The God Who Never Tires

Date: Monday, June 8, 2026

We’re back in the prophets for one last stint to review the Messianic hope of the Major Prophets before moving into the New Testament, where we encounter the promises of the Old Testament revealed to all nations. This short video from the Bible Project covers the second half of Isaiah to give you context for the hope ahead.

If you had to pick one chapter in the entire Old Testament that functions as the theological hinge between Israel’s long exile and the blazing hope of the Gospel, Isaiah 40 would be a top contender. The backdrop is devastating: Jerusalem is on the edge of destruction, the people are exhausted, and the silence of God feels deafening. And into that silence, the prophet speaks words of hope: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God” (Isaiah 40:1). The Hebrew word here, nacham, is deep and tender consolation from the One who knows every wound. This is God breaking the silence, and He leads not with judgment, but with comfort.

From there, Isaiah launches into a awesome portrait of God, who measures the oceans in the hollow of His hand and weighs the mountains on a scale. The nations of the earth are like “a drop in a bucket” (Isaiah 40:15). This is the pastoral voice of Isaiah, reminding a devastated people that the God who made everything has not been dethroned. The very creator of the cosmos has not lost the plot. He still sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and the rulers of this world come and go like grass in the wind. So true.

But here’s where Isaiah pivots and the chapter becomes extraordinary: he doesn’t just proclaim God’s greatness in cosmic terms and leave it there. He personalizes it. “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak” (Isaiah 40:29). This is the God of galaxies getting personally involved in your exhaustion. The chapter closes with one of the most important prophetic promises in all of Scripture: “those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, will mount up with wings like eagles, will run and not grow weary” (Isaiah 40:31). In the grand arc of the Bible’s story, this passage points unmistakably toward Jesus, the one John’s Gospel tells us is the eternal Word through whom all things were created (John 1:3), who emptied Himself and became flesh precisely to enter our weakness and nail it to the Cross.

Psalm 129 echoes this from the angle of perseverance under pressure. The psalmist looks back on a long history of affliction: “They have greatly oppressed me from my youth, but they have not prevailed” (Psalm 129:1–2). The enemies of God’s people do not get the final word. The God of Isaiah 40 who never grows faint or weary is the same God who keeps covenant with His people across generations of hardship. Both passages together invite us to trade in our bone-tired anxiety for a sturdy, eagle-winged trust in the One who holds the cosmos in His hands and still knows our name.

Devotional Prompts:

Where are you exhausted in life right now, and what would it look like to genuinely “wait on the Lord” in that place?
Where have you seen God’s faithfulness carry you through a season that felt like it would never end?

Prayer: Father of all comfort, You who measure the universe in the palm of Your hand, thank You that You have not forgotten us. Renew our strength today, especially where we are most worn down, and teach us to wait on You with real, expectant hope. Let the promise of wings like eagles anchor our weary hearts in Your unfailing faithfulness. Amen.