The Lord’s Hand
Isaiah 59:1 “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear:”
God is a spirit….therefore when the scriptures describe the Lord having hands, feet, eyes, ears….they are using these to show forth the exercise of HIs power to deliver, walk, see, and hear us.
God’s hands is an especially lovely description of His power to keep and save us.
(Of course the Lord Jesus has a glorified body, even now in heaven. The description is Revelation 1:13-16 You will notice in His right hand there were seven stars…the church, down through the ages…all saved and kept in HIs right hand)
Isaiah 49:16 “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands;…”
The High Priest had the twelve tribes graven on the stones set in His ephod…..but the Lord Jesus, our blessed High Priest has put the names of all His children in HIs hands. As He stands before the Father….we are there….on HIs hands….with the nail prints of the cross where He suffered and died for us.
Isaiah 41:10 “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.”
How many things are “fearful” in this day and age. How many things seem to drive us to be downcast, or in despair? How many things weaken our resolve to follow the Lord through anything?
All these things are addressed here:
“I will” God says, “strengthen, help, uphold thee….with the right hand of My righteousness.”
What cannot be accomplished or faced, empowered by HIs righteousness?
We stand strong when we know we are right with God….and have peace in the day of chaos as He upholds us, in thanksgiving to His name. He helps us with HIs Word of direction and encouragement…
Isaiah 41:13 “For I the Lord thy God…
(Notice He multiplied His name…”the Lord” would have been sufficient; but He adds for our help….”…thy God”…the Eternal, Almighty Sovereign One.)
…will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.”
Holding hands with the Lord God…Him, taking us by the hand…and leading us on.
And when things…and others are against us…we can cry, “Why withdrawest Thou Thy hand, even Thy right hand? Pluck it out of Thy bosom.” (Psalm 74:11)
Psalm 17:7 “Shew Thy marvelous loving-kindness, O Thou that savest by Thy right hand them which put their trust in Thee from those that rise up against them.”
Psalm 31:15 “My times are in Thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.”
His hands deliver us…..from every other hand, which might and will rise against us. Perhaps not physically, but from their power to harm us spiritually.
(As Jesus said to Pilate, when the powerful Roman governor of Judea, said….
John 19:10-11 “Then saith Pilate unto Him (Jesus), Speakest Thou not unto me? knowest Thou not that I have power to crucify Thee, and have power to release Thee?
Jesus answered (and the answer is the same for each of us), Thou couldest have no power at all against Me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered Me unto thee hath the greater sin.”
We are in the Father’s hands….and what comes to us….comes through His hands.)
God’s hands hold the universe….and rules it (Isaiah 40:12)
Isaiah 48;13 “Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them they stand up together.”
(The Lord of hosts, as stated in the beginning of this chapter in Isaiah [Isaiah 40:2], means the Lord over all the hosts….whether of heaven…angels….or the hosts on earth….bees, hornets, animals, blight, plague. All are under His Sovereign control….and as the Lord of hosts, He uses them for our protection. [Exodus 23:28, Job 38:22])
HIs wonderful hands also correct us….like a father to a child…that we may learn thereby. (Psalm 39:10)
Isaiah 1:25 “And I will turn My hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin.”
And when we learn our lesson…
Psalm 37:24 “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with HIs hand.”
His hand is under us, bearing us up.
And when we come to die….
Psalm 31:5 “Into Thine hand I commit my spirit: Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.”
The Lord Jesus said…
John 10:28 “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.”
We are completely, eternally safe in Jesus’ hand.
Ten times (by my count) Jesus reached out, and touched to heal. The first being a leper, one of the worst deseases (Matthew 8:3)…..
….and the last being the ear of the high priest’s servant…come to arrest Him…when Peter tried to defend Jesus with a sword in the garden (Luke 22:50-51).
The Lord’s hand is a discription of His keeping, guiding, correcting,….holding us up….and comforting us.
We may know that we are safe in His hands….and go through all that is ahead…with Him.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 