The Unresting God

by John D. Morris, Ph.D.

"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding." (Isaiah 40:28)

The second verse of the mighty hymn "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise" continues with a listing of some of His attributes. Of course, the full list of His attributes as recorded in Scripture would be very long, but many of them are pieced together here in this verse in a way which emphasizes God's mighty works on behalf of His creation and us, His children, and His utter self-sufficiency and power.

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might;
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above,
Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.

God's power is inexhaustible; He needs neither rest nor refreshment. He is not like the impotent Baal, "peradventure he sleepeth" (1 Kings 18:27), unable to hear and unable to answer. God needs nothing from us. "Who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen" (Romans 11:35-36).

He never wastes His energy nor His actions. "For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven" (Psalm 119:89). Several thoughts in the hymn are echoed by David's praise to his Lord. "Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast. How excellent is thy loving-kindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings" (Psalm 36:5-7). JDM

This article was originally published May, 2010. "The Unresting God", Institute for Creation Research, https://www.icr.org/article/5249/ (accessed April 25, 2024).