Isaiah Message Series
His Glory – Our Redemption
Isaiah 40:27-31
June 29, 2014
Discussion Guide
Passage
Isaiah 40:27-31 (NIV)
27
Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD; my
cause is disregarded by my God"? 28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the
everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his
understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of
the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who
hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run
and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Ice Breaker...
Ask the group to come up with a top 10 list of things they forget or ask them to share funny stories of
things they have forgotten. You can tell them this short one on me … The other day, I was walking out of
the church offices to go get in my truck to leave for an errand. I felt in my pocket to make sure I had my
phone and it wasn’t there. So I turned around to go back and get it … I was talking on the phone at the
time! I was looking for my phone while using it!
Transition: We are forgetful people. We forget non-essential things sometime and then there are times
when we forget the important ones. Israel was complaining to the Lord because they thought He’d
forgotten them. This line of thinking couldn’t be further from the truth. God is not forgetful. He
remembers us and He remembers His promises to us.
Getting into the Word …
 Verse 27 – Have you ever felt like your way was “hidden from the Lord”? Or that your cause had
been “disregarded” by God? Why do the people of Israel feel this way at this point in their history?
What causes us to feel that way?
 Verse 28-31 – What is the answer to the complaint of the people by Isaiah? (Isaiah points out
correctly who God is as a rebuttal to their complaint against Him.)
o List how he describes God and what actions God performs for His people point by point …
Adjectives
 Everlasting
 Creator
 Tireless
 Never weary
 Full of understanding
Examine how each point helps us relate and have confidence in God.
Actions
 Provides strength to the weary
 Increases the power of the weak
 Renews His people’s strength
Examine how each point helps us relate and have confidence in God.
o

What is the action we must take in order to receive God’s help? (Hope in Him.)
 How can we practically do that in the midst of trying times?
 What can help us prepare to put our hope in Him when we are not experiencing
trying times?
Verse 31 – What does it really mean to soar on wings like eagles? (It’s explained with the two
phrases that follow - Not becoming weary and not fainting.) What is meant by the running and
walking words mentioned in the passage? Is this talking about the pace of life? Or is it a way of
saying that God will be with us in our young years (when we’re running) and in our older years
(when we’re walking)? Or is it a metaphor for trusting in God during the trials of life (running)
and even the more mundane tasks (walking) in life? Maybe you have even another way of
looking at it? …
Application…
 Always remember that God is a promise keeper. When times are good, we can thank the Promise
Keeper for the blessings. When times are bad, we can trust that the Promise Keeper has not
forgotten us and has our best interests in mind.
Commentaries on Isaiah 40:27-31
Bible Knowledge Commentary
Further words of comfort: God watches over His people (40:27-31)
Isaiah’s readers were under the threat of Assyria. Years later Isaiah’s readers during the Babylonian
Captivity were under the domination of a godless empire. So Isaiah encouraged the people to remember
that God never relaxes; He is always watching His people.
40:27. God’s people should never think He has forgotten them. Jacob and Israel are synonyms for all
12 tribes. In chapters 40-49, Isaiah used these two words together 16 times (40:27; 41:8, 14; 42:24; 43:1,
22, 28; 44:1, 5, 21, 23; 45:4; 46:3; 48:1; 49:5-6). Though the people of the Northern Kingdom were
already exiled to Assyria, God was still watching over the few believers who remained true to Him. His
covenant people should never think God did not see or remember them.
40:28-31. On the question Do you not know? see comments on verse 21. Since God, who unlike
pagan idols is eternal and the Creator, never grows weary (v. 28) He can give strength to those who are
weary or weak (vv. 29-31). Among Isaiah’s original readers those who hope in the LORD were believers
who remained faithful to God. They were the ones who would be restored. For his readers in captivity
Isaiah was probably speaking of a national refreshing when the captives would be released and would
return to their land. Even though in captivity they were weary the LORD would help them endure and
soar... like eagles, to be uplifted emotionally and spiritually.
Bible Exposition Old Testament Commentary
The circumstances within us (Isa. 40:27-31). Instead of praising the Lord, the nation was
complaining to Him that He acted as though He did not know their situation or have any concern
for their problems (v. 27; 49:14). Instead of seeing the open door, the Jews saw only the long
road before them, and they complained that they did not have strength for the journey. God was
asking them to do the impossible.
But God knows how we feel and how we fear, and He is adequate to meet our every need. We
can never obey God in our own strength, but we can always trust Him to provide the strength we
need (Phil. 4:13). If we trust ourselves, we will faint and fall, but if we wait on the Lord by faith,
we will receive strength for the journey. The word "wait" does not suggest that we sit around and
do nothing. It means "to hope," to look to God for all that we need (Isa. 26:3; 30:15). This
involves meditating on His character and His promises, praying, and seeking to glorify Him.
The word "renew" means "to exchange," as taking off old clothing and putting on new. We
exchange our weakness for His power (2 Cor. 12:1-10). As we wait before Him, God enables us
to soar when there is a crisis, to run when the challenges are many, and to walk faithfully in the
day-by-day demands of life. It is much harder to walk in the ordinary pressures of life than to fly
like the eagle in a time of crisis.
"I can plod," said William Carey, the father of modern missions. "That is my only genius. I can
persevere in any definite pursuit. To this I owe everything."
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. The greatest heroes of faith are not always
those who seem to be soaring; often it is they who are patiently plodding. As we wait on the
Lord, He enables us not only to fly higher and run faster, but also to walk longer. Blessed are the
plodders, for they eventually arrive at their destination!