Have I No Power to Deliver? (Isaiah 50:2)

 Have I No Power to Deliver? (Isaiah 50:2)

“For by their own sword they did not possess the land,
And their own arm did not save them,
But Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence, For You favored them.” (Psalm 44:3 NAS95)

I have marked all the question marks in my Bible, and then have chosen a list of what I call “Critical Questions in the Bible.” One of these from my list is Isaiah 50:2 - “Is My hand so short that it cannot ransom? Or have I no power to deliver?”

I listened to a recorded story the other day on radio of the last man of his group who parachuted from a small airplane. As he jumped, his foot caught in a seatbelt, and so he hung from the side of the plane unable to fall and unable to pull himself back up. He was not able to see the pilot, and she was only able to see his boot. She left her seat and controls, at risk to her own life and to the plane, and then he saw her arm and hands reach out and, with difficulty, release the seatbelt. He landed safely, but never had opportunity to thank the young woman for saving his life.

Our God has long arms and strong hands. It is a wonderful image to remind us that we are never out of His reach, and we are never caught by a chain that He cannot break. We read the stories in the Bible of Israel’s release/escape from Egypt; of David’s deliverance from Saul, and of Daniel’s from the lions. We know that God is able, and we believe it.

This is important to us because we, like the man in the story above, cannot save ourselves. We may be able to do some small things, but the biggest challenges of life are solved from above: Psa. 44:3 “For by their own sword they did not possess the land, And their own arm did not save them, But Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence, For You favored them.”

I may mention this too often, or, not enough, but we tend to seek to live self-sufficient lives. We think we can figure things out for ourselves, and work our own way out of our predicaments. Moses was concerned for a younger generation: Deut. 11:2 “your sons who have not known and who have not seen the discipline of the LORD your God — His greatness, His mighty hand and His outstretched arm.”

What if we were to replace the question “What am I going to do?” with the question, “What is God going to do?”Oh, certainly if there is something you should do, then do it. Pay the bill, or make the appointment, or go say you’re sorry. But our first order of business in most cases would be to focus on the One Who has long arms and strong hands, because we so often find that ours are short and weak.

And, were you able to meet the One who reached out to save you?