Behold Your God!

I've got a question for you today, a short question. What is God? What is God?

It's one of the most telling things about you, your answer to that question.! I can't think of anything more important than the answer that you give to that question.

So many of our problems stem from inadequate views of God, low views, small views. Of God. Not thinking clearly about Him.

So today we launch into a new study on the attributes of our God. Now it seems to be an evident thing to me that we each possess two versions of God.

A theoretical view of God and a functional view of God. A theoretical view of God. We have the God that we say we believe in.

Now this is the God of our statement of faith. Question four of the shorter catechism asks us, what is God? And we answer with it, God is a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable.

In His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. You see our theoretical view of God for us this morning here, I trust, is the God of the Bible, isn't it?

We say we believe everything that the Bible says about God. And so we have this very orthodox view of God. Our theoretical view of God.

In theory at least, this is our view of God. But then there's a functional view of God that we have. The God that we actually believe in, in practice.

My operating view of God that holds sway in the midst of the push and the rough and tumble of life day by day. God as we think Him to be.

On Wednesday afternoon when something goes wrong. That's our functional view of God. Sometimes our functional view of God is in line with our theoretical view in the God of the Bible.

And sometimes it's not. Let me illustrate it. I would not doubt that every one of you would say that you believe God is omnipresent.

God is everywhere present at the same time. And some of you could take me to Psalm 139 and prove it from Scripture. God is everywhere. There's no place He is not. But I ask you, do you not sometimes live as if He were not right there?

Present with you. When you sit down and enjoy that indecent television show. Or when you do something under the cover of darkness or in privacy.

Thinking that you've got away with something forbidden. Whatever your theoretical view of God is. At least at that moment, your view of God.

Your functional view of God is that He is less than omnipresent. He's not here now. Or we say we believe God is all wise, don't we?

We could show verses in the Bible. God is all wise. But every time we complain, we say God makes some mistakes. We say there are some things that He could learn from me about what is best and what would be better.

He's not as wise after all. And so in our study, we're going to look at some of the great attributes of God as set forth in the Bible.

Probably won't say a whole lot new to many of you. Some of you, if you imbibe the view of God in the culture today, there will be some surprises for you. But for most of you, you've been reading your Bible all of your lives.

Some of you have had Sunday school classes where you've memorized the ABC's 26 attributes of God from the Scripture. I don't suppose that I'll say a lot new in terms of the attributes of God and what the Bible says about God.

But after we see what the Bible says about God, I want to help you to see what your very living is saying about the God you believe in. I want to help you to see your functional view of God, the God that you carry around with you to your job, into your home, in your difficulties, your trials.

What is that God? What is that view of God? Does it match up with the God of the Scriptures? Do I have a God of the Sunday school and a God of the Monday through Saturday?

Where am I not thinking correctly about God? Where am I living out of touch with this greatest of all realities, the living and true God? We want to think through the implications of God's attributes.

If God is like this, what difference should it make in the way that I live my life? And if God is pleased to bless this study, we'll all come to know Him better. We'll come to love Him more, to trust Him more, to serve Him.

And so to begin our study, we turn to Isaiah chapter 40. Not only because there are about a dozen attributes here set before us, but because here as well we encounter these two differing views of God.

There's the theoretical and the functioning view of God. Judah had the theoretical view of God right. They had a biblical view of God. After all, God did not leave them like He did the other nations to their own imaginations.

And so they went and worshipped God in the form of sun, moon, stars, snakes, reptiles, creeping things. No, God had appeared to Israel and had told them what He was like.

They had revelation. Theirs was the prophets. Theirs was the Scriptures. Theirs was the covenant. Theirs was the temple worship. Theirs were the patriarchs. They had the knowledge of God. They knew what God was like.

But Isaiah 40 also reveals that Judah had another view of God. A sub-biblical view of God that was holding sway in their hearts and minds.

It was ruling their emotions. It was pouring over their lips. It was uncovered in their inmost doubts and fears. And this sub-biblical view of God had pushed out, at least for the time being, their theoretical view of the God of the Bible.

And here in Isaiah chapter 40, God, through His prophet Isaiah, takes them to task for this. He's out to correct their small view of God.

So we're about 700 years before Christ's birth. God has shown His prophet Isaiah what was going to happen to the nation of Judah.

