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Commentary on Isaiah 40 verses 27–31
Here, I. The prophet reproves the people of God, who are now supposed to be captives in Babylon for their unbelief and distrust of God, and the dejections and despondencies of their spirit under their affliction (Isa 40:27): "Why sayest thou, O Jacob! to thyself and to those about thee, My way is hidden from the Lord? Why dost thou make hard and melancholy conclusions concerning thyself and thy present case as if the latter were desperate?" 1. The titles he here gives them were enough to shame them out of their distrusts: O Jacob! O Israel! Let them remember whence they took these names - from one who had found God faithful to him and kind in all his straits; and why they bore these names - as God's professing people, a people in covenant with him. 2. The way of reproving them is by reasoning with them: "Why? Consider whether thou hast any ground to say so." Many of our foolish frets and foolish fears would vanish before a strict enquiry into the causes of them. 3. That which they are reproved for is an ill-natured, ill-favoured, word they spoke of God, as if he had cast them off. There seems to be an emphasis laid upon their saying it: Why sayest thou and speakest thou? It is bad to have evil thoughts rise in our mind, but it is worse to put an imprimatur - a sanction to them, and turn them into evil words. David reflects with regret upon what he said in his haste, when he was in distress. 4. The ill word they said was a word of despair concerning their present calamitous condition. They were ready to conclude, (1.) That God would not heed them: "My way is hidden from the Lord; he takes no notice of our straits, nor concerns himself any more in our concernments. There are such difficulties in our case that even divine wisdom and power will be nonplussed." A man whose way is hidden is one whom God has hedged in, Job 3:23. (2.) That God could not help them: "My judgment is passed over from my God; my case is past relief, so far past it that God himself cannot redress the grievances of it. Our bones are dried." Eze 37:11.
II. He reminds them of that which, if duly considered, was sufficient to silence all those fears and distrust. For their conviction, as before for the conviction of idolaters (Isa 40:21), he appeals to what they had known and what they had heard. Jacob and Israel were a knowing people, or might have been, and their knowledge came by hearing; for Wisdom cried in their chief places of concourse. Now, among other things, they had heard that God had spoken once, twice, yea, many a time they had heard it, That power belongs unto God (Psa 62:11), That is,
1.He is himself an almighty God. He must needs be so, for he is the everlasting God, even Jehovah. He was from eternity; he will be to eternity; and therefore with him there is no deficiency, no decay. He has his being of himself, and therefore all his perfections must needs be boundless. He is without beginning of days or end of life, and therefore with him there is no change. He is also the Creator of the ends of the earth, that is, of the whole earth and all that is in it from end to end. He therefore is the rightful owner and ruler of all, and must be concluded to have an absolute power over all and an all-sufficiency to help his people in their greatest straits. Doubtless he is still as able to save his church as he was at first to make the world. (1.) He has wisdom to contrive the salvation, and that wisdom is never at a loss: There is no searching of his understanding, so as to countermine the counsels of it and defeat its intentions; no, nor so as to determine what he will do, for he has ways by himself, ways in the sea. None can say, "Thus far God's wisdom can go, and no further;" for, when we know not what to do, he knows. (2.) He has power to bring about the salvation, and that power is never exhausted: He faints not, nor is weary; he upholds the whole creation, and governs all the creatures, and is neither tired nor toiled; and therefore, no doubt, he has power to relieve his church, when it is brought ever so low, without weakness or weariness.
