Measured and Majestic

“Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
    and his arm rules for him…
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
    and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
    and weighed the mountains in scales
    and the hills in a balance?
Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord,
    or what man shows him his counsel?
Whom did he consult,
    and who made him understand?
Who taught him the path of justice,
    and taught him knowledge,
    and showed him the way of understanding?
Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
    and are accounted as the dust on the scales;
    behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust…

“To whom then will you liken God,
    or what likeness compare with him?..
Do you not know? Do you not hear?
    Has it not been told you from the beginning?
    Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
    and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
    and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
who brings princes to nothing,
    and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness…

 “To whom then will you compare me,
    that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see:
    who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
    calling them all by name;
by the greatness of his might
    and because he is strong in power,
    not one is missing…

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
    his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength…
They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:10a,12-15,18,21-23,25-26,28-29,31

Questions elicit response, often putting the one asked in proper place and position. The prophet, with every rhetorical inquiry, enlarges God and diminishes the reader. The more the Lord God is magnified, the deeper and more humble the wonder at His immeasurable greatness and power, and the keener the grasp of the limits of man. The welcoming grace in this one-way conversation is the invitation to the speechless and weak to lift the eyes, behold Him with awe, and trust Him for strength and sustenance. This lofty One is nigh, with endless capacity to help.

God Almighty is infinite, measureless in power, yet also precise, exact, and perfectly controlled. Such a supernatural dichotomy raises hands high in wonder and praise, and open to heaven’s throne in every need. Are circumstances chaotic, unsteady? His arm rules with just balance. Do I struggle with priorities and boundaries? He traces the circle of earth and edges of the sea. Do I feel alone, insignificant? He knows, names, and upholds each star. Am I weary or confused? He renews and sustains with strength, and leads us forward. When will we believe and take these truths as our own?

Lord God, hush me from prideful striving to consider, behold, trust, and praise Your majesty and power.