Because of her sins, God was about to judge them. We've been reading that in the book of Jeremiah. Many of the same sorts of judgments. God is going to raise up the Babylonians to conquer them, to kill many of them, and to take many into captivity.

And Isaiah has been speaking of this coming judgment of God in the first 39 chapters. Whoa, whoa, whoa. All the judgments of God.

The very end of 39, you're going away into Babylonian captivity. Then chapter 40 starts with a most comforting message. Comfort, comfort my people Israel.

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. It's like the sun breaking out after a storm has just blown through. Say to Israel that a time will come when God will bring their sufferings to an end.

When their sin will be paid for and forgiven. And when they would be brought back from their captivity to their homeland. When the glory of the Lord would be revealed for their own salvation.

Well, all of that happened just as He said it would. But there's more here than just captivity in Babylon. There are things said here that point 700 years forward to the coming of Christ.

I don't have time this morning to deal with it. But verse 2 speaks, doesn't it, of the sins of God's people as having been paid for. In Isaiah chapter 53, a few chapters later, we will see how it is that His people's sins are paid for.

It's because the servant of the Lord will bear their iniquity. And God the Father will crush Him. And bruise Him. And wound Him. And punish Him.

That we might be forgiven. Yes, it's speaking of that greater redemption in Christ. The voice here in verses 3-5 we find in the New Testament is the voice of John the Baptist saying, Prepare the way.

The Lord is coming. And it is the Lord Jesus coming in the great glory of His Father that is here being spoken of. So these things point forward to the glorious redemption from our sins through Christ.

Wonderful good news. Almost too good to believe. Too good to be true. Now this captivity then that Judah is to experience in Babylon would not be a short stay.

They are told to settle down. Plant fields. Plant gardens. Because you're going to be here. And that would test their patience. In fact, you're going to be here 70 years, they would learn from other prophets.

70 years is a long time. It's an average lifetime. So suppose today we're going into captivity and we won't be back for 70 years. How many of you will be coming back?

Not many of you. In fact, most would die without ever seeing that promise drawn near. And those born in captivity would soon doubt whether God would ever appear for their aid.

As year by year they lived out their lives in miserable, cruel bondage under the Babylonians. Decade passes. Decade passes. No God coming to deliver them in glory.

Well, that's precisely how Israel would feel. Babylon, so mighty. How will we ever be freed from their grip?

And so without even realizing it, they began to have wrong thoughts about God. They began to doubt God's ability to save them from the Babylonians. They doubted his power.

Oh, Babylon's so strong. They doubted his wisdom. Our problem is too complicated. Too many twists and turns for him to unravel and figure a way of salvation for us.

They questioned his truthfulness. His faithfulness. Whether or not he would keep his promise. They questioned his knowledge. And his love. He doesn't know. He doesn't care. That's precisely what Judah will be thinking in the midst of their captivity.

God gives Isaiah to quote them. This is what you're going to say in the midst of your captivity. Verse 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. God. You see? He doesn't know. He doesn't care. This is their functional view of God.

It's far from the God of the truth. But they don't feel like God knows about their troubles or that He cares. And the whole of the chapter is written as an argument to destroy their wrong views of God.

And to restore the right understanding of the Almighty. But folks, it's in our prolonged trials that we are especially tempted to think wrong thoughts about God.

When our circumstances run contrary to the promises of God, we begin to question Him. Perhaps it's prayers that have gone unanswered for a long time.

Maybe it's a long struggle with some besetting sin. Some painful trial. Seems no way out. No way around it. No way through it. And it's easy to despair in those situations.

Even as Israel did in Babylon. Watch out. Behind your depression and despair are often found lurking unworthy thoughts of God.

Small thoughts of God. Though we may not say it in words out loud. We're too orthodox for that. Yet these are the thoughts of God that are ruling in our hearts.

He doesn't know. He doesn't care. He's not able to help. He won't help. And God sees those thoughts. You know me, O Lord. You see me and test my thoughts about you.

Jeremiah 12.3 So they are not expecting God to come in glory and redeem them. They're doubting God. And so messengers are sent.

Verse 9. You who bring good tidings to Zion. Go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem. Lift up your voice with a shout. Lift it up. Don't be afraid. Say to the towns of Judah.

What do they need to hear? What is the message that they need for their encouragement? Behold your God. Here is your God. Look at Him. Appreciate who He is.

And the whole rest of the chapter just unfolds verse after verse of this God that they need to see afresh for themselves. Their greatest need was to see God clearly.