2.He gives strength and power to his people, and helps them by enabling them to help themselves. He that is the strong God is the strength of Israel. (1.) He can help the weak, Isa 40:29. Many a time he gives power to the faint, to those that are ready to faint away; and to those that have no might he not only gives, but increases strength, as there is more and more occasion for it. Many out of bodily weakness are wonderfully recovered, and made strong, by the providence of God: and many that are feeble in spirit, timorous and faint-hearted, unfit for services and sufferings, are yet strengthened by the grace of God with all might in the inward man. To those who are sensible of their weakness, and ready to acknowledge they have no might, God does in a special manner increase strength; for, when we are weak in ourselves, then are we strong in the Lord. (2.) He will help the willing, will help those who, in a humble dependence upon him, help themselves, and will do well for those who do their best, Isa 40:30, Isa 40:31. Those who trust to their own sufficiency, and are so confident of it that they neither exert themselves to the utmost nor seek unto God for his grace, are the youth and the young men, who are strong, but are apt to think themselves stronger than they are. And they shall faint and be weary, yea, they shall utterly fail in their services, in their conflicts, and under their burdens; they shall soon be made to see the folly of trusting to themselves. But those that wait on the Lord, who make conscience of their duty to him, and by faith rely upon him and commit themselves to his guidance, shall find that God will not fail them. [1.] They shall have grace sufficient for them: They shall renew their strength as their work is renewed, as there is new occasion; they shall be anointed, and their lamps supplied, with fresh oil. God will be their arm every morning, Isa 33:2. If at any time they have been foiled and weakened they shall recover themselves, and so renew their strength. Heb. They shall change their strength, as their work is changed - doing work, suffering work; they shall have strength to labour, strength to wrestle, strength to resist, strength to bear. As the day so shall the strength be. [2.] They shall use this grace for the best purposes. Being strengthened, First, They shall soar upward, upward towards God: They shall mount up with wings like eagles, so strongly, so swiftly, so high and heaven-ward. In the strength of divine grace, their souls shall ascend above the world, and even enter into the holiest. Pious and devout affections are the eagles' wings on which gracious souls mount up, Psa 25:1. Secondly, They shall press forward, forward towards heaven. They shall walk, they shall run, the way of God's commandments, cheerfully and with alacrity (they shall not be weary), constantly and with perseverance (they shall not faint); and therefore in due season they shall reap. Let Jacob and Israel therefore, in their greatest distresses, continue waiting upon God, and not despair of timely and effectual relief and succour from him.
(Verse 27 and following) Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel: My way is hidden from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over by my God? Do you not know, or have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint, neither is He weary, and there is no searching of His understanding. He gives power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But those who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. LXX: Do not say, Jacob, and what you spoke, Israel: My way is hidden from the Lord, and my judgment is disregarded by my God, and now you do not know, and have not heard? The eternal God, the God who created the ends of the earth: he shall not hunger, nor shall he labor, nor is there any finding of his understanding. He gives strength to the hungry: and does not grieve the sorrowful. For the young will hunger, and the adolescents will labor, and the chosen ones will be weak. But those who wait for God will change their strength. They will take wings like eagles: they will run, and will not labor: they will walk, and will not hunger. The greatness of the Almighty God is so vast that nothing escapes him, and everything is governed by his will. So why do you say Jacob, that is, the two tribes that were called Judah; and you speak of Israel, the other ten tribes in Samaria, who have already been led captive into Assyria: My way is hidden from the Lord: and my just judgment will pass by my God? And this is the meaning: You say that earthly things do not pertain to God, nor does He consider what each of us does. Hence we are unjustly oppressed by our enemies, and, like the beasts and the fish, we are scattered without any governor, according to Habakkuk. To this God responds: Do you not know? Have the words of the preceding Scriptures not taught you, or do you not know according to the Septuagint, because you have not heard that the eternal God and Creator of all things knows all things, contains all things, and governs all things with His majesty? Does it not fail at any time, nor does it labor; so that it does not understand your judgement, and your ways are hidden from it? There is no investigation of his wisdom, about which place I think that saying of the Apostle is taken: His judgments are incomprehensible, and his ways are investigable (perhaps 'unsearchable') (Rom. XI, 33); or, as the LXX translated, he does not hunger, and he does not labor. For where there is food, there is often hunger if you remove the food: and where there is hunger, there is also labor. But since these things are not in God, why do you attribute human passions to him? Rather, he gives strength to the hungry and weary, and he multiplies virtue and strength to those who seem to be nothing in the world. According to the Septuagint, it is he who gives sorrow to those who do not grieve, for it is sadness that leads to death, and it is sadness that leads to life. Therefore, to those who have a hardened heart, he gives sadness so that they may understand their sins. And because many take pleasure in bodily health, and consider youth and childhood to be perpetual, he joins this and says that the flourishing age quickly falls, and strong bodies wither. But those who have confidence not in their own strength, but in God, and always await His mercy, let them change their strength and go from virtue to virtue: and let them take wings like eagles, and hear: Your youth will be renewed like the eagle's (Psalm 103:5); let them run to the Lord, and not grow weary of desiring Him; let them walk, and never grow faint. We have frequently said that the eagles' old age is rejuvenated by a change of feathers, and only those eagles can look upon the sun's rays and behold the splendor of its shining with sparkling eyes: and they should prove their noble offspring, by means of this experiment. And so even the saints are made young again, and with an immortal body, they do not feel the toil of mortals, but are caught up in the clouds to meet Christ, and never go hungry according to the LXX, because they have the Lord himself as food.
