Isaiah — Chapter 46
Synopsis Capitis
Synopsis: The fall of Babylon's gods — Bel and Nebo (v.1-2) contrasted with the living God who carries Israel (v.3-4). The idol must be carried by the people; God carries the people. Key verse: v.4, 'Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you; I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.' Lapide reads the contrast as the fundamental difference between false religion (man carries God) and true religion (God carries man).
Verse 4
Usque ad senectam ego ipse, et usque ad canos ego portabo
Even to old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you — God's faithfulness through every stage of life. Lapide: unlike the idols that must be borne by their worshippers (a burden), God bears His worshippers — in creation, in providence, in grace. Applied to final perseverance: God's carrying reaches even to the 'gray hairs' of the soul's last years, sustaining it through the trials of old age and the final agony. The principle: those who have served God from youth will be sustained by Him even in the weakness of extreme old age.