John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 40:26

"Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and for that he is strong in power, not one is lacking." — Isaiah 40:26 (ASV)

Lift up your eyes on high. The Prophet appears to linger too long on this subject, especially because it presents no obscurity. He repeats by many statements what is acknowledged by all: that God’s wonderful power and wisdom may be known from the beautiful order of the world.

But we ought to observe what I have already said: we are such wicked and ungrateful judges of divine power that we often imagine God to be inferior to some feeble human. We are more frequently terrified by the empty mask of a single person than we are strengthened by all the promises of God.

Therefore, the Prophet does not repeat in vain that God is deprived of His honor if His power does not lead us to warm admiration of Him. Nor does he expend his labor on what is superfluous, for we are so dull and sluggish that we need to be continually aroused and excited.

People see the heavens and the stars every day, but who is there that thinks about their Author? By nature, humans are formed in such a way that it is evident they were born to contemplate the heavens and thus to learn about their Author. For while God formed other animals to look downwards for pasture, He made humans alone erect and commanded them to look at what may be regarded as their own habitation.

This is also described beautifully by a poet: “While other animals look downwards towards the earth, He gave to humans a lofty face, and commanded them to look at heaven, and lift up their countenance erect towards the stars.” The Prophet therefore points out the wickedness of people who do not acknowledge what is openly placed before their eyes concerning God but, like cattle, fix their snouts in the earth. For, whenever we raise our eyes upwards with any degree of attention, it is impossible for our senses not to be struck with the majesty of God.

And see who hath created them. By mentioning the stars, he states more clearly that the wonderful order, shining brightly in the face of the heavens, loudly preaches that there is one God and Creator of the world. All who observe that amidst the vast number and variety of stars such a regular order and course is so well maintained will be compelled to make this acknowledgment.

For it is not by chance that each star has had its place assigned to it. Nor is it at random that they advance uniformly with such great speed, moving straight forward amidst numerous windings, so that they do not deviate a hairbreadth from the path God has marked out for them. Thus, their wonderful arrangement shows that God is the Author and worker, so that people cannot open their eyes without being compelled to behold the majesty of God in His works.

Bringing out by number their army. Under the word army, he includes two things: their almost infinite number and their admirable arrangement. For a small number of persons do not constitute an army, nor even a considerable number, if there are not also numerous companies.

Besides, it is not called an “army” when people are collected randomly, without selection, in a confused manner, or when they wander about in a disorderly state. Instead, an army exists where there are various classes of officers in charge of ten, a hundred, or a thousand people, and where the ranks are drawn up and arranged according to a fixed plan. Thus, the wonderful arrangement of the stars, and their certain courses, may justly be called an “army.”

By the word number, he means that God always has this “army” at His command. In an army, soldiers may wander and may not be immediately collected or brought back to their ranks by the general, even if the trumpet sounds. But it is otherwise with God. He always has His soldiers in readiness, and that “by number”; that is, He keeps a reckoning of them, so that not one of them is absent.

He will call to all of them by name. The same expression occurs (Psalms 147:4) and in the same sense. Some explain it to mean that God knows the number of the stars, which is unknown to us. But David and Isaiah meant something different: that God uses the stars according to His pleasure, just as one might command a servant, calling him by name. The same thing will afterwards be said of Cyrus, whose labors and service the Lord employed in delivering His people (Isaiah 45:1). In a word, it denotes the utmost submission and obedience, when he who is called instantly answers to his name.

By the greatness of his strength. Those who explain the preceding clause to mean that the Lord knows the number of the stars are also mistaken in supposing that “giving them their names” refers to their power and office. Others explain it that there is not a star that does not have its own power and energy, because the Lord gave them those qualities they would always possess.

But others connect these words with יקרא, (yikra,) “He shall call,” as if he had said, “The Lord is so powerful that all the stars listen to His commands.” A meaning that appears to me more appropriate, however, is that God is so powerful that as soon as He has issued an order, all the armies of the stars are ready to yield obedience. In this we have an extraordinary proof of His power: when those highly excellent creatures unhesitatingly submit to Him and, by executing His orders, testify that they acknowledge Him as their Author.

Not one shall be wanting. The word איש (ish) is applied by Hebrew writers not only to men and women but also to other animals and even to inanimate objects. For example, in a former passage (Isaiah 34:16), when speaking of the birds that would occupy those splendid abodes, he said that “not one should be wanting,” he used the word איש (ish). These words commend to us the power of God, that we may know that there is nothing in heaven or on earth that does not depend on His will and pleasure. Nothing, therefore, can be more shameful or unreasonable than to compare Him to idols, which are as worthless as anything can possibly be.