And I don't know that I have a greater need this morning than to see God. To see something more of His glory. And to have that view of God follow me out of these doors and follow me through my Monday.

And all the way through my Tuesday. And right on through the week. Behold your God. Seems so simple, doesn't it? My problems are so complicated we think we've got to have some long convoluted answer to them.

When in reality, perhaps the thing we need more than anything else is to be still and to know I am God. And what He is like.

The little boy went to Boston with his father to hear the evangelist George Whitefield. And he came home and told his mother he made God look big. Isaiah makes God look big.

Of course he does. He is big. He is immense. He is majestic. And Isaiah simply is dealing with reality. The greatest reality of all.

In which we live and move and have our being. The real living God. Well Isaiah sets forth this God. He is incomparable.

There is no one to compare with Him. Over and over he asks. To whom then will you compare God? What image will you liken Him to? To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?

Who is my equal? Well, Isaiah sets up for comparison then. Tries to compare Him to three things. Creation. The nations. And the idols. And each time he shows that there is no comparison to Him at all.

No match. No equal. Nothing here that is even close. Starts by setting God alongside of creation. Creation.

Nothing like the vast creation to show the bigness of our God. Is there? Series of four crisp questions.

And the answer to them all is none but God. The first question. Verse 12. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hands? We like to measure things, don't we? We like to measure liquids.

And so we have our measuring cups. And half cups. And pints. And quarts. And gallons. Okay. Bring your measuring containers to the shore of the Atlantic Ocean.

Come on. Get your gallon jug out. And come down to the Atlantic. And start measuring. How much water is in the Atlantic. And when you get done, move over to the Pacific. And move your way right around the seven oceans.

All the seas and rivers and lakes. And all the world. And measure with your little gallon measuring jar. And suddenly our containers seem pretty ridiculous.

As we stand before an ocean that has no end in sight to our eyes. And then the mighty Creator steps forward.

He says, here, let me measure them. He's got them all right here. Pacific. Atlantic. Indian. Right here.

In the hollow of His hand. All the waters of the earth. Just in the amount of water you can hold in your hand. What a big hand. What a big God.

Now God doesn't have a hand. But Isaiah is stooping. He's stooping to stretch us. And to stretch our language to the limits. And our concept of God. To see how big He is.

Or. Verse 12 goes on. Who with the breadth of His hand is marked off the heavens. Oh, now we have rulers, don't we? With inches. And feet. And yards. And miles.

Well, come on then. Bring your yardsticks. Bring your mile long measuring stick. And measure the heavens. The vast universe. Verse.

Okay. We're going to the sun. Well, let's see. We measure. We measure. One section after another. Mile after. Ninety-three million miles. Good for you.

You can do that then. Now let's go on. Beyond the sun. To the nearest star beside the sun. Proxima. Centauri. Well. Five point eight million million miles.

Oh, and our little measuring stick seems to mean nothing. That's a lot of zero. A million million. And so we set it aside and we create a new unit of measurement.

And we call it a light year. How far you can go in a year if you're traveling at the speed of light. One hundred and eighty-six thousand miles per second. Traveling that fast, you can go around the world seven times in a second.

So you're spinning through space that fast, going up to this nearest star. It'll take you four point three years to get there.

Okay, well that's not so big. Let's go on to the farthest known object in our universe. Twenty-five billion light years away.

And again, our numbers and our language and our measuring units just boggle. And up steps the creator. The universe?

The heavens? Well, let's see. And with a hand breath, the distance between your thumb and your little finger, he marks off the heavens. I've seen my wife do it with fabrics or something.

You know, something about this big. Well, it's five hand breaths. It's this or it's that. That's God with the universe. What a big hand. What a big God, Isaiah says.

Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket. You know, dirt's heavy. Brother Jim's big dump truck holds 20 ton of dirt. That's like 40,000 pounds.

Think of all that dirt. And it's just dumped on his little truck. Tiny little truck in the world. Not real big, is it? Compared to the universe we've just talked about. But what if you could gather up all the dirt in the world?

God says he carries it in a basket. Big basket. Big God. Big God. Big God. Or who has weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?

Effortly picks up the mountains and weighs them and places them in his world where he wants them. The hills. You see, looking at creation, we're made to appreciate the power of this great creator.

