D. Scott Meadows

“I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain.” —Isaiah 45.19

We may gain much solace [comfort in distress] by considering what God has not said. What he has said is inexpressibly full of comfort and delight; what he has not said is scarcely less rich in consolation. It was one of these “said nots” which preserved the kingdom of Israel in the days of Jeroboam [13th king of Israel, 8th-century BC] the son of Joash, for “the Lord said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven.” 2 Kings 14.27. In our text we have an assurance that God will answer prayer, because he hath “not said unto the seed of Israel, Seek ye me in vain.”

You who write bitter things against yourselves should remember that, let your doubts and fears say what they will, if God has not cut you off from mercy, there is no room for despair: even the voice of conscience is of little weight if it be not seconded by the voice of God. What God has said, tremble at! But suffer not your vain imaginings to overwhelm you with despondency and sinful despair.

Many timid persons have been vexed by the suspicion that there may be something in God’s decree which shuts them out from hope, but here is a complete refutation to that troublesome fear, for no true seeker can be decreed to wrath. “I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth; I have not said,” even in the secret of my unsearchable decree, “Seek ye me in vain.” God has clearly revealed that he will hear the prayer of those who call upon him, and that declaration cannot be contravened. He has so firmly, so truthfully, so righteously spoken, that there can be no room for doubt. He does not reveal his mind in unintelligible words, but he speaks plainly and positively, “Ask, and ye shall receive” [Jn 16.24].

Believe, O trembler, this sure truth—that prayer must and shall be heard, and that never, even in the secrets of eternity, has the Lord said unto any living soul, “Seek ye me in vain.”

—C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, 21 August PM

On Isaiah 45.19

Cyrus, pagan king of Persia (reigned 539–530 BC), held the Jews in exile. With countless earnest prayers, they yearned to return to their homeland Israel. In Isaiah 45, God promised to use Cyrus for their repatriation. This seemed to them both impossible and too good to be true. Yet the Lord says that as He created the world to be inhabited by His people, so He would not be frustrated in His sovereign purpose. The next step in His eternal, redemptive-historical plan was the Jewish return from exile. Later, they would hear that this local-temporal blessing was an important precursor and pattern of the Church consummate in new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness (Isa 65.17–19; cf. 2 Pet 3.13).

To overcome the discouragement, fear, skepticism, and cynicism of the Jewish remnant, the Lord speaks through Isaiah in our text. The entirety of Spurgeon’s selected verse for this devotional message reads, “I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right” (Isa 45.19). Unlike the gods of the Gentiles whose wicked spokesmen represented them as authors of obscure and vague mutterings, the God of Israel trumpeted this good news in plain language all could understand before the prophetic blessings came to pass. Using prophets like Isaiah, God announced promises of gracious salvation which are public, intelligible, and credible. On the basis of these, the hearers were exhorted to pray for the specific things promised. In these things, God had not called them to pray “pointlessly” (Alec Motyer’s translation). God is reassuring His people in all ages that “this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him” (1 John 5.14, 15). Christ can and should be trusted!

The structure of this devotional message

Title: Comfort for Those Waiting for Answers to Prayer

I. Comfort of God’s “Said Nots”
• Intended to comfort those who seek Him
• Examples in 2 Kgs 14.27 and Isa 45.19

II. Distress of Your “Saids”
• You say to yourself you can’t be saved but God has not said that
• Your conscience may forbid your hope but God has not

III. Plain Openness of God’s Promises
• True seekers cannot be decreed to wrath
• God plainly promises here that no one will seek Him in vain

IV. Exhortation to Faith—believe that true prayer is not pointless

Closing reflections

Proverbs 13.12 says, “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.” “It is sad not to get what you hoped for. But wishes that come true are like eating fruit from the tree of life” (alt.). Sometimes the span of time between prayers in keeping with God’s will and their answers is extremely prolonged, even for many generations. In the interim, our faith is sorely tried. Faithful ministers like Spurgeon remind us that God cannot fail to keep His promises. He “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Eph 3.20). Therefore, persist in prayers that are full of confident expectation! Ω