The Living God Delivers and Carries Us

Isaiah 46:1-13 

1 Bel bows down, Nebo stoops;
Their idols were on the beasts and on the cattle.
Your carriages were heavily loaded,
A burden to the weary beast.
2 They stoop, they bow down together;
They could not deliver the burden,
But have themselves gone into captivity.

3 "Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,
And all the remnant of the house of Israel,
Who have been upheld by Me from birth,
Who have been carried from the womb:
4 Even to your old age, I am He,
And even to gray hairs I will carry you!
I have made, and I will bear;
Even I will carry, and will deliver you.

5 "To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal
And compare Me, that we should be alike?

6 They lavish gold out of the bag,
And weigh silver on the scales;
They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god;
They prostrate themselves, yes, they worship.
7 They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it
And set it in its place, and it stands;
From its place it shall not move.
Though one cries out to it, yet it cannot answer
Nor save him out of his trouble.

8 "Remember this, and show yourselves men;
Recall to mind, O you transgressors.

9 Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure,'

11 Calling a bird of prey from the east,
The man who executes My counsel, from a far country.
Indeed I have spoken it;
I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it;
I will also do it.

12 "Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted,
Who are far from righteousness:

13 I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off;
My salvation shall not linger.
And I will place salvation in Zion,
For Israel My glory.

How the living God Carrie’s His people, bearing us up in adversity and our struggles!  The false gods we idolize cannot be anything but burdens to us, unable to deliver from sin or circumstance and leading only towards captivity to sin as the greatest burden like Israel’s false gods adopted from the lost peoples around their promised land.  Even now the lost are weighed down with rituals as they attempt to serve lifeless idols of their own making instead of the living God who made us with His own mighty and righteous hand.  The call to God’s people then is relevant to the rest of His people now called out of the nations in Christ.  He knew us before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), from the womb (Psalm 139:13, 16), and will remain who He is and will continue to bear us up until our old age and past death itself into eternity.  He is faithful who promises (1 Thessalonians 5:24, Hebrews 10:23)!  He promises to deliver us from the evil one as we pray because He hears us and keeps us.  How then can anyone compare the living LORD God with lifeless idols of our own hands which we create to replace Him and suppose we can avoid accountability to Him?  There is none equal to Him.  None.  Manmade objects of worship are bit heavy burdens we carry that cannot speak to answer our cries for help not deliver us from any trouble, let alone save our souls from accountability for our sin against God and the resulting judgment to come.  That is clear from Isaiah’s words hers and many more throughout the scriptures.  As sinners we need to be brave enough to face the truth of our soul’s predicament and admit He alone is God, that there is none like Him, that He is in absolute sovereign control of everything and everyone, and that what He says He will most certainly make come to pass just as He always has done.  Yes, what He purposed He says and does.  We have no righteousness just like God’s people then, and we are called to listen to His word and respond accordingly.  He brings His righteousness near to us since we can never work up enough of our own (Romans 3:23, Ecclesiastes 7:20) and need His salvation which Christ brought to us in Himself.  We are to glorify God in Christ as His elect people along with Israel as the first chosen ones of us all.  May we learn from their mistakes and worship the one true and living sovereign God together with trust and reliance on His grace and lovingkindness to bear us up and through all circumstances.  The living God delivers and carries us.  Amen.