Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
Even the strongest and most vigorous young people grow tired and exhausted and fall helpless, for all human strength has its limit and fails at its very best. This failure reaches mind and wisdom as well, for man in himself is weakness and cannot by natural powers grasp the ways and works of God. In contrast stands the everlasting Creator of the ends of the earth, who made the heavens and calls every star by name, who never grows faint or weary and whose understanding cannot be searched. Against all human exhaustion He gives power to the faint and increases strength to those with no might, so that those who wait upon Him are renewed day by day to soar, to run without weariness, and to walk without fainting. That renewal comes not by trusting human ability, wisdom, or strength, but by waiting on the Lord, learning His will from His Word, and trusting Him wholly with earnest, active, persevering faith.
Meaning and Context
Even the youths, in the vigor of youth and with all their great natural strength, grow faint and weary, and the young men utterly fall and collapse completely, for human strength is limited and fails even where it is strongest. This exhaustion belongs to youth itself, who are expected to have great power yet become tired and fall, unlike the unfailing power and understanding of God. The failure is of all human strength, intellect and wisdom, for man is weakness itself. Even men of the greatest intellect and the most profound scholars cannot on natural principles understand or explain the mysteries of God revealed in nature, cannot answer the questions He asks, and cannot comprehend His ways and works.
The verse stands set against the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, who never faints nor grows weary and whose understanding cannot be searched. He is the Maker of the starry host who calls each by name. The chapter is comfort to His people and to true believers, spoken when their warfare is accomplished and their iniquity is pardoned. It belongs to them amid coming judgments and calamities, giving assurance as they are affected by those judgments. When God's people living in this age feel their way is hidden and overlooked, it means the Lord has not forgotten them.
Finite beings cannot comprehend God and His ways, works, judgments and purposes but can only speculate. Even the common things of daily life hold mysteries past the comprehension of finite minds, and the mechanism of the human body baffles the most intelligent. His wisdom is unsearchable and past finding out.
God Renews Strength
Against even the strongest human exhaustion, power is given to the faint and strength is increased to those who have no might, supplying strength and fortitude and courage to God's people. Even youths in their prime and youthful strongest grow faint and weary, and young men collapse completely and utterly fall, for all human strength and vigor ends in faintness, weariness and falling. This proves human strength, intellect and wisdom are finite and limited, for man cannot comprehend God and His ways and works but can only speculate as a finite being. In contrast stands the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth who made the starry host and calls each by name, who never faints nor grows weary and whose understanding cannot be searched. This is comfort to His people whose warfare is accomplished and whose iniquity is pardoned, and to those living in this age who feel their way is hidden and overlooked, assuring them the Lord has not forgotten them.
Those who wait upon the Lord renew their strength to mount up with wings as eagles, to run and not be weary, and to walk and not faint. The renewal comes day by day, giving enduring faith and perseverance through difficulty and toil and unfailing endurance, for human ability alone cannot sustain a person through trial. Waiting means coming to Christ just as they are when sick physically and mentally and heavy laden, taking His easy yoke and learning of Him in His school, trusting in the name of the Lord and staying upon God even when walking in darkness with no light. By lifting up Jesus and grasping His might by faith and waiting only upon the Lord, the weak who have no strength under depression, temptation, infirmity and inconvenience, feeling unfit for duty and ready to retire from active labor, have God by their side as strength and efficiency and divine helper. He gives special help, a clear mind, and the Holy Spirit to bring things to remembrance and make truth forcible when they stand before the people in weakness, proving their work is not to close yet and giving ground for good courage, growing them up in faith in Jesus their living Head to become strong, able-bodied, useful, courageous Christians of good report.
Strength is renewed by waiting on the Lord, not by trusting in human ability, wisdom, or strength. The contrast between the young who despite natural strength grow tired and fall and God who does not faint or grow weary and gives strength to the weak teaches this dependence. Learning God's will and ways from His Word directs people to that waiting and to the strength God gives to those who wait on Him. God does not require more than a person can do without also giving strength, for He gives strength to the weak even when the strength of the young fails. Simple trust in Him brings help to the helpless and strength to those who feel utterly weak.