Since so great is the power and majesty of the Creator, to which likeness do you compare God, thus failing to understand the founder from the greatness of creation? If you do not believe the words, at least believe your eyes and recognize the power of the Lord from the service all heavens and elements give him, who “leads out their army by number,” that is, the heavens, about which in the psalms it says, “Who numbers the host of stars and calls them all by name.” Or we can call the army of heaven angels and all the companies of heaven.… For the greatness of the strength of God made all to serve him in order … but he knows their way and reasons and course in his majesty as the Creator.
Do not think that I ignore the designs of your souls, God says through Isaiah, and do not believe that you escape my view when you hold perverse reasonings. This passage lets [us] see clearly that he has also thrown the accusation of polytheism against Israel itself.
[Isaiah] says, look at the sun, the moon, the movement of the stars, the cycle of the year, the changing of the seasons, the regular succession of night and day. For this is what [Isaiah] has added: “He who brings forth by number the order of the cosmos.” For he calls the setting in order of creation “the cosmos.” “He shall call them by names.” He is ignorant of nothing, [Isaiah] says, but he knows all things with clarity, since it is he who has given a name equally to each and every thing. “By means of the greatness of [your] glory and by the power of [your] might nothing has escaped you.” He has power above all, he is able [to do] all, he is ignorant of nothing that exists, and he knows the very thoughts of people.
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SUMMARY
Isaiah 40:27 confronts the profound despair of the exiled people of God, Jacob and Israel, who, in their suffering, voiced a lament of abandonment. They felt their life's journey and their pleas for justice were entirely hidden from the LORD and overlooked by their God. This verse serves as a powerful rhetorical challenge to such human doubt, directly setting the stage for Isaiah's subsequent, glorious declarations of God's incomparable power, unwavering presence, and perfect, active justice, thereby preparing the way for a message of divine comfort and restoration.
CONTEXT
Literary Context: This verse is strategically placed within the opening section of Isaiah 40, which marks a dramatic shift in the prophet's message from pronouncements of judgment to declarations of comfort and hope. The preceding chapter, Isaiah 39, concludes with a stark prophecy of the Babylonian exile, providing the historical backdrop for the comforting words that follow. Isaiah 40:1 initiates this new era with the divine command, "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God." The verses immediately preceding Isaiah 40:27 (Isaiah 40:12-26) meticulously build a majestic portrait of God's incomparable power, infinite wisdom, and absolute sovereignty over all creation and nations. This grand depiction of the Creator's might stands in stark contrast to the ephemeral nature of humanity and the impotence of idols. Verse 27 then directly addresses the people's deep-seated doubt and perceived abandonment, presenting their lament as a direct contradiction to the glorious truths about God just proclaimed, thereby preparing them to receive the subsequent promises of renewed strength and divine intervention.
