Isaiah 40:29

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He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength.

Isaiah 40:29 (NKJV)

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Isaiah 40:29 (NIV)

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

Isaiah 40:29 (KJV)

He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.

Isaiah 40:29 (NLT)

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Isaiah 40:29 (ESV)

He gives strength to the weary, and to him who has no might He increases power.

Isaiah 40:29 (AMP)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.calls org

New Covenant Meaning

The Faint and the Powerless Are the Targets

Isaiah 40:29 is remarkable for who it is addressed to: the weak, the faint, those who have no might. The Lord does not give strength to the strong and withhold it from the weak. He specifically targets the exhausted. Verse 30 adds that even youths — the physically strongest demographic — shall faint and be weary, and young men shall utterly fall. The point is that natural strength is insufficient and will eventually run out. But verse 31 follows: those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. The pattern is designed: human exhaustion is the occasion for divine strength.

God Specializes in the Insufficient

The consistent testimony of Scripture is that God uses the weak to demonstrate His power. Moses was a stutterer sent to Pharaoh. Gideon was the least of the least tribe. David was the youngest. Paul had a thorn. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says God's power is perfected in weakness. Isaiah 40:29 is the Old Testament foundation for what Paul experiences in the New: the person with no might is exactly the person God gives strength to. Not because weakness is virtuous in itself, but because it is the condition in which you are positioned to receive what you cannot produce.

Isaiah 40:28-31 forms a unit: God does not faint or grow weary (v. 28). He gives power to the faint (v. 29). Even the strongest humans eventually fail (v. 30). But those who wait on the Lord renew their strength: eagle-like, running without wearying, walking without fainting (v. 31). The argument is: because God does not get tired, He is able to give His strength to those who are. You receive from the inexhaustible.

Application for Your Life

Your Exhaustion Is Not a Disqualifier

Isaiah 40:29 speaks to the person who has nothing left. Who has been in a long season of difficulty. Who has tried and failed and tried again. Who is depleted. The word of God to that person is not "try harder." It is: He gives power to the weak. Your condition of weakness is the very condition He addresses. You do not need to get stronger before you come to God for strength. You come exactly as you are — faint and without might — and He increases your strength.

Wait on the Lord to Mount Up

Isaiah 40:31 gives the mechanism: those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. Waiting on the Lord is not passive waiting in the sense of doing nothing. In Hebrew, qavah (to wait) means to hope in, to be bound to, to expect from. It is active expectation directed toward God. This is what prayer, worship, and reading the word are: waiting on the Lord. Positioning yourself before Him to receive from the One who does not faint. The renewal of strength is the result of that intentional dependence.

Prayer Based on This Verse

Father, You give power to the weak and strength to those who have no might. I qualify today. I am not coming to You with reserves to offer. I am coming to You faint, depleted, with insufficient strength for what I face. You specialize in exactly this. You do not grow weary and You do not faint. Your strength is inexhaustible. I wait on You right now. I expect from You. Renew my strength. Let me mount up with wings like eagles. Let me run and not grow weary, walk and not faint. In Jesus' name. Amen.