Trust Beyond Human Limits
Even youthful vigor collapses completely, for man in himself is weakness itself, and therefore the verse calls for trusting wholly in God's wisdom and not leaning to one's own understanding. That trust is diligent and practical, making Him the trust, seeking Him early with thanksgiving for wisdom and grace, praying for guidance of pen and speech, for teaching in the truth, and for larger faith, crying out for help against unbelief. The verse is to be studied prayerfully together with the rest of Isaiah 40 and with Isaiah 50.
Because human strength fails even in the young and strong, men must not trust in men or make flesh their arm, but trust in the Lord alone. The Lord is not to be trifled with, and He calls His people to diligent, most earnest work for repentance while giving strength to His own. Human agents must not limit the Holy One of Israel by phrenology or hereditary peculiarity. Though Satan has nearly obliterated the image of God in man, all who connect with God will have His moral image restored in them, deficiencies of character overcome through faith and the imputed righteousness of Christ in the new birth, and by grace receive fitness to do the very work He has chosen for them, becoming successful agents cooperating with divine agencies.
Education, endowments, and self-sufficiency cannot qualify anyone to lead or mold others, for learners must be guided by God's teaching rather than worldly education. Weakness and inefficiency must be genuinely felt, with self dying and the heart humbled low before God, trusting Him alone, learning anew in the school of Christ and unlearning wrong lessons. He who is stronger than the strongest human agencies supplies every lack, strengthening the weak, reviving the faint, healing the wounded, making them strong in His strength and giving another chance to make Him their only dependence and to perfect a Christian character. God joins the omnipotence of the King of kings to the gentleness and care of a tender shepherd, and His absolute power is the pledge of the sure fulfillment of His promises. He is able and willing to bestow on His servants all the strength they need, more than fulfilling the highest expectations of those who trust Him, and to give the wisdom their varied necessities demand. When faith has been tested and His people draw near to Him as counselor, He removes all obstructions and overthrows the strongest plans of enemies, placing His understanding at their service so they do not err.
Living by the Promise
Even youths with great natural vigor grow faint and weary and young men utterly fall, yet this failure of all human strength does not bar the fearful from returning, for God who never tires gives power to the faint and renews all who wait upon Him. The promise was spoken to His people in this age when they feel their way is hidden and overlooked, to assure them the Lord has not forgotten them.
Waiting upon the Lord is earnest, faithful, active waiting and never idle waiting. It is coming to Christ just as they are when sick physically and mentally and heavy laden, taking His easy yoke and learning of Him in His school, lifting up Jesus and grasping His might by faith. It is trusting in the name of the Lord and staying upon God even when walking in darkness with no light, watching and preparing others for the advent in diligent, fervent service. It forms a harmonious Christian character that makes a complete and perfect man in Christ Jesus, growing up in faith in Jesus the living Head to become strong, able-bodied, useful, courageous Christians of good report, for genuine faith carries a buoyancy and steadfast principle that neither time nor toil can weaken.
There is therefore to be no despondency and no fear in God's service, even in the darkest days when appearances are forbidding and obstacles to the advancement of His work appear. Faith must endure pressure and stand under pressure, renewed day by day.
The contrast between failing human strength and renewed strength comforts the afflicted in trial, for human strength alone cannot sustain through trial. The same renewal to keep going without fainting is given to those laboring for others.
When the weak have no strength under depression, temptation, infirmity and inconvenience, feeling unfit for duty and ready to retire from active labor, God is by their side as strength and efficiency and divine helper when they wait only upon Him. He gives special help, a clear mind, and the Holy Spirit to bring things to remembrance and make truth forcible when they stand before the people in weakness. This proves their work is not to close yet and gives ground for good courage.
Faithful workers in the sacred work reach the same limit of physical and mental exhaustion, for even youths and strong young men faint, grow weary, and utterly fall. The exhaustion comes from constant labor, speaking and writing, loss of sleep, and heavy burdens for the churches, and strength cannot be forced without unfitting for duty. God's servants should not push into damaging exhaustion but be as quiet as possible, rest, let other workmen whom the Lord has provided carry the burdens, and rest in clear conviction that waiting is obedience. When He wants renewed active labor He will give fortitude, courage, and physical and spiritual strength to do the work in His name and continue with renewed courage, and so relying on the Lord has enabled hard labor despite illness and lack of means and strengthened workers who had labored unusually hard, keeping them from breaking down.
