Isaiah 45:5-6 (ESV)

I am the LORD, and there is no other,

besides me there is no God;

I equip you, though you do not know me,

that people may know, from the rising of the sun

and from the west, that there is none besides me;

I am the LORD, and there is no other.

This chapter has so much in it, but there is one overarching truth that runs through the entire chapter. Isaiah 45:5 expresses it like this, “I am the LORD, and there is no other.” In this chapter Isaiah names Cyrus as the king that God will use to protect and bless his people. Cyrus is unknown in Isaiah’s time. He will not show up in history for another 150-200 years. Yet God is calling him by name. Only God knows the future from eternity past. Only God hears and answers his people. Only God can call out a pagan king 150 years before he is born and use him to protect his people even though he has no relationship with God. Only God works his purposes without fail.

How does one respond to a God like that? First, don’t question him. That is not to say that you never ask why. God is a God of mercy. He understands when we are confused. But there is a difference between asking why and challenging the authority of God.

Isaiah 45:9 (ESV)

“Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,

a pot among earthen pots!

Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’

or ‘Your work has no handles’?

Art never questions the artist. The pot never challenges the potter. Creation should not second-guess the creator. God knows what he is doing. He allows his creation a certain amount of freedom. As Romans observes, “Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done” (Rom 1:28). The result? “All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Rom 3:12). Creation should not second-guess the creator, and yet we have.

We should not question God. Second, we should trust him.

Isaiah 45:2 (ESV)

“I will go before you

and level the exalted places,

 I will break in pieces the doors of bronze

and cut through the bars of iron,

God will keep his promises to his people. We should trust him. Even when we cannot see, hear, or sense the presence of God, he is there. He never abandons his own. He always accomplishes his purposes, even if he has to use pagan kings to do so. He never promises to preserve our present way of life. He never promises to make life pain-free and easy. But he does promise to always be there. He does promise to work all things together for good. He does promise to set all things right in the end. He does promise to bring about justice and peace. We should trust him.

We should not question God. We should trust God. Third, we should turn to God.

Isaiah 45:22-23 (ESV)

“Turn to me and be saved,

 all the ends of the earth!

For I am God, and there is no other.

By myself I have sworn;

from my mouth has gone out in righteousness

a word that shall not return:

‘To me every knee shall bow,

every tongue shall swear allegiance.’”

There is hope in no other god, philosophy, system, or power. At some point “every knee shall bow” before God. We can choose to bow before him now in faith, or bow before him later in grief and regret, but “every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance” (Is 45:23). Stop questioning God. Turn to him. Trust him. He is God. He will keep his word. He is a good God. He is the only real God. He is “the LORD, and there is no other” (Is 45:5). Turn to him. Trust him. Rest in him.