But we're also made to appreciate the mind of the great creator, aren't we? And so he asks us, who has understood the mind of the Lord or instructed him as his counselor?

Did you counsel him when he was creating the universe? When he was making a son, did he ring you up? Did he come calling to you and say, now let's see, how would you make a human cell?

No. There were none to call. There was just him and his mind. And unaided, without any help outside of his mind, he made the sun.

He made the oceans. He made the human cell. He made the human body. He made everything that exists. Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten me? Who taught to enlighten him?

Who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge? Or showed him the path of understanding? He made the human soul. Creation does not compare to him.

It's so small compared to our great big God, the God of power, the God of wisdom. Well, how about the nations? Maybe the nations would be something to compare to God.

A few things so powerful as the great nations of the earth. Not just individual human beings, but human collective strength. When people get together and form a nation and they pool their resources.

All their wisdom. All their wealth. All their military might. Now we've got a nation. There's nothing that can stop us.

Okay. Babylon. There's Babylon. Vast world empire. And there's little Judah. One of its captives.

Well, let's let the nations weigh in against God. See if they can compare to God. Verse 15. Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket. You're going to the garden with a bucket of water.

And on your way, a drop splashes out. What do you do, kids? Oh, got to run back and fill the bucket up again. No, you don't. You don't even miss it. And you go right on to the garden and water as you were doing.

The drop is insignificant. So is a nation before God. Gather all the peoples into this powerful nation. It's a drop in a bucket. Or it's like dust on the scales.

Fine dust. He weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. It doesn't even tip the scales. It doesn't affect the weighing measurement at all. So insignificant.

In comparison to God. Well, how about the nation of Lebanon? Verse 16. A nation so rich in natural resources. All their forests and woods. The Bible even speaks of the famous cedars of Lebanon.

These massive trees. In this fruitful land of Lebanon. Well, now, to make a sacrifice.

You need fire on the altar. And animals on the altar. Okay. Well, let's look at the nation of Lebanon. If you could light the whole nation on fire.

And all those great cedars. And all those forests and woods. Would be the fire for the altar. And all the animals running around in those forests and woods. Would be the animals for the sacrifice.

Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires. Nor its animals enough. To offer a burnt offering. To the God who made them.

There is no offering. That the nations could ever make. That would impress God. That God would be pleased with. He's too big. You could burn the whole nation as wood and animal.

And it would not be sufficient. Folks, do we understand we come tripping into worship. This is the God of glory that we come to worship. What have we brought Him today?

Well, Isaiah 53 says there was one offering that impressed Him. There was one offering that was sufficient. That was equal to the glory of the being that He is. And it was His own Son.

His perfect Son being crushed. There's the one offering that He accepts. And so I trust as you come today, you're offering all your praises. All your money.

All your listening. All your praying through this one great offering of Jesus. It's His offering alone that is sufficient for this glorious God.

And it's His offering that makes us and our offerings acceptable in heaven. No, the nations. They're nothing.

Bring them all together then. Okay? Verse 17. Bring them all together. If each nation cannot compare to God. Perhaps the nations united. Bring the whole UN. Gather the nations together.

Let them parade in. Bring them up and let's see if they compare with God. Before Him all the nations are as nothing. Now that's pretty insignificant. Nothing is the absence of something.

There is nothing here. They are regarded by Him as worthless. And notice? Less than nothing. Nothing is the absence of something.

How can you have something that's less than nothing? It's stretching our language. These nations all together are very, very insignificant.

Less than nothing compared to Him. And so God pauses midway and He asks, Who then will you compare God to? Come on. Bring Him forward.

Anything in my creation. Any nation. Come on. What image will you compare Him to? Well, the unavoidable conclusion is there's nothing that compares with God.

He's incomparable. And illegal of His own. Infinite chasm between God and man. Infinite chasm between God and all that He's made. Between God and all that is not God.

And if ever we blur that distinction between God and creation, we are guilty of idolatry. And so He says, Okay, how about the idols? Come on. Bring them up too now.

Talking about the powerful things of the world. What's so powerful is these gods and idols of the nations? Even nations that have conquered Israel. And it was ever the temptation for Judah to be trusting in the idols of the nations around.

And why not now? If after all the gods of Babylon were more powerful than the God of Judah. Okay, bring them out. Let's look at them. What is an idol?

Take a good look at it. For all their beauty, all their sparkle, it's but a man-made product. Verse 19. As for an idol, a craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it.

