Even to your graying years I will bear you
Isaiah 46:4 - I will bear you up; carry you on in your way, and carry you home at last.
“Even to your old age I will be the same, And even to your graying years I will bear you! I have done it, and I will carry you; And I will bear you and I will deliver you.”
Isaiah 46:4 NASB1995
We’re back to the prophets for today’s Heaven On Wheels, and in this case it’s the major prophet Isaiah. In this chapter, God is describing the difference between the dead idols of false gods Bel and Nebo carried around and worshipped by the heathens, and Himself, our living God.
This verse details God’s unchanging nature. When God refers to “your old age” and “your graying years”, He is talking about Israel as a mature nation, but His words can also be applied to the aging Christian. Theologian Matthew Henry, cited on BibleHub, explains:
The heathen insulted the Jews, as if their idols Bel and Nebo were too hard for Jehovah. But their worshippers cannot help them; both the idols and the idolaters are gone into captivity. Let not God's people be afraid of either. Those things from which ungodly men expect safety and happiness, will be found unable to save them from death and hell. The true God will never fail his worshippers. The history of the life of every believer is a kind of abstract of the history of Israel. Our spiritual life is upheld by his grace, as constantly as our natural life by his providence. And God will never leave them. The Author will be the Finisher of their well-being, when, by decays, they need help as much as in infancy. This promise to Israel, enfeebled and grown old as a nation, is applicable to every aged follower of Christ. When compassed about with infirmities, and perhaps those around begin to grow weary of you, yet I am He that I have promised to be, He that you would have me to be. I will bear you up; carry you on in your way, and carry you home at last. If we learn to trust in and love him, we need not be anxious about our remaining days or years; he will still provide for us and watch over us, both as the creatures of his power, and as new-created by his Spirit. (emphasis mine).
The section of Henry’s commentary I placed in bold type above should be encouraging to all of us who are in our “graying years”. Trusting in and loving our Lord gives us the strength we need when our days grow short and our faculties are failing.
The Pulpit Commentary, also cited on BibleHub, points out that God — our Maker — seeks nothing but good for His people:
The everlasting arms never weary. God's watchfulness, his providence, his protection, never fail. I have made, and I will bear. The maker of a thing has naturally regard to what he has made, loves it, desires its good, seeks to defend and save it.
He loves us, continues to love us despite our tendency to sin, loves us so much that He gave us Jesus as our Savior, and will continue to show His love for us even when we give up our frail human bodies for perfect and eternal resurrection substance!
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Today’s prayer is from Knowing Jesus:
Thank You, Father, for Your constant care and faithfulness throughout my life. Thank You that You will never leave me nor forsake me, even when I become old and forgetful. Praise Your holy name! AMEN.
Received!