Even the strongest and most vigorous young people grow tired and exhausted and fall helpless, for all human strength has its limit and fails at its very best. This failure reaches mind and wisdom as well, for man in himself is weakness and cannot by natural powers grasp the ways and works of God. In contrast stands the everlasting Creator of the ends of the earth, who made the heavens and calls every star by name, who never grows faint or weary and whose understanding cannot be searched. Against all human exhaustion He gives power to the faint and increases strength to those with no might, so that those who wait upon Him are renewed day by day to soar, to run without weariness, and to walk without fainting. That renewal comes not by trusting human ability, wisdom, or strength, but by waiting on the Lord, learning His will from His Word, and trusting Him wholly with earnest, active, persevering faith.
Meaning and Context
Even the youths, in the vigor of youth and with all their great natural strength, grow faint and weary, and the young men utterly fall and collapse completely, for human strength is limited and fails even where it is strongest. This exhaustion belongs to youth itself, who are expected to have great power yet become tired and fall, unlike the unfailing power and understanding of God. The failure is of all human strength, intellect and wisdom, for man is weakness itself. Even men of the greatest intellect and the most profound scholars cannot on natural principles understand or explain the mysteries of God revealed in nature, cannot answer the questions He asks, and cannot comprehend His ways and works.
The verse stands set against the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, who never faints nor grows weary and whose understanding cannot be searched. He is the Maker of the starry host who calls each by name. The chapter is comfort to His people and to true believers, spoken when their warfare is accomplished and their iniquity is pardoned. It belongs to them amid coming judgments and calamities, giving assurance as they are affected by those judgments. When God's people living in this age feel their way is hidden and overlooked, it means the Lord has not forgotten them.
Finite beings cannot comprehend God and His ways, works, judgments and purposes but can only speculate. Even the common things of daily life hold mysteries past the comprehension of finite minds, and the mechanism of the human body baffles the most intelligent. His wisdom is unsearchable and past finding out.
God Renews Strength
Against even the strongest human exhaustion, power is given to the faint and strength is increased to those who have no might, supplying strength and fortitude and courage to God's people. Even youths in their prime and youthful strongest grow faint and weary, and young men collapse completely and utterly fall, for all human strength and vigor ends in faintness, weariness and falling. This proves human strength, intellect and wisdom are finite and limited, for man cannot comprehend God and His ways and works but can only speculate as a finite being. In contrast stands the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth who made the starry host and calls each by name, who never faints nor grows weary and whose understanding cannot be searched. This is comfort to His people whose warfare is accomplished and whose iniquity is pardoned, and to those living in this age who feel their way is hidden and overlooked, assuring them the Lord has not forgotten them.
Those who wait upon the Lord renew their strength to mount up with wings as eagles, to run and not be weary, and to walk and not faint. The renewal comes day by day, giving enduring faith and perseverance through difficulty and toil and unfailing endurance, for human ability alone cannot sustain a person through trial. Waiting means coming to Christ just as they are when sick physically and mentally and heavy laden, taking His easy yoke and learning of Him in His school, trusting in the name of the Lord and staying upon God even when walking in darkness with no light. By lifting up Jesus and grasping His might by faith and waiting only upon the Lord, the weak who have no strength under depression, temptation, infirmity and inconvenience, feeling unfit for duty and ready to retire from active labor, have God by their side as strength and efficiency and divine helper. He gives special help, a clear mind, and the Holy Spirit to bring things to remembrance and make truth forcible when they stand before the people in weakness, proving their work is not to close yet and giving ground for good courage, growing them up in faith in Jesus their living Head to become strong, able-bodied, useful, courageous Christians of good report.
Strength is renewed by waiting on the Lord, not by trusting in human ability, wisdom, or strength. The contrast between the young who despite natural strength grow tired and fall and God who does not faint or grow weary and gives strength to the weak teaches this dependence. Learning God's will and ways from His Word directs people to that waiting and to the strength God gives to those who wait on Him. God does not require more than a person can do without also giving strength, for He gives strength to the weak even when the strength of the young fails. Simple trust in Him brings help to the helpless and strength to those who feel utterly weak.
