Isaiah 40:27 (ASV)

Passage

Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from Jehovah, and the justice [due] to me is passed away from my God?

Nearby Context

Isaiah 40:25 To whom then will ye liken me, that I should be equal [to him]? saith the Holy One.

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 40:27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from Jehovah, and the justice [due] to me is passed away from my God?

Isaiah 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard? The everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding.

Isaiah 40:29 He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might he increaseth strength.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sayest", "thou", "jacob", "speakest", "israel", "jehovah", "justice", and "passed". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sayest" and "thou", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 26's "Lift up your eyes on high and..." into verse 28's "Hast thou not known hast thou not...", so "sayest" and "thou" belong inside that flow. In Isaiah context, the local focus is the Holy One of Israel, judgment and restoration, the servant of the LORD, and Zion's hope.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "sayest" and "thou" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.