Isaiah 45:24, commentary and pictures

In the Lord alone a person has right standing with God and power to live, all people must come to Him for them, and all who are angry against Him and oppose Him will be put to shame. The verse stands in God's call to look to Him and turn to Him to be saved rather than trusting human wisdom, finite persons, or human strength, for He is the only God and Savior to whom every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear. Jesus Himself is the believer's righteousness and strength and foundation, to whom those in danger must be pointed for help, salvation, and renewed health. The sinner who stands in His righteousness is justified by faith, freely given to those who hunger and thirst for it in continual surrender and heartfelt obedience, and those who come to Him weak and helpless and feeling their spiritual poverty are clothed in His character and His blood answers every accusation against them. In his own strength man is strengthless, but every struggling child of God is upheld no matter how weak, is given power according to need to resist temptation and stand every test, and is made strong to overcome evil and help others overcome.

Meaning and Context

In the Lord alone a person has righteousness and strength. People come to Him for them. All who are incensed against Him, angry at Him, hostile to Him and opposing Him shall be ashamed and put to shame. The sinner standing in the righteousness of Jesus Christ is justified by faith, freely given to those who hunger and thirst for it, a desire shown by continual surrender to God's requirements and heartfelt obedience to His law.

The verse belongs to God's call to look to Him and turn to Him to be saved, rather than relying on human wisdom, finite people, or human strength. It declares Him the only God and Savior, calling people everywhere to be saved. It declares that every knee shall bow to Him and every tongue shall swear and confess to Him. It supports seeking wisdom from God rather than trusting in finite people.

When people turn from the confusion and perplexity surrounding them and study God's handiwork in heaven and earth, proud hearts feel dependence and inferiority. Looking at the wonderful things His hand has made gives a sense of God's condescension in offering salvation. This leads them to declare that right standing and power are in the Lord alone and to come to Him for salvation. All who remain angry and opposed to Him end in shame.

The verse reveals the greatness of God's love and compassion in pure, excellent language with elevating and ennobling principles. It holds the loftiest themes of thought to stretch the faculties of the mind to comprehend it. It is to be formed and placed as valuable study and brought into schools, better than romance or fable, giving lesson books the loftiest themes of thought. It tells of the city being sought whose Builder and Maker is God, teaches that heaven is home and citizenship is above, and that lives must not be devoted to a world soon to be destroyed, with the Word of God revealed in living characters.

What every person will say when all stand before the judgment seat of God is that in the Lord is righteousness and strength. Christ died and rose and revived to be Lord both of the dead and living, purchasing human life by dying in man's stead to make immortality possible for all who believe on Him, so all men come to Him and confess Him while those incensed against Him shall be ashamed. Because all must render an account to God and every knee shall bow and every tongue confess to God, no one is to judge his brother or despise and set him at nought, but to take care to put no stumbling block or occasion to fall in his brother's way. The verse leads into the assurance that all the descendants and seed of Israel shall be justified in the Lord and shall glory in Him. Those who feel their spiritual poverty receive righteousness and strength not in themselves but by coming to Jesus weak and helpless, for Christ as worthy surety clothes them in His own character, presents them to the Father, and His blood speaks for them and answers accusations.

The chapter holds God's covenanted promises of what He has done for His people and what He will do for them if they follow on to know the Lord, whose going forth is prepared as the morning. The promises continue through chapters 44, 45 and onward and are to be read personally. They call for far greater appreciation of that encouragement and covenanted help. That encouragement is to arouse more missionary work and more missionary spirit in the churches, for God uses His people so His name may be glorified even into the highways and hedges.

Righteousness Through Christ

In the Lord alone is righteousness and strength, and that Lord is Jesus, the believer's righteousness and the foundation of Christianity, the source to whom those in danger from temptation are to be pointed for help, salvation, and renewed health of countenance. Divine power from Him must be combined with human effort to break through dense, almost impenetrable moral darkness and the terrible paralysis of indifference and death-like sluggishness in souls in darkness and error. Keeping that righteousness and strength requires praying more, exercising faith continually, and drawing nearer and closer to Jesus with the mind ascending to God continually in order to maintain victory over temptation, for when impatience and fault-finding are indulged and the soul is overcome, the Spirit of God is grieved, the soul is separated from its Strength, and Satan exults in triumph.

The sinner standing in the righteousness of Jesus Christ is justified by faith, and people come to Him for that righteousness and strength. This righteousness is freely given to those who hunger and thirst for it, a desire shown by continual surrender to God's requirements and obedience to His law from the heart. It is not found in oneself but is received by those who feel their spiritual poverty and come to Jesus weak and helpless. Christ is the worthy surety who can save all who come to Him; He clothes them in the righteousness of His own character and presents them to the Father, while His blood speaks for them, answers the accusations against them, and removes the curse of sin, and those opposed to God will be put to shame.

Right standing with God and power to overcome must not be limited by human readings of heads or character or by hereditary faults. Faith receives the credited righteousness of Christ, which is the new birth where old things pass away and all things become new. Though Satan nearly wiped out the image of God in man, Christ is the Restorer who restores His moral image in all who join themselves to God, so defects of character can be overcome and God gives fitness to do the very work He chose for them, making them successful workers together with heavenly powers. Each person is accountable to God and must act as God moves upon them rather than being directed by another person's mind, otherwise the Spirit's work is restrained and freedom of action and choice is lost.

In Jesus youth and children have righteousness and strength when they fasten their hopes upon Him and come to Him as a precious Redeemer. He clothes them with His salvation and gives them joy and grace that enable them to be ever cheerful, ever hopeful, and full of joy.

Strength for Daily Living

In his own strength man is strengthless, but in the Lord every struggling child of His has righteousness and strength. He who was Elijah's strength in the hour of trial is strong to uphold each one no matter how weak, expecting loyalty from all and granting power according to need. In the might of God a person may be strong to overcome evil and to help others to overcome, and Satan can never gain advantage over him who makes God his defense. Depending on Him and relying on His power enables resistance to the enemy's temptations and victory over them, giving hope even to one trapped in doubt and unbelief. The righteousness of Christ alone gives power to stand every test against the tide of evil sweeping the world.

Divine power from Jesus, who is righteousness and strength, must be combined with human effort to break dense, almost impenetrable moral darkness and terrible paralysis of indifference and death-like sluggishness in souls in darkness and error. Keeping that righteousness and strength and maintaining victory over Satan's temptations requires praying more, exercising faith continually, and drawing nearer and closer to Jesus with the mind ascending to God continually. When impatience and fault-finding are indulged and the soul is overcome, Satan exults in triumph, because this grieves the Spirit of God and separates the soul from its Strength. In the Lord alone a person has righteousness and strength, so no one should lean on and depend too much on the approval of fellow believers for support and happiness, for disappointment will follow. God shakes every human prop away because He alone is stay, support and strength, and those who cling to His arm with increasing firmness and never let go are encircled and borne up by the Mighty One. Confidence in own strength is worthless; only the strength of Jesus enables a person to act and persevere and do work with acceptance, gained by daily reaching out for more of the Spirit of God and by being free in God, doing assigned work with cheerfulness not looking to self but to Jesus even when unappreciated, as Christ was unappreciated.

Trusting Him as educator and strength is enough, for He can work on behalf of His people and give them influence without dependence on worldly institutions or human power. What He has covenanted to do for His people, what He has done for them and will do for them, is given as encouragement to be read and appreciated with far greater appreciation. That encouragement is to arouse more missionary work and more missionary spirit in the churches, for the Lord God of heaven uses His people so His name can be glorified even into the highways and the hedges.