Either to decorate it or to hold it up. Verse 20. May a man too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot. He looks for a skilled craftsman and sets up an idol.

That what? That will not topple. Make sure the base is wide and heavy. We don't want this thing blowing over in a strong wind. If somebody bumps it when they walk by, we don't want it crashing.

Remember Dagon's idol before Jehovah and the Ark of the Covenant. And smash and his head broken off. Don't want that happening.

So make sure it stands fast. Make sure the chains hold it up. The base is firm. What pathetic, powerless, useless things are idols compared to God?

Can't even hold itself up. Then why would you go to them for help? Yet these are the very things that nations trusted in and that Israelites were even tempted to look to to bring prosperity and success.

Good luck. Safety. Protection. And though the heathen thought that these idols were not the gods themselves but represented these supernatural beings, Isaiah strips away all the covering and says, you know, at the final announcement, you know what your gods are.

The gods of the nations are but idols. But our God made the heavens. Now what are these idols compared to the God who made the heavens? What folly to trust in them rather than in the living God?

And then he breaks in with four more questions. He pounds them with them. Do you not know? Verse 21. Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

Now the things he's about to state, these truths, they had heard. They should have known. It had been told them.

It had been passed down to them right from the creation account. Adam to Seth and Seth to his sons and right on down to Noah and Moses and written down in the law.

They had been told. They should have known. But they were living as if they didn't know these things. And so he reminds them of very basic truths about God that they are in danger of forgetting.

He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth. And all the people are as grasshoppers. He sits enthroned.

There he is. He's on the throne. This world is his. He rules over. He's the sovereign Lord. You ought to know that. Don't you know that?

You've surely heard that. He's in control. No nation is off spinning, doing its own will. No God sits enthroned. And all of history is being presided over by your God, Israel.

And it only does what he instructs the nations to do. And they're bringing out his appointed end. God sits enthroned. And compared to him, the people are no more of a threat than a grasshopper.

Kids, you're not scared of grasshoppers? Just with one step, their history. Nations, peoples of earth. They're nothing to God but grasshoppers. Don't you know that?

Haven't you heard that? And as for this vast universe, he stretches out the heavens like a canopy and spreads them out like a tent to live in. And this whole universe that we've never found the end of.

It's just like a sheet. A woman so effortlessly just shakes out and lays out over some stakes and ropes for a canopy of shade or a tent to live in.

That's what this universe is to God. You see how Isaiah keeps coming back to creation and to the nations to prove how big God is.

Nothing compares to him. Verse 23, He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. This king who sits enthroned, he's an active king.

He's not just sitting by watching. No, he's really ruling. Nothing. And there's other kings and princes and rulers. And he's ruling over them. And he's bringing them to nothing. These are the big shots in the world.

These are the judges. These are the presidents. These are the dictators. These are the ones with power. And he makes the somebodies of this world into nobodies.

He reduces them to nothing. And he does it so quickly and so effortlessly. No sooner are they planted. No sooner are they sown. No sooner do they take root in the ground than he blows on them.

And they wither. And a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. One moment there they are on the evening news. Flexing their political muscle. Boasting about their nuclear power.

And the next moment, they're gone. Just a puff of God's breath. And they're gone.

There's Nebuchadnezzar. He's the one sitting on the throne that will have Judah in captivity. And Judah sees this mighty, vast empire of Babylon.

They say, there's no way out of here. And they doubt God. His wisdom, his power, his love, his concern, his knowledge. Well, what's Nebuchadnezzar?

Judah, remember. Don't you know? Have you not heard? Just a puff of my mouth. And he's gone. There he is, boasting, preening his feathers.

This is the great Babylon I've built. And there's little Judah over here under my thumb. And the next moment, he's on the ground, eating grass like cattle.

So effortlessly. Just a puff from the Lord's mouth. Oh, do you not know? Have you not heard? You ought to.

You've seen it in your past history, Israel. But you're not acting like it's true. Your functional view of God is so out of whack. You need to line it back up with the God that is.

The God that is. And so God himself breaks in in verse 25. To whom will you compare me? No longer the prophet speaking for God. Now God himself gets in their face.

To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal? Says the Holy One. The Holy One. The one who is altogether other from anything else that is.

What Alec Moyer says is the killing blow to any thought of any comparison. The Holy One. Nothing compares to Him. So lift up your eyes and look to the heavens.

