The Goodness of God | Isaiah 40:9-31

Isaiah 40 opens in a world that looks a lot like a watchtower view of chaos, death, hatred, anger, and people asking where God is at. God’s answer is not that everything is easy to understand. God’s answer is that he is here, he is good, and life is too short to act like there will always be more time.

Isaiah moves from judgment into comfort. The first 39 chapters warn God’s people about disobedience, rebellion, sin, and exile. Chapter 40 begins the good news that even in punishment and hard times, God has not left his people. Isaiah calls Zion to get up on the high mountain, lift up the voice with strength, fear not, and say, “Behold your God.” That means more than noticing God every once in a while. “Behold your God” means fixing the eyes on what God is doing.

God comes with might, but God also tends his flock like a shepherd. Jesus is the good shepherd who protects the sheep from the predator that is creeping up and ready to devour. The sheep know his voice, so God’s people need Scripture, prayer, and real relationship with him. God is calling his people to mission, to spread the gospel, and to know him instead of just talking about him.

Isaiah then lifts the eyes higher. God held the waters in the hollow of his hand. God measured the dust, weighed the mountains, created the earth, the oceans, the stars, and every person made in his image. Human sin ruined the perfection of the garden, but God still created people with love and purpose. God does not need counsel. Nobody teaches God justice, knowledge, or understanding. The human thought, “If I was God, I would do it differently,” falls apart because people cannot even make perfect decisions for their own lives.

Isaiah exposes idols too. A carved idol in ancient times and a Corvette, a house, a boat, or any treasured thing today are still just things of the earth. God sits above the circle of the earth, while people are like grasshoppers. Princes, presidents, rulers, and powers rise for a time and then disappear like stubble when God blows on them. Violence is not the answer to evil. The gospel is the answer because God changes people into new creations.

Isaiah closes with strength for the faint. God does not faint or grow weary, but people do. Prayer is not a DoorDash type of reception where an answer must arrive in fifteen minutes. God gives power to the weak, renews those who wait on him, and teaches tired people to run, and sometimes just to slow down and walk. Jesus shows the greatest goodness of God at the cross. Salvation does not rest on doing enough good things. Jesus died, rose again, and gives real hope, and that makes the gospel urgent because time on earth is short.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Behold God, not just trouble Isaiah does not tell hurting people to pretend the world is fine. Isaiah tells Zion to lift up the voice and say, “Behold your God,” because the eyes can get trained to watch only chaos. Faith has to look hard at evil without letting evil become the biggest thing in view. [13:37]
• 2. God needs no human counsel Isaiah’s questions strip away the proud thought that people could run the world better than God. Human anger at suffering is real, but human understanding is still small, limited, and broken by sin. Trust begins where the soul admits that God’s justice and wisdom are not waiting for human approval. [17:38]
• 3. Idols are still just things The old idols were carved by craftsmen, but modern idols can be bought, parked, polished, and protected. A thing becomes dangerous when it starts receiving the attention, sacrifice, and desire that belong to God. Earthly treasure cannot shepherd the soul, forgive sin, or stand in the day of death. [20:06]
• 4. God knows every name Isaiah points to the stars and says God calls them all by name, and not one is missing. That same power means no person is hidden, forgotten, or misplaced before the Father. Prayer becomes deeper when God is seen not as a distant idea, but as the Father who knows and hears. [25:10]
• 5. Waiting can renew strength Isaiah does not promise that human strength will last if a person just tries harder. Even the young grow weary, and even strong people fall exhausted when life is carried alone. Waiting on the Lord means receiving strength from the God who does not run out, even when obedience means slowing down and walking.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [01:31] - Where Is God In Chaos?
• [03:25] - The Lie That There Is Time
• [05:30] - Evil Close To Home
• [07:52] - Praising God In The Valley
• [08:35] - Reading Isaiah 40
• [12:40] - Judgment Turns To Comfort
• [13:37] - Be Bold, Behold Your God
• [15:30] - The Shepherd Protects His Sheep
• [17:38] - God Needs No Counselor
• [19:00] - Nothing Compares To God
• [20:06] - Modern Idols And Earthly Treasure
• [22:29] - Rulers Rise And Fade
• [25:10] - God Knows Every Star And Name
• [27:06] - Waiting For God’s Answer
• [31:05] - Strength Comes From The Lord
• [34:25] - The Cross Shows God’s Goodness

Bible Reading

Isaiah 40:9-31
“Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!’ Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains. He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move. Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told 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 like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble. To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God’? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for 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.” [08:35] [12:33]

John 10:11
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” [15:07]

Matthew 19:14
“But Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.’” [06:57]

Revelation 21:4
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” [07:32]

Observation questions

1. In Isaiah 40:9, what is Zion told to do, and what exact message is she told to announce to the cities of Judah? [13:37]
2. What pictures does Isaiah 40 give of God’s greatness and power over creation, nations, rulers, and stars?
3. In Isaiah 40:11 and John 10:11, what shepherd language is used, and what does that show about how God relates to his people? [15:30]
4. According to Isaiah 40:29-31, who receives strength from the Lord, and what are the three word pictures used for renewed strength? [32:37]

Interpretation questions

1. Isaiah says, “Behold your God.” What is the difference between simply knowing about God and actually fixing the eyes on him in the middle of chaos? [14:12]
2. Isaiah asks who has counseled God or taught him justice. How do those questions challenge the common thought that a person could manage life or the world better than God? [17:38]
3. Isaiah mocks idols that people make and set up. How can good earthly things slowly become false gods when they start receiving trust, attention, and sacrifice that belong to God alone? [20:06]
4. Isaiah says those who wait for the Lord will renew their strength. What does waiting on the Lord seem to mean here, and why is that different from just doing nothing? [27:06]

Application questions

1. When life feels full of chaos, what usually gets the first look from the heart—bad news, fear, anger, or God himself? What might it look like this week to actually “behold your God”? [13:37]
2. Jesus is the good shepherd, and sheep know his voice. What has helped most in learning to recognize his voice through Scripture, prayer, and obedience? What tends to drown that voice out in daily life? [15:30]
3. An idol is still just a thing. What is most likely to compete for worship right now—a purchase, comfort, status, politics, family approval, entertainment, or something else? How can a person tell when a good thing has started to take God’s place? [21:05]
4. God knows every star by name, and not one is missing. How would prayer change if it was approached with the confidence that God is not distant and that no part of life is hidden from him? [25:10]
5. Human strength runs out, even in strong and younger people. Where has self-reliance been wearing someone down lately? What would it look like to stop asking, “How do I handle this alone?” and start asking, “How do I walk through this with God?” [31:05]
6. Waiting on the Lord can include slowing down enough to walk and not faint. Is there an area of life right now where the pace has become unhealthy or anxious? What might faithful slowing down look like without giving up responsibility? [34:25]
7. Life on earth is short, and the gospel is urgent. Who comes to mind right now that needs to hear about Jesus clearly and lovingly? What would be a simple, faithful next step toward that person this week? [37:18]