Lift Up Your Eyes

Lift Up Your Eyes: Finding Comfort in the God Who Names the Stars

by Rich Amick

Sometimes we become so focused on what is happening around us that we lose sight of the One who is above it all. We see our problems, uncertainty, and circumstances we cannot control—and we may even wonder whether God sees what we are experiencing. Isaiah 40:26 gives us a different perspective.

“Raise your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who brings out their multitude by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing.”
(Isaiah 40:26, NASB2020)

Look Up and Remember Who Created the Heavens

Isaiah directs our gaze away from ourselves and toward the heavens. The countless stars are not independent powers ruling our lives—they are God’s creation. Isaiah notes that God “brings out their host by number” and “calls them all by name.” Because the Hebrew word for "host" refers to an army, the text pictures a Commander leading His forces in perfect order. The universe is beyond our comprehension, but every single star answers to God's voice.

The God Who Rules the Stars Has Not Forgotten His People

This truth becomes deeply profound when we look at the context of verse 27. Whether Isaiah was preparing his people for the coming Babylonian captivity or speaking to them in the midst of it, the message is the same: God’s people were in exile hundreds of miles from home, with Jerusalem in ruins and the holy Temple burned to the ground. In Babylon, they cried out in despair, lamenting that their path was hidden from the Lord and their suffering ignored by God. But Isaiah redirects their gaze to the night sky, essentially arguing: Look up at what God has made. Consider the immense power and exhaustive knowledge required to sustain the cosmos. Now, reconsider the impossible idea that He has somehow lost track of you. (Cf. Matt. 10:29–31.) If God’s attention never slips from a single star, it will never slip from your life.

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is unsearchable.”
(Isaiah 40:28, NASB2020)

If God knows and commands the innumerable stars, His people’s circumstances are certainly not hidden from Him. (Cf. 1 Pet. 5:7.) For the people of Isaiah’s day, looking into the heavens carried more significance than it often does for us. In the ancient Near Eastern world, including Babylon, the sun, moon, planets, and stars were closely associated with the gods and were believed to have significance for events on earth. The Babylonians carefully observed the heavens, looking for signs that they believed could reveal the will or activity of the gods. Against this background, Isaiah’s command to “raise your eyes on high and see” takes on added force. The heavenly bodies that surrounding nations associated with divine powers were not themselves gods. They were created by Yahweh and remained under His authority. He brings out their multitude, numbers them, and calls them by name. The God of Israel is not one power among many competing for control of the heavens—He is the Creator of the heavens..

From Looking Up to Waiting on the Lord

Isaiah 40:26 teaches us that God is greater than our circumstances. When we are discouraged, we tend to look downward—at the problem, the uncertainty, or our own limitations. Isaiah tells us to look up. Look at creation. Consider the One who made it.

Our understanding is finite; His is unsearchable. Our strength fails; He does not grow weary. We may lose sight of what God is doing, but God never loses sight of His people. The God who cannot lose track of the stars has not lost track of us. (Cf. Heb. 4:13.)

“Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”
(Isaiah 40:31, NASB2020)

Look up. Remember who God is. Trust Him. Wait for Him. The God who created the heavens is not an absent Creator. He is the everlasting God who knows His creation and cares for His people. So when discouragement causes you to wonder whether God sees you, follow Isaiah’s instruction: Lift up your eyes. Remember the God who calls the stars by name—and remember that He has not forgotten His people.