Dust on the Scales
Pastor Dave Monreal, Lead Pastor
“Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust…All the nations are as nothing before him,
Isaiah 40:15, 17
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.”
Isaiah 40 is one of the most amazing chapters in the Bible. When I was in seminary one of my professors assigned it to be read every day, 7 days a week, for an entire month. At first, I thought it was a lame assignment. How was I supposed to read the same chapter EVERY DAY for a month and keep getting something new out of it? I didn’t realize that I didn’t need to get something new out of it for it to impact and change my heart. There is no assignment in college or seminary that I remember as well as this assignment and none that has impacted me as much as this one!
When you read Isaiah 40 over and over again, the truth that washes over you is that God is absolutely sovereign and completely over all if his creation. There is no power that compares to God. Nothing in all creation compares with God. God created all that is, and it was no diminishment of his power and took away not one bit of his energy. We are so quick to worry about the world we live in or see world leaders as an insurmountable obstacle to the plans of God. If I could steal the title from an old book, “Your God is too small.” That really is one of the major problems plaguing Christians today.
In relation to the gospel, we have a large view of our sins and a small view of Jesus’ redemption. We think (feel) like we are barely saved or that the gospel barely covers our sins. Yes, we might be saved but it is by the skin of our teeth. But this makes much of us and little of Jesus. If we stop to unpack it, we hold this view because we are proud and think much of ourselves. The reality is the death of Christ was infinite in its depth, so he will save to the uttermost all those who come to him. We do not deplete the cross of its forgiving power by the amount of our sins. The fact is, no matter how much we have sinned in the past or how much we will sin over our entire lifetime, it is a finite amount of sin. Jesus is the God-man who died to pay the full penalty for all our sins and his death fully and completely pays the penalty for all of the sins of everyone who has ever placed his faith in Christ.
The truth of God’s sovereignty also applies to those who are fearful of conspiracy theories. Some believe that there is a secret deep state, or a worldwide conspiracy that is running the governments and orchestrating major world events. But can anyone do anything apart from God’s sovereign permission and will? The Psalmist answers this, “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.’” (Psalm 2:1-3)
What is God’s response to the kings of the earth joining forces and plotting their rebellion against him? He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, ‘As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.’” (Psalm 2:4) We find in Psalm 2 that God has a plan for his Son to be his agent that will bring justice and punish all evil. This is the message of the Bible; God is working out his redemption story and nothing or no one is able to thwart him or derail him from accomplishing his plan.
This is why the message of Isaiah 40 is so powerful. It reminds us that we can rest and trust in God because all the nations are like dust on the scales. They are so insignificant in comparison to him that their presence does not even move the scales or make a difference. He says they are nothing, less than nothing! When God decides to act, there is nothing in heaven or on earth or under the earth that can stop him. Take the time today to read through Isaiah 40 and allow the immensity of God calm your heart.
