Holy Spirit, for in God there is no darkness at all, so His people are to face the light and speak faith and hope, remembering that God's thoughts are not human thoughts and His ways are not human ways.

To souls living careless, self-indulgent, unconverted lives and unashamed of their wrong course, the same verse is sent as rebuke of the claim that a person's way is hidden from the Lord and his case overlooked by God. Set against that claim is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, who does not faint or grow weary and whose understanding cannot be searched out. Such careless souls are called to seek the Lord and confess their sins, to see how their unconverted lives lead others astray, and to repent and be converted.

No one can truthfully claim that God does not see or take account of their ways, for in light of His unmatched power and knowledge their way is not hidden and their case is not passed over. Even where repentance and pardon remain possible, sin leaves scars on the soul and can bring terrible loss. His long forbearance does not mean He has overlooked sin, for God beholds human actions and when the need comes vindicates His authority and judges wrongdoing in His own time. At that same time He protects the righteous and answers their prayers, even when the answer has seemed delayed.