Who created all these? Kids, the next time you're out under the stars. Lift up your eyes. And look at the heavens. Do you know what that should do for you?

It should raise a question in your mind. Where did these come from? Who made all these? If you were walking along the beach. And suddenly you came upon this sand castle.

As big as this room. With all intricate doors and pathways and turrets. And wouldn't you say. Who made this? That's what creation is meant to do.

To lead us to its maker. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? How great the maker must be to have made the heavens.

He who brings out the starry hosts one by one. And calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength. Not one of them is missing. We haven't begun to plumb the depths of the universe.

How big. How wide. How long. But there's not one unknown star to Him. For so long. In the night sky. What we thought was one star shining and twinkling there in the distance.

Was actually. A whole bunch of galaxies. With billions of stars in each galaxy. But it's so far away that it just looks like one point. One twinkling star.

One twinkling star. But all along. God. Knew each star. By name. Knew all about Him.

He knows the numbers of hairs on our head. Intimate. Detailed knowledge. Of the Creator. His knowledge is so great and particular.

Each one is known by name. His power is so great that not one of them is missing. I have trouble getting my two boys not missing to the supper table at the appointed time. God gets all these billions of stars to their appointed place at the right time.

So that not one of them is missing. What a big God we have. So. So. Why do you say. Oh Jacob.

Verse 27. Why do you complain. Oh Israel. My way is hidden from the Lord. My cause is disregarded by my God. God. He's exposing their wrong thoughts about God.

He's quoting them. What they're going to be saying. When they're in Babylonian captivity. How can your way be hidden from the Lord. Who knows each star by name. How can he disregard you.

His special creation. His covenant people. Who mean more to him than all the stars combined. How can you say. He doesn't know.

He doesn't care. They're doubting his omniscience. Doesn't know about me.

My particular trial. He's got a lot on his mind. He's got a big universe to look after. But he's not. Aware of me and my problem. Furthermore.

He doesn't care. That's what we say when we complain. Why do you complain. Oh Israel. You are doubting the very attributes of God. You're calling them into question.

Your functional view of God is sub-biblical. It needs to be realigned. That's how our complaints are interpreted in heaven. Is direct assaults upon the Holy One.

And who he is. What's the solution to this whole mess for Judah? Well it's behold your God. It's what the prophets are shouting. It's what Isaiah is revealing.

Look at him. Relearn what you already know. Open your ear to what you've already heard. Theology. Doctrine of God. Let it sink in. Think about it.

Meditate on it. Believe it. Verse 28. It's the second time we've seen this. Isn't it? Do you not know? Have you not heard? Do you see?

He doesn't come with new truth to them. He comes with old things. Things that they've already heard. Things they should know. Things that they have allowed to slip from their functional view of God.

Of how they live. What moves their emotions. What moves their mind and will. What moves their life. Should have known.

Return to the basics. See your God for who he is. Folks. We never outgrow our need for the doctrine of God. You're lifelong learners. The answer to that question.

What. Is God. And so the answer for Israel. It's just a return to basics. What you. You know about God.

It's in your Bible. Break it open. Read it again. Think about it. The Lord is the everlasting God. The creator of the ends of the earth. Nothing new.

But let it percolate till it controls you. And it controls your emotions. And the way you feel in your present trouble. And the words that spill out of your lips. And your will.

And your decisions that you make. The Lord is the everlasting God. Don't you know that? He created the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired and weary. How could he? He's everlasting.

He doesn't wear out. God. Just because you get tired and weary. Don't think God does. He's not like us. You ought to know that. And his understanding.

No one can fathom. His wisdom is so deep. That no one can sound the depths. And say. I have comprehended God. Well then. How foolish for you not to believe. Until you understand everything about God.

How foolish for you to doubt God. When you can't figure out. What he's doing in your life. And to think that he's up to something bad. When he's promised you. To only be up to something good.

If you're his child. Does the creature. Think for a moment. That he can understand. The mind of the creator. His understanding. No one.

Can fathom. Don't you know that. He gives strength to the weary. Verse 29. And increases the power of the weak.

So far from growing tired and weak himself. He gives strength to those who are weary. He's a giving God. Pouring out his power. Every day. All day long. To his people. Power to his people.

Power to his people. There it comes. Always flowing. And yet he's never. Diminished. In his supply. Everlasting God. Don't you know this.

