Hands of the Lord – Part 2

Hands of the Lord (Isaiah 64:8) – Part 2

Today’s devotion is an excerpt from a Bible Study I recently preached.

Isaiah 64:8, “But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”

1. Sympathetic Hands (Hands 1:41-42)
In the midst of all the sorrow there is in the world, I would like to suggest to you that His hands are sympathetic hands. In the Gospel of Mark, Mark 1:41-42, “And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.” Jesus put His hand out and touched him. Can you put yourself in the place of that leper for just a few seconds? Try to sense, even in a small way, how he must have felt, how long he had gone with nobody touching him, how long he had gone since anyone expressed any sympathy. But here was Jesus putting out His hand, saying, “I understand.”

It is interesting to me that the compassionate hands of Christ, the sympathetic hands of Christ, are mentioned in the very last book of the Bible and as one of His last acts of all that are recorded in the Word of God. In Revelation 21:3-4, “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Friends, our Lord Jesus is sympathetic with your problem; He is sympathetic with your need today. He understands.

2. Sufficient (Marks 8:22-24) His hands are sufficient hands. Mark 8:22-24, “And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.”

Let's pause for a moment. Suppose Jesus had stopped there. That man would have gone through life with poor eyesight. He wouldn't have been blind, but he would have poor eyesight. But notice, in Mark 8:25, when the man told Jesus that, “After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.”

He never does anything halfway. He never leaves a job unfinished. He never leaves a task incomplete. He has given a precious promise in Psalm 89:33-35, “Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.” Did you notice what He said? I will not permit My faithfulness to fail. His hands are sustaining hands; they will always be there. He will not stop until He has finished the job.

3. Strengthening Hands (Luke 24:50-51)
Luke 24:50-51, “And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.” Matthew 28:18-20, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

When we look at these closing verses of Luke, we find the Lord bidding farewell to the disciples, but the encouragement from the angels that were standing by as the Lord departed was, "…this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.." This conversation is recorded in Acts 1:11. As the Lord faded into the clouds, the disciples were not weeping, they were rejoicing because the Lord was risen, His message was verified and true, and He was coming again someday. For 2,000 years, Christians have tasted the same joy as they await the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. One day soon, the promise, "I shall return!" will be fulfilled.

I Thessalonians 4:16-17, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

Notice: The Lord Jesus was going away. He was going back to Heaven. He held up His hands–don't forget these hands; they will always be with you. Matthew 28:18 “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth…” These hands will provide it for you. They are strengthening hands.

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