Were I to guess at most-quoted Old Testament verses, Isaiah 40:8 might be at the top of the list. “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God will stand forever.” (ESV).
Being prone to the somber and melancholy, I generally hone in on the fading flower aspect of this verse, but last night, when we read Isaiah Chapter 40 in our mens’ bible study, I was struck more by the verses just above. (verse 6) “All flesh is grass (OK, there it is again, we are withering, but read on), and all its beauty is like flower of the field.” What struck me this time, instead, was Isaiah’s acknowledgement of the flower’s beauty before proceeding to his reminder that we are transients. The fact of a flower’s beauty accentuates the reality of my mortal self. In prior readings, I have just breezed past that consideration, preferring to mull over the juxtaposition of God’s permanence and our fleeting existence–so typical for me.
Blessed is the man who can, for a time, appreciate the beauty that God has created. This photograph, taken by Ella in Iceland in June a few years ago upon the occasion of our 25th wedding anniversary celebration, is perhaps my favorite family photograph. I acknowledge this is likely intertwined with associated (happy) anniversary memories, but it is fair to say the picture does indeed capture the beauty of the lupine, meadow buttercup, and wild grasses, contrasted with the more permanent church structure behind it–still temporal, but the image serves as a nice vision of both beauty and permanence nonetheless.
Isaiah 40:6-8
A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the
flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God
will stand forever.
