Dust on the Scales

Jerry Bridges in his book “The Joy of Fearing God” gave the following illustration. He made a reference to going to a grocery to buy fruit or vegetables. After picking out what you want you go to the checkout counter. You say to the clerk as she starts to weigh what you got, “Please wipe the dust off the scales before weighing my produce— I don’t want to pay for the dust.” Even the most frugal person in the world would not make such an absurd demand. A little dust would not make a difference in the price you would pay. But Isaiah used this same idea to compare God's greatness and superiority to the nations of the world.

“Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.” Isaiah 40:15

I hesitate to try to speak of God’s greatness because I am not capable to even come close to describing how infinitely great he is. My words are like the dust on the scales. We see nations today display their military might with parades and all sorts of fanfare. Nations  threaten nations with empty words. Leaders of countries show off their seemingly unlimited wealth with their palatial palaces, and their extravagant living. Throughout history empires have risen to greatness only to fall at the hands of another nation that seeks greatness. Politicians throughout history have made promises about how they are going to achieve greatness. We should think about this when a nation or an individual brags about becoming great or being great.

No one or nothing is great but God. Isaiah continues, “Before him all the nations are as nothing, they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.” (40:7)  If a nation is like a drop in a bucket, like Isaiah said, we might consider ourselves as just a drop of water in relation to all the the water in the oceans and seas of the earth, or one tiny grain of sand out of all the beaches of those seas when compared to God. Yet, God is so infinitely great that he knows each of us by name. He is aware of every tear that falls from our eyes. He cares for us and loves us as his precious children. He loves us so much that he gave his Son, Jesus Christ, to died for us so that we might be forgiven of our sin and have eternal life with him in heaven. Now, that is greatness. Think about that the next time you buy some bananas at the grocery!