Lord Give Me Strength, You Are My Strength

Text: Isaiah 33:2 (KJV) O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.

There are seasons when we don’t need God to give us more, but instead we need God to be our arm.

Because when our arms are tired:

When we have reach our limited.

When we have got to the end of the rope.

Even when what we are carrying, feels heavier than what we can hold.

We find ourself praying, Lord, give me the strength.

Somebody say it out loud: Lord, give me the strength.

Isaiah 33 is written during one of Judah’s most terrifying moments.

The Assyrian empire who is brutal, ruthless, and undefeated has surrounded Jerusalem.

King Hezekiah has already paid tribute.

This was an attempt to buy time, to avoid bloodshed, and spare Jerusalem from a immediate destruction.

If we were to examine the text we would see that this tribute was extremely costly.

In fact Hezekiah paid:

300 talents of silver

30 talents of gold.

He even stripped gold from the doors of the Temple in (2nd Kings 18:15–16).

This shows how desperate the situation was.

The king sacrificed treasure to save lives.

But tribute didn’t bring any peace.

The enemy promised peace, but they have broken their promise. Have you ever had any broken promises. They promised you love but all you received is hate. They promised you the moon but all you received was the darkness that the moon could not reflect. They promised you silver and gold, but all you received was fake gold, fake silver and fake promises.

When we look at the text, we see that Judah is outnumbered, outmatched, and out of options.

So, this chapter is not about a victory shout, instead it’s about a desperation of prayer.

Look at Isaiah, Isaiah doesn’t ask for weapons.

He doesn’t ask for alliances.

Instead He asks for strength.

He doesn’t request an escape plan.

He doesn’t negotiate with man.

He doesn’t rely on political power.

He goes straight to God and says, Give me what I need to stand.

I must go deeper, watch this:

He doesn’t ask for soldiers.

He doesn’t ask for a strategy.

He doesn’t ask for substitutes.

He doesn’t ask God to change the enemy.

He doesn’t ask God to fix the system.

He doesn’t ask God to move the mountain.

I love it, because:

He doesn’t cry for backup.

He doesn’t beg for reinforcements.

He doesn’t wait on outside help.

He doesn’t ask for an explanation.

He doesn’t ask for the timeline for change.

He doesn’t ask why this is happening.

He ask for strength.

Because when God is your strength, you can survive what you can’t stop.

He asks for strength, because strength keeps you when help can’t reach you.

He asks God to strengthen him, because when God strengthens you, you can stand anywhere God places you. And PTMC I think somebody that going through this morning you ought to scream Lord, give me the strength.

He reaches up and says, if you are my strength, I’m already enough.

He simply whispers, Lord, give me the strength to make it through.

He goes on to say Lord, be our arm every morning.

In other words: we can’t even lift ourselves without you.

O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee.

This is not a rushed prayer.

This is not impatience.

This is faith that has been stretched.

Here it is: waiting doesn’t mean weakness.

Waiting means we must trust God more than our timing.

Tell your neighbor: I’m still waiting.

Be thou their arm every morning.

In Hebrew, the word arm (zeroa?) represents:

Strength

Power

Ability

The means to act

Isaiah is saying: Lord, I don’t just need help occasionally, but I need you daily.

Yesterday’s strength won’t work today.

Last season’s oil won’t carry this burden.

What carried you then cannot sustain you now.

This moment demands a fresh supply, because today’s weight requires today’s grace.

The strength that got you through then, won’t hold you up now.

In this season we need new oil, because the load has changed.

In this season we need new oil, because old oil measures can’t handle new demands.

In this season we need new oil, because God is doing a new work in a familiar place.

You can’t survive today on yesterday’s anointing. God is pouring present tense power, for a right now burden.

Every morning I need fresh strength.

Somebody shout: I need Him every morning.

He says. Our salvation also in the time of trouble.

Notice the order:

Strength before deliverance

Endurance before escape

God doesn’t always remove trouble immediately, sometimes He strengthens you inside it.

Because if God delivers you without strengthening you, you will collapse the next time trouble comes.