Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 3 of 5
Devotional: June 7th

Isaiah 46:1-13

The prophet continues his comparison with a striking new picture. On the one hand, vain idols which weigh heavily upon those who carry them! On the other, a mighty and faithful God who by contrast has Himself carried His people from the beginning to the end of their history (v. 3; Deuteronomy 1:31; Deuteronomy 32:11-12). Instead of this privileged position, Israel preferred the thankless service of impotent and ridiculous false gods (vv. 6, 7). These caused Israel to stumble badly, crushing the people beneath their weight, and finally they were the cause of Israel’s captivity. In a moral sense it is always so. The noblest idols, as the world sees them (those of silver and gold rather than those made only of wood as in Isaiah 44:1-28), inexorably lead those who serve them to their final ruin. How great is the power which gold wields over the human heart!

But, by contrast, what does the Lord Jesus ask of us? To trust in Him from our youth upwards, to continue to rest upon Him from year to year for as long as we live; finally if we have to reach the age where strength wanes, to be even then in the enjoyment of this precious promise: "even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you" (v. 4).