18 For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it [s]a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited),
“I am the Lord, and there is none else.
19 “I have not spoken in secret,
In [t]some dark land;
I did not say to the [u]offspring of Jacob,
‘Seek Me in [v]a waste place’;
I, the Lord, speak righteousness,
Declaring things that are upright.20 “Gather yourselves and come;
Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations;
They have no knowledge,
Who carry about [w]their wooden idol
And pray to a god who cannot save.
21 “Declare and set forth your case;
Indeed, let them consult together.
Who has announced this from of old?
Who has long since declared it?
Is it not I, the Lord?
And there is no other God besides Me,
A righteous God and a Savior;
There is none except Me.
22 “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 “I have sworn by Myself,
The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness
And will not turn back,
That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.
24 “They will say of Me, ‘Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength.’
Men will come to Him,
And all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.
25 “In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
Will be justified and will glory.”
There are a lot of characteristics of God that are revealed in the Bible. We see His love and mercy, holiness, peace, wisdom and more. This passage mentions several, but the one that jumped off the page this morning is found in v. 24. “Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength.” Yeah, that last one hit me this morning.
See, this world looks to a lot of things for strength, and we as believers are not immune to these either. Well, we ought to be, but we are certainly tempted by them. We might find strength in our work, or in our spouse, in our finances, or in a friend or other family member. Some look to their position, always seeking more power or authority. Other times we look to ourselves, thinking we are self-sufficient.
Yet none of these is lasting, though we may very well find strength in some of these. Even there, finding strength in other people is probably the least problematic, but it does not last. People change, move, pass on, whatever might happen, it is still only temporary. And if we haven’t found our real strength in God, what happens when those folks are gone? Or in the other cases, what happens if we retire, or have a rough stretch financially. What if we get some illness or even cancer, then where is our strength?
Though “strength” is not said until near the end, we are reminded of God’s strength from the start. In the very beginning (quite literally), it was God who formed the earth. And who not only formed it, but made it to be inhabited. He gave us a sun to warm the earth just perfectly, and a moon to create tides–but not too much. God gave us stars in wonder, and an atmosphere to breathe in, and also to make those same stars twinkle.
In v. 19 we see God calling the children of Israel (Jacob), and are reminded of how He rescued them from Egypt. Or even before that, He provided for them in famine and caused them to prosper in Egypt, despite being given a land that was considered undesirable to the Egyptians. Time and again God rescued them, despite overwhelming odds, unlike the wooden idols of the surrounding nations.
God calls to the ends of the earth (not the earth itself, but the people therein), to turn to Him and be saved. For He alone is strong and able to rescue them. Only He was able to come in the form of a man, to give us the same righteousness and strength that carried Jesus to the cross, and back. Only God was able to overcome death and the grave, sin and all evil, to restore us and redeem our hearts and souls.
So yes, God is strong, the strongest, and the only one whose strength is never-ending and unfailing. In the words of the old hymn, “Lean on His everlasting arms… safe and secure from all alarms.” Put your hope and trust in no other, and receive His “peace complete” as you trust in God’s unfathomable might and power.