October 7 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Isaiah 40:21-31:

²¹Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
²²It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
²³That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
²⁴Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
²⁵To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
²⁶Lift 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.
²⁷Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
²⁸Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
²⁹He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
³⁰Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
³¹But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Devotional

We have a great God. He is the everlasting God. He is the Lord, who rules over all. He is the Creator of the ends of the earth. He never faints. He is never weary nor grows tired. He also is all-wise. There is no searching of his understanding.

But what is man? "For we are but of yesterday and know nothing, because our days upon the earth are a shadow." The patriarch Jacob confessed, "Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been." The psalmist says, "I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were." Peter addresses his readers as strangers and pilgrims. "Our days on earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding." All must pass away.

In view of this solemn fact, it behooves us to pray, "Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am."

Our condition here would be sad and hopeless, indeed, if the everlasting God did not in mercy look down upon the sojourners on earth; if the almighty Creator did not strengthen the weak; if He did not show mercy to them that call upon him. But the promise stands, even if the young men utterly fall: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint." God remembers his promise. "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength."

Prayer

Everlasting God, our heavenly Father, look in mercy upon Thy weak and sinful children. We cannot fight against our deadly enemies, the devil, the world, and our flesh in our own strength. We grow weary and become faint. In this spiritual warfare our eyes are upon Thee. Strengthen Thou us by Thy Spirit. Help us to put on and use the whole armor of God. Only in Thy strength can we endure, and through Thy grace come out victorious. May we renew our strength from day to day by believing Thy promises and trusting Thy grace. Pardon our sins and grant us Thy peace. For Christ's sake. Amen.

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Scripture in Devotional: Isa. 40:28; Job 8:9; Gen. 47:9; Ps. 39:12; 1 Pet 2:11; 1 Chron. 29:15; Ps. 39:4; Isa. 40:31.

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