Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 46

Verse 4

HOW GOD CARRIES MEN

‘And even to your old age I am He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.’

Isaiah 46:4

I. Let us see how God carries men.—The first requisite for an upright bearing is ground—something to rest upon. So the soul requires this assurance, and God has confirmed it in His Word: ‘I have made, and I will bear.’ The responsibility of life is God’s; we have been sent here at His will. This instinct has formed the turning-point in many a man’s life.

II. Sometimes a man’s heart will shake him off this ground.—Conscience says, ‘God has made thee, but thou hast unmade thyself.’ When this comes to a man it is the most sinking time in his life. But God insists that just here He is most anxious to bear him up. The Gospel would be no gospel if it could not lift a man out of the fear of his sin.

III. This gospel, however, must be accompanied with repentance and perseverance in holiness.

IV. The most essential part—God’s being life within us.—All human metaphors fall far short of describing God’s relation to man. God does not carry dead men. He is very intolerant of the dead, but all who have a wish for life He will lift and carry to holiness.