Isaiah 40:26

Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. BRINGETH OUT THEIR HOST BY NUMBER - image from a general reviewing his army. He is Lord of Sabaoth-the heavenly hosts (). CALLETH THEM ALL BY NAMES. Numerous as the stars are, God knows each in all its distinguishing characteristics (a sense which 'name' often bears in Scripture). So () Adam, as God's vicegerent, called the beasts by name - i:e., characterized them by their several qualities, which, indeed, He has imparted. BY THE GREATNESS OF HIS MIGHT, FOR THAT (HE IS) STRONG IN POWER; NOT ONE FAILETH - or 'by reason o...

26._Lift up your eyes on high. _The Prophet appears to linger too long on this subject, more especially because it presents no obscurity; for he repeats by many statements what is acknowledged by all, that God’s wonderful power and wisdom may be known from the beautiful order of the world. But we ought to observe what I have already said, that we are so wicked and ungrateful judges of the divine power, that we often imagine God to be inferior to some feeble man. We are more terrified frequently by the empty mask of a single man (122) than we are strengthened by all the promises of God. Not in vain, therefore, does the Prophet repeat that God is defrauded of his honor, if his power do not lead us to warm admiration of him; nor does he spend his labor in what is superfluous, for we are so dull and sluggish that we need to be continually aroused and excited. Men see every day the heavens an...

18-26 Whatever we esteem or love, fear or hope in, more than God, that creature we make equal with God, though we do not make images or worship them. He that is so poor, that he has scarcely a sacrifice to offer, yet will not be without a god of his own. They spared no cost upon their idols; we grudge what is spent in the service of our God. To prove the greatness of God, the prophet appeals to all ages and nations. Those who are ignorant of this, are willingly ignorant. God has the command of all creatures, and of all created things. The prophet directs us to use our reason as well as our senses; to consider who created the hosts of heaven, and to pay our homage to Him. Not one fails to fulfil his will. And let us not forget, that He spake all the promises, and engaged to perform them....

Verse Isaiah 40:26. _LEFT UP YOUR EYES ON HIGH_] The rabbins say, He who is capable of meditating on the revolutions of the heavenly bodies, and does not meditate on them, is not worthy to have his name mentioned among men....

LIFT UP YOUR EYES ON HIGH - Direct your eyes toward heaven, and in the contemplation of the wonders of the starry world, and of God’s power there, learn the evidence of his ability to destroy his foes and to save his friends. Lowth connects this verse with the former, and renders it: ‘Saith the Holy One, Lift up your eyes on high.’ The words ‘on high’ here are evidently synonymous with heaven, and refer to the starry worlds. The design of the passage is to convince them of the folly of idolatry, and of the power and majesty, of the true God. It is proof of man’s elevated nature that he can thus look upward, and trace the evidences of the power and wisdom of God in the heavens; that he can raise his eyes and thoughts above the earth, and fix his attention on the works of God in distant worlds; an

PART III. ISAIAH'S LATER PROPHECIES (CH. 40-66.). SECTION I. THE PEOPLE OF GOD COMFORTED IN TRIBULATION (Isaiah 40:1.). EXPOSITION PREFATORY REMARKS THE Assyrian struggle is over. The prophet has accepted into the depths of his spirit God's announcement that the true spoiler, "the rod of his anger, and the staff of his indignation," is not Assyria, but Babylon. He has accepted the sentence that his people is to go into captivity. Into this future of his nation he throws himself with a faith, a fervour, and a power of realization, which are all his own. "The familiar scenes and faces, among w

LIFT UP YOUR EYES ON HIGH,.... From the earth, and the inhabitants of it, even those of the greatest power and influence in it, to the heavens above, those that are visible to the eye: AND BEHOLD WHO HATH CREATED THESE THINGS; that are seen in the heavens, the sun, moon, and stars; consider the Creator of them, what a glorious Being he must be; what power he must be possessed of; what dazzling light he must dwell in; what glory and majesty he must be clothed with; and how infinitely transcending all mortal creatures he must be: THAT BRINGETH OUT THEIR HOST BY NUMBER; not only into being, at the first creation of them, but at every proper season; causing the sun to rise every morning, the stars to appear at night, and the moon in its revolution; as a general brings forth his army, marshals it in order, musters it, and takes the number of his soldiers: HE CALLETH THEM ALL BY NAMES; suit...

Isaiah 40:1. _Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem._ The loss of comfort is no small loss. God would have his people happy. They are in the best condition for serving him, and less likely to be overcome by the temptations of the world, when the joy of the Lord is their strength. Therefore, three times over he bids his ministers comfort his people. O Triune Jehovah, help thy servant now to fulfill this commission! Isaiah 40:2. _And cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished,_ After all beloved, you have not to fight your own battles. Under one aspect, you may have to do so; but the great fight is already over, that fight which is so much greater than all others, that the lesser ones are scarcely worthy of the name of w

II. THE LATER PROPHECIES OF COMFORT AND GLORY (40-66) Like the first part this second part of Isaiah has three sections. The three sections of the first part revealed the judgments to come upon the Jewish people, Jerusalem, the nations and the earth. The three sections of the second part reveal the great blessings in store for the people of Israel, Jerusalem, the nations and the earth, after the judgments are passed. These sections give the past, present, and the future history of the Jewish people. In the first section (40-48) they are seen prophetically in Babylon, but about to be delivered and brought back to the land. Cyrus is predicted as the chosen instrument. However, this section looks also beyond the return of the remnant from Babylon. Their present dispersion and coming restoration is predicted as well. In the second section (49-57) we find this period of their history more f...

AN EXPANSION OF THE TEXT SUGGESTED IN ISAIAH 40:6. Isaiah 40:12. The Majesty of God, in Whose Eyes the World is Insignificant. God is the Creator, disposing of earth and heaven as very small things. No adviser instructed Him. The nations in His sight are like the drop hanging from the bucket, or the dust on the scale, too small to count in the bulk. The forests of Lebanon and the many wild beasts that range them would not provide fuel and victims for a worthy sacrifice. ISAIAH 40:14. PATH OF JUDGEMENT: rather, the correct way. WAY OF UNDERSTANDING: how to do it. Isaiah 40:15. isles: properly coast