Strength to Strength – Isaiah 40, Part 2

“…Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
   or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?

Playalinda Beach, Titusville FL

Playalinda Beach, Titusville FL


Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
   or weighed the mountains on the scales
   and the hills in a balance?

Grand Canyon from the South Rim

Grand Canyon from the South Rim


Who can fathom the Spirit of the
Lord,
   or instruct the Lord as his counselor?
Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,
   and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge,
   or showed him the path of understanding?

Napali Coast, Kauai

Napali Coast, Kauai


Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
   they are regarded as dust on the scales;
   he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.

Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,
   nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
Before him all the nations are as nothing;
   they are regarded by him as worthless
   and less than nothing.


With whom, then, will you compare God?
   To what image will you liken him?
As for an idol, a metalworker casts it,
   and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
   and fashions silver chains for it.
A person too poor to present such an offering
   selects wood that will not rot;
they look for a skilled worker
   to set up an idol that will not topple.

Kailua Kona Sunset-smallDo you not know?
   Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
   Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

Moonlit sky above the clouds on Mauna Kea - Big Island, Hawaii

Moonlit sky above the clouds on Mauna Kea – Big Island, Hawaii


He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
   and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
   and spreads them out like a tent to live in.


He brings princes to naught
   and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
No sooner are they planted,
   no sooner are they sown,
   no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
   and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

“To whom will you compare me?
   Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.

Starry Night from my parent's backyard in Newland, NC

Starry Night from my parent’s backyard in Newland, NC

Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
   Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
   and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
   not one of them is missing…

Sunset from the peak of Mauna Kea - Big Island, Hawai'i

Sunset from the peak of Mauna Kea – Big Island, Hawai’i

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