Historical & Cultural Context: The primary historical context for Isaiah 40:27 is the impending or ongoing Babylonian captivity, a period roughly from 586 BC to 539 BC. The people of Judah had endured the devastating consequences of their covenant disobedience, culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem, the temple, and their forced deportation to Babylon. This era was characterized by immense national trauma, displacement, and a profound spiritual crisis. Stripped of their homeland, their central place of worship, and their national identity, and surrounded by dominant pagan cultures, it was profoundly natural for them to feel abandoned and forgotten by their covenant God. Their lament, "My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God," powerfully articulates the deep sense of despair, injustice, and forgottenness that permeated their lived experience. Culturally, while pagan deities were often perceived as distant or capricious, Israel's God, Yahweh, was uniquely characterized by His intimate involvement in their history and covenant faithfulness. Thus, the thought of Him being unaware or uncaring represented a profound crisis of faith and a direct challenge to their understanding of His very nature.
Key Themes: Isaiah 40:27 significantly contributes to several crucial themes woven throughout the book of Isaiah and the broader biblical narrative. Firstly, it directly addresses the theme of Divine Omniscience and Providence, powerfully countering the human tendency to believe God is unaware or disengaged from their suffering. The prophet challenges the very notion that any aspect of their "way" (their life's journey) or "judgment" (their plea for justice) could be hidden from the all-seeing LORD, thereby reinforcing God's perfect knowledge and active involvement in human affairs, a truth beautifully articulated in Psalm 139:1-6. Secondly, it confronts the theme of God's Unwavering Justice and Vindication. The people's complaint that their "judgment is passed over" speaks to a perceived delay or denial of justice. Isaiah implicitly assures them that God's justice is perfect, unwavering, and will ultimately prevail, even if its timing seems inscrutable from a human perspective, a truth echoed throughout the Psalms, such as in Psalm 9:7-8. Finally, the verse powerfully portrays Human Doubt and Despair in Suffering, acknowledging the very real spiritual struggles that arise when faith is tested by prolonged hardship and apparent divine silence. By articulating their lament, Isaiah validates their pain, yet immediately pivots to correct their flawed perception of God, leading them towards a renewed trust in His faithfulness and comfort, which is the overarching message of Isaiah 40.
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Isaiah 40:27 masterfully employs several powerful literary devices to convey its profound message. The most prominent is the Rhetorical Question, "Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel...?" This question is not posed to elicit information but to challenge a flawed perspective, to expose the irrationality of their despair, and to provoke deep self-reflection and correction in the audience. Parallelism is powerfully evident in the dual address to "Jacob" and "Israel," which emphasizes the collective nature of their lament. It is also seen in the two clauses of their complaint: "My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God," reinforcing the comprehensive scope of their perceived abandonment and neglect. The use of Apostrophe is also present, as the prophet directly addresses the absent (or seemingly distant) nation as "O Jacob" and "O Israel," lending a direct, personal, and emotionally resonant tone to the divine rebuke and the subsequent message of comfort. Finally, there is an implied Anthropomorphism in the people's complaint, as they attribute human limitations to God, imagining Him as someone who could fail to see, overlook, or forget a matter. Isaiah's overarching message in this chapter, however, aims to dismantle this limited and inaccurate view of God, replacing it with a grander, more accurate understanding of His infinite character.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Isaiah 40:27 serves as a crucial theological pivot, bridging the grand declarations of God's incomparable greatness in the preceding verses with the subsequent promises of renewed strength and unwavering hope for His people. Theologically, it underscores the profound tension between human perception, often clouded by suffering and limited understanding, and divine reality, which is rooted in God's eternal and unchanging character. While Israel, in their deep distress, felt unseen and unheard, the prophet emphatically asserts God's absolute omniscience, omnipresence, and unwavering justice. This passage powerfully reminds us that God's character and His active involvement in the world are not defined by our fleeting feelings or difficult circumstances, but by His eternal nature as the all-knowing, ever-present, and perfectly just Sovereign. He is the God who neither slumbers nor sleeps, whose eye is always upon His people, and who will ultimately bring about His righteous purposes, even when the path is obscured to human sight. The lament of Israel, though born of genuine suffering, is ultimately a misjudgment of God's active involvement and perfect timing, a misjudgment that the rest of Isaiah 40 seeks to correct.