In that day, the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the House of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the Lord, the holy one of Israel in truth.
– Isaiah 10:20
Oh, I love this phrase. It’s twice mentioned, talking about God’s people not leaning on others, but leaning on Him. “Will lean on the Lord, the holy one of Israel in truth.”
Isaiah 10:20 reminds us that there is nothing we can do on our own strength.
And as I read that, I just want to encourage you today to do what Isaiah 10:20 is saying in your life today. Lean on the Lord. Just think about that imagery and what it means to lean on something. It’s to trust in something to hold you. Just think about leaning up against a wall. You’re trusting that wall is going to hold you there.
You can rest. Sometimes when you get tired, you lean on something, you can rest in the Lord as you lean on Him. You can know that He will hold you. I obviously don’t know all that you are walking through today. I presume many who are listening to this are walking through some hard times. But even if you’re walking through great times right now, the reality is there is nothing we can do in our own strength today, apart from leaning on the Lord. To live your life today, leaning on, trusting in, resting in God.
Let this be the way you view your life today in light of Isaiah 10:20, just leaning on the Lord at all times. Oh God, we praise you as the holy one, Almighty God upon whom we can lean all day long, in everything we do and everything we face. God, I do pray specifically for people who are walking through hard times right now, who need extra measures of strength and grace and peace and help and wisdom.
Isaiah 10:20 encourages us to lean on God’s strength, sufficiency, and wisdom.
God, I pray that you would cause their hearts today to lean on you in every way… For the wisdom you promised to provide… For the strength you promised to provide, for the hope you promised to give. Oh God, I pray that you would help them to rest in you, to trust in you. For any of us who are walking through hard days, and for all of us, no matter what kind of days we’re walking through today, God help us not to lean on ourselves today, not to trust in ourselves, not to rest in ourselves, and in light of Isaiah 10:20 not to lean on trust in, rest in, anything or anyone else in this world. God help us to lean on you alone, to trust in you alone.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, some in this or that in this world. No, God, we trust in the name of the Lord our God. We trust in you. We lean on you. And we praise you for your strength, for your sufficiency, for your wisdom, for your peace, for the rest that we find in you alone. And God, we pray you to help us in a world where we’re surrounded today by people who are leaning on all kinds of things in this world that cannot ultimately hold them.
God, help us to point them to Jesus as the one upon whom they can lean with their entire life for all of eternity. God, help us to share the gospel, to lead other people, to lean on you. Even as we interact with other followers of Jesus today… Help us to encourage them to lean on you, to trust in you, to rest in you.
Prayer for the Fedicca-Mohas Nubian People
And God, we pray that you would help us to spread the good news of your grace and your power and your love as the one upon whom people can lean for their lives for all of eternity.
God, we pray for the Fedicca-Mohas Nubian people of Egypt and other countries in Africa. This Muslim people group of over a million people who are leaning on false teachings about who you are. They are not leaning on you, Jesus as the rock upon whom their lives depend. God, we pray for the spread of the gospel to the Fedicca-Mohas Nubian people of Egypt. Please, oh God, may they be reached with the good news of your love… That they might lean on you for everlasting life. God, help us to lead others around us and around the world to lean on you… Even as today we live leaning on you alone. We pray all this according to your Word in Isaiah 10:20. In Jesus’ name, amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
