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.
They stoop, they bow down together;
They could not deliver the burden,
But have themselves gone into captivity.
"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:
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.—Isaiah 46:1-4
As I read these verses this morning my eyes filled with grateful tears. I KNOW I am so insufficient to carry the burdens of this life. I am so thankful for my Jesus who is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is my sufficiency, He is my strength, He is my song, and He has become my salvation.
All my cares I roll upon Him. I can rest in His faithful, pastoral care. He will perfect that which concerns me. Time is nothing to Him. He is worth waiting for. I can trust in His sovereign hand that rules and overrules all in my life for my good and His glory. Knowing that he will never leave me, that He never changes and that His kindness to me is better than life is what gets me out of bed in the morning. Psalm 139 is perfect here…I have copied Spurgeon’s take from the Treasury of David after the Psalm.
O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall on me,"
Even the night shall be light about me;
Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother's womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.
Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!
Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.
For they speak against You wickedly;
Your enemies take Your name in vain.
Do I not hate them, O LORD, who hate You?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
Spurgeon on Isaiah 46:3-4
“Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb: 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.”
The confidence of Babylon is buried among her heaps of rubbish, for her gods have fallen from their thrones. “Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth.” As for us, our trust is in the living God who lives to bear and carry his chosen, even in Jehovah, the only true Lord.
We begin our spiritual life by faith in him, for until faith comes, we have no power to become the sons of God. Our spiritual life will have to be continued in the same way of trust in the Lord. We live by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us. We rejoice that we will never have to change our confidence, for our God will never be carried into captivity or torn from his throne.
Our faith is built on a rock that can never be moved. Nothing in the past has shaken the foundation of our faith. Nothing in the present can move it. Nothing in the future will undermine it. Whatever may occur in the ages to come, there will always be good reason for believing in Jehovah and his faithful Word. The great truths he has revealed will never be disproved. The great promises he has made will never be retracted. The great purposes he has devised will never be abandoned. So long as we live, we will always have a refuge, a hope, a confidence, that can never be removed.
“even to yourold age I am he” is not just a promise for those in old age. But it is also a promise to the people of God at any and every period between their birth and their death. While the Lord does not say he guarantees all his people will reach old age, he does say he has carried us from the womb and will carry us still.
The Lord is good to us in all tenses and in all ways. We will not consider the mercy of God to be only for those who are near the end of their pilgrimage but also for his people throughout their wilderness journey—from the day when they first ate of the paschal lamb and left Egypt even to that hour when the Jordan was dried up and they took possession of the land that flows with milk and honey. Our experimental dealings with God make us know that he is our gracious helper from the first to the last. Bel and Nebo disappoint their votaries, but Jehovah is our God forever and ever, and he will be our guide even to death.