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Isaiah 40:27 resonates deeply with the universal human experience of doubt and despair in the face of prolonged suffering, unanswered prayers, or perceived injustice. In our own lives, when trials persist, when justice seems delayed, or when God's presence feels distant and His purposes unclear, it is profoundly easy to echo the lament of ancient Israel. We might find ourselves feeling that our "way is hid from the LORD," that our struggles are unseen, or that our earnest pleas for "judgment" have been "passed over." This verse serves as a vital corrective and a powerful source of comfort. It reminds us that our subjective perception of God's absence or indifference does not equate to His actual absence or indifference. God's knowledge is infinite, His justice is perfect, and His covenant love for His people is unwavering and eternal. Instead of succumbing to the temptation to accuse God of neglect or to doubt His character, we are called to remember His revealed nature and to trust in His sovereign plan, even when we cannot fully comprehend it. This profound understanding should lead us to patiently wait on the Lord, knowing that He is intimately aware of every detail of our lives and will act in His perfect time and according to His perfect will, always for our ultimate good and His glory.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why did the people of Israel feel their "way is hid" and their "judgment is passed over"?
Answer: The people of Israel, particularly during the Babylonian exile, were enduring profound national trauma, displacement, and immense suffering. They had lost their homeland, their cherished temple, and their political independence, and were living under foreign domination. In such dire and prolonged circumstances, it was a natural human response for them to feel abandoned by God, especially since their covenant relationship with Him promised protection and blessing. Their lament reflects a deep sense of perceived divine neglect, a feeling that God was either unaware of their immense suffering or had chosen to ignore their earnest pleas for justice and vindication against their oppressors. This was a profound crisis of faith, where their current, harsh reality seemed to contradict God's past promises and His very nature as a just, caring, and intimately involved God, as highlighted in passages like Deuteronomy 32:4.
Does God truly forget or overlook the struggles of His people?
Answer: No, the Bible consistently and emphatically teaches that God neither forgets nor overlooks the struggles of His people. Isaiah 40:27 is a rhetorical question precisely designed to challenge and correct this very misconception. The preceding verses in Isaiah 40 meticulously establish God's infinite power and boundless knowledge, asserting that He is the Creator and Sustainer of the entire universe, who knows every star by name and calls them forth. If He is so intimately aware of His vast creation, how much more profoundly is He aware of His chosen people, whom He loves with an everlasting love? Passages like Psalm 121:3-4 explicitly state that the Lord "will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." God's apparent silence or delay from a limited human perspective is never a sign of His absence or indifference, but rather an indication of His perfect timing, His sovereign purposes, and His unwavering faithfulness.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Isaiah 40:27, with its poignant lament of feeling unseen and unheeded by God, finds its ultimate and most profound answer in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The very "way" that seemed hidden from the LORD, the path of human suffering, injustice, and abandonment, was fully entered into by the Son of God Himself. Jesus, the ultimate embodiment of "Jacob" and "Israel," uniquely experienced the deepest depths of perceived divine dereliction, crying out from the cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). Yet, in His glorious resurrection, His "judgment" was not passed over but perfectly vindicated by God the Father, demonstrating God's unwavering justice, faithfulness, and ultimate triumph over sin and death. Through Christ, our "way" is never hidden from the LORD; indeed, He is "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), and it is through Him that we have direct and confident access to the Father. Our "judgment" is not passed over but has been fully and righteously borne by Christ on the cross, and we are now declared righteous in Him (Romans 5:1). Moreover, Jesus, our great High Priest, "ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25), ensuring that our needs, our prayers, and our very lives are always before the Father. Thus, the despairing question of Isaiah 40:27 is answered with the triumphant assurance that in Christ, we are eternally seen, heard, and held secure in the unfailing love, perfect justice, and sovereign care of God.