Haven't you found that he's the God. Who gives strength to the weary. Haven't you found him to meet you. At your point of weakness. Oh men do grow weary.

Even the strongest of them. You do know this. Verse 30. Even youths grow tired and weary. And young men. Those in the prime of life. Those who are ready to pick up the sword.

And the spear. And to go into battle. Oh even youth grow tired and weary. And young men stumble and fall. And folks. The picture isn't just a physical exhaustion.

It includes your spiritual and emotional exhaustion. Being worn out by pressures. Worn out by constant responsibilities. At the job. In the home. In your work. In your service to Christ.

All these things weigh upon you. And they tire you out. They exhaust you. You're on empty. You're depleted. You're drained. But here's the amazing possibility for those who grow tired and weary.

Verse 31. But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. Isn't that good news? Isn't that comfort to you? Isn't that worth standing on the highest mountain and shouting with the loudest voice?

This God. If you wait on Him. If you trust in Him. If you look to Him. He will renew your strength. Restored. Restored.

Strength. Restored energy. Depleted. Restored. Worn out.

Empty. Filled. Tired. Given strength. Such that you will soar on wings like eagles. How they fly so effortlessly.

You'll be born along an eagle's wing. God's power. And you'll run and not grow weary. Look at that guy. He's out every day. He never gets tired. He just keeps running.

Now walk and not be faint. Go all the way to the end. Never tire to the point where you quit. So we come in our weakness and weariness to God.

And we look up to the everlasting God. And we fasten upon His power. And we fasten upon His wisdom. And what do we find? We find strength coming into our very souls.

So that we don't quit. So we don't grow cynical about life. So we don't grow bitter. We don't give it up. We don't say, God isn't worth serving.

I'm going after the idols. I'm going after this world. Because you've seen God. And you're trusting in Him. And He giveth more strength.

When the burdens grow greater. He sendeth more grace. When the labors increase. He adds to added affliction. He addeth His mercy.

To multiplied trials. His multiplied peace. His love has no limit. His grace has no measure. His power has no boundary.

Known unto man. For out of His infinite riches in Jesus. He giveth. And giveth. And giveth. Again. This is your God, O Israel.

What's the key? Know this God. Wait on Him. Hope in Him. Trust in Him. And in doing so, you'll find.

That your strength is renewed. And your vitality will be restored. You will become strong in the Lord's power.

And in His mighty strength. The very strength that we've been studying. That made the mountains rise. That spread the flowing seas abroad. And built the lofty sky.

That strength. The strength of the Lord. Will strengthen you. To keep on fighting against that nasty sin. That won't quit bugging you. To break the back of that temptation.

To persist another day in that difficult duty. In that trial. Behold your God. Get to know your God. What a privilege.

Brothers and sisters. To have this God as our God. To know that He's for us in all His attributes. There's not a one of them against me.

Isn't that worth shouting about? But some of you, this God is your enemy. This is the God some of you this morning are in rebellion against. And you've thumbed Him and you've gone your own way.

Oh, why would you do that? You don't have a clue. Your functional God is way out of touch with reality. This God is a God who puffs in His enemies.

Are gone from the earth. Oh, come to Him. Why would you not rather have Him for you? In Jesus Christ. Come. Repent of your sins. And put your trust in His Son.

The only sacrifice that ever pleased Him. That will ever make you pleasing in His sight. And then will make you and all that you do pleasing in His sight. Come to this Savior. May the Lord help us to have right thoughts of our great, big, wonderful God.

Let's sing it from the overhead. How great Thou art. Holy One. There is none like You and we stand in Your presence.

And are ashamed of the little thoughts that we've had of You. Oh, forgive us. Forever doubting Your wisdom.

Your power. Your love and concern for us. Your faithfulness to Your promises. No, come and teach us. Come and open Your Word to our hearts.

And open our eyes. So easily blinded and led astray. And cause us to see You as You are. To humbly bow and worship You.

And then to go out and confidently live for You with hope. That confidence that our God will act on behalf of those who wait for Him. For Him. So do be teaching us.

And oh, come and teach some poor sinner that still thinks of You so smallly. And still thinks of the blood of Jesus as a light thing. Show them how big their sin is against this big God of holiness.

Show them how great and wonderful the merits of Christ are. That every one of their sins could be remembered no more. Come and do it for Your great name's sake.

And we pray through Christ. Amen.