“This is what the Lord says to his anointed,
    to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of
to subdue nations before him
    and to strip kings of their armour,
to open doors before him
    so that gates will not be shut:
2 I will go before you
    and will level the mountains;
I will break down gates of bronze
    and cut through bars of iron.
3 I will give you hidden treasures,
    riches stored in secret places,
so that you may know that I am the Lord,
    the God of Israel, who summons you by name.
4 For the sake of Jacob my servant,
    of Israel my chosen,
I summon you by name
    and bestow on you a title of honour,
    though you do not acknowledge me.
5 I am the Lord, and there is no other;
    apart from me there is no God.
I will strengthen you,
    though you have not acknowledged me,
6 so that from the rising of the sun
    to the place of its setting
people may know there is none besides me.
    I am the Lord, and there is no other.
7 I form the light and create darkness,
    I bring prosperity and create disaster;
    I, the Lord, do all these things.

It’s not about what your right hand can do, but who is holding it! (see verse 1).

”I will strengthen you…” (5b).

Cyrus, this great, mighty, fearsome ruler, is, to my mind, pictured almost like a child with a parent. The youngster, learning to ride a bike, is proud of his/her achievement, but they may not be aware of mum/dad just behind them, holding the bike steady.

Certain things are going to happen ”before” Cyrus (v.1b – note the repetition); but the repeated emphasis in the passage is on ”I, I…I will…I am…” (and I’ve tried to highlight this above). By far, the greater truth is on how God will use this man and work through him.

There are important lessons for us here too. Effective ministry is not so much me doing for God, as God doing through me. If that was true for a Cyrus who did not know God, it is certainly the case for we who do know Him.

 ”Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.” (Rom.15:17-19). Here is Paul, fully involved in preaching the gospel, but recognising that the real ‘accomplishments’ of his ministry are the Lord’s.

We are nothing without the anointing!