Trust Beyond Human Limits
Even youthful vigor collapses completely, for man in himself is weakness itself, and therefore the verse calls for trusting wholly in God's wisdom and not leaning to one's own understanding. That trust is diligent and practical, making Him the trust, seeking Him early with thanksgiving for wisdom and grace, praying for guidance of pen and speech, for teaching in the truth, and for larger faith, crying out for help against unbelief. The verse is to be studied prayerfully together with the rest of Isaiah 40 and with Isaiah 50.
Because human strength fails even in the young and strong, men must not trust in men or make flesh their arm, but trust in the Lord alone. The Lord is not to be trifled with, and He calls His people to diligent, most earnest work for repentance while giving strength to His own. Human agents must not limit the Holy One of Israel by phrenology or hereditary peculiarity. Though Satan has nearly obliterated the image of God in man, all who connect with God will have His moral image restored in them, deficiencies of character overcome through faith and the imputed righteousness of Christ in the new birth, and by grace receive fitness to do the very work He has chosen for them, becoming successful agents cooperating with divine agencies.
Education, endowments, and self-sufficiency cannot qualify anyone to lead or mold others, for learners must be guided by God's teaching rather than worldly education. Weakness and inefficiency must be genuinely felt, with self dying and the heart humbled low before God, trusting Him alone, learning anew in the school of Christ and unlearning wrong lessons. He who is stronger than the strongest human agencies supplies every lack, strengthening the weak, reviving the faint, healing the wounded, making them strong in His strength and giving another chance to make Him their only dependence and to perfect a Christian character. God joins the omnipotence of the King of kings to the gentleness and care of a tender shepherd, and His absolute power is the pledge of the sure fulfillment of His promises. He is able and willing to bestow on His servants all the strength they need, more than fulfilling the highest expectations of those who trust Him, and to give the wisdom their varied necessities demand. When faith has been tested and His people draw near to Him as counselor, He removes all obstructions and overthrows the strongest plans of enemies, placing His understanding at their service so they do not err.
Living by the Promise
Even youths with great natural vigor grow faint and weary and young men utterly fall, yet this failure of all human strength does not bar the fearful from returning, for God who never tires gives power to the faint and renews all who wait upon Him. The promise was spoken to His people in this age when they feel their way is hidden and overlooked, to assure them the Lord has not forgotten them.
Waiting upon the Lord is earnest, faithful, active waiting and never idle waiting. It is coming to Christ just as they are when sick physically and mentally and heavy laden, taking His easy yoke and learning of Him in His school, lifting up Jesus and grasping His might by faith. It is trusting in the name of the Lord and staying upon God even when walking in darkness with no light, watching and preparing others for the advent in diligent, fervent service. It forms a harmonious Christian character that makes a complete and perfect man in Christ Jesus, growing up in faith in Jesus the living Head to become strong, able-bodied, useful, courageous Christians of good report, for genuine faith carries a buoyancy and steadfast principle that neither time nor toil can weaken.
There is therefore to be no despondency and no fear in God's service, even in the darkest days when appearances are forbidding and obstacles to the advancement of His work appear. Faith must endure pressure and stand under pressure, renewed day by day.
The contrast between failing human strength and renewed strength comforts the afflicted in trial, for human strength alone cannot sustain through trial. The same renewal to keep going without fainting is given to those laboring for others.
When the weak have no strength under depression, temptation, infirmity and inconvenience, feeling unfit for duty and ready to retire from active labor, God is by their side as strength and efficiency and divine helper when they wait only upon Him. He gives special help, a clear mind, and the Holy Spirit to bring things to remembrance and make truth forcible when they stand before the people in weakness. This proves their work is not to close yet and gives ground for good courage.
Faithful workers in the sacred work reach the same limit of physical and mental exhaustion, for even youths and strong young men faint, grow weary, and utterly fall. The exhaustion comes from constant labor, speaking and writing, loss of sleep, and heavy burdens for the churches, and strength cannot be forced without unfitting for duty. God's servants should not push into damaging exhaustion but be as quiet as possible, rest, let other workmen whom the Lord has provided carry the burdens, and rest in clear conviction that waiting is obedience. When He wants renewed active labor He will give fortitude, courage, and physical and spiritual strength to do the work in His name and continue with renewed courage, and so relying on the Lord has enabled hard labor despite illness and lack of means and strengthened workers who had labored unusually hard, keeping them from breaking down.