Praise and PrayerMy Understanding: Isaiah began this portion of his writing saying, “I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which he is to be praised,” and then he went on to tell of how God was their Savior and their Redeemer, i.e. he had made a covenant with the people to provide for them a way of salvation from their sins. He saved them and he carried them all their days, i.e. he watched over them – leading, guiding, protecting, nurturing, counseling, and forgiving. He made them his own people and he was their God.
7 I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD,
the deeds for which he is to be praised,
according to all the LORD has done for us—
yes, the many good things he has done
for the house of Israel,
according to his compassion and many kindnesses.
8 He said, “Surely they are my people,
sons who will not be false to me”;
and so he became their Savior.
9 In all their distress he too was distressed,
and the angel of his presence saved them.
In his love and mercy he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them
all the days of old.
10 Yet they rebelled
and grieved his Holy Spirit.
So he turned and became their enemy
and he himself fought against them.
11 Then his people recalled the days of old,
the days of Moses and his people—
where is he who brought them through the sea,
with the shepherd of his flock?
Where is he who set
his Holy Spirit among them,
12 who sent his glorious arm of power
to be at Moses’ right hand,
who divided the waters before them,
to gain for himself everlasting renown,
13 who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in open country,
they did not stumble;
14 like cattle that go down to the plain,
they were given rest by the Spirit of the LORD.
This is how you guided your people
to make for yourself a glorious name.
15 Look down from heaven and see
from your lofty throne, holy and glorious.
Where are your zeal and your might?
Your tenderness and compassion are withheld from us.
16 But you are our Father,
though Abraham does not know us
or Israel acknowledge us;
you, O LORD, are our Father,
our Redeemer from of old is your name.
17 Why, O LORD, do you make us wander from your ways
and harden our hearts so we do not revere you?
Return for the sake of your servants,
the tribes that are your inheritance.
18 For a little while your people possessed your holy place,
but now our enemies have trampled down your sanctuary.
19 We are yours from of old;
but you have not ruled over them,
they have not been called by your name.
Then God sent his Son, God the Son, Jesus Christ, to the earth to take upon himself human flesh, to suffer as we suffer and to be tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, so that he could become our faithful and compassionate High Priest who would sympathize with us in our weaknesses and who would intercede for us to God the Father. He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. He came to his own, but his own did not receive him. He was mocked, made fun of, criticized, falsely accused, spit upon, scourged, beaten, blasphemed against, forsaken, betrayed and denied by his closest companions, and then he was hung on a cross as a common criminal for your sins and mine. He took the sins of the entire world upon him, crucified them with him, buried them with him, and then he rose from the grave, triumphing over death, hell, Satan and sin so that we could go free from the ultimate penalty of sin (eternal separation from God and eternal punishment and torment in hell), and so we could be free from bondage to and the control of sin over our lives on a day-to-day basis. He came to set us free!!
Even though God had made Israel a people of his own and he had become their God, their Savior and their Redeemer, they rebelled against him and they grieved his Holy Spirit. We are not all that different today. Even though Jesus died so that we could go free from sin and we have his great and precious promises given to us, yet we still choose sometimes to keep sinning and to keep going our own way. When we choose to continue in sin, and when we make the choice to go our own way, instead of following after our Lord Jesus and his teachings, we grieve the Holy Spirit of God who dwells within those of us who are God’s children through faith in Jesus Christ. It is God’s desire that we all walk in fellowship with him, that we obey him, that we desire to serve him in all that we do, and that we make him our “first love,” forsaking sin and our man-made “idols,” i.e. whatever takes the place of God in our hearts and becomes our “first love” and compassion and desire. We, as well, must forsake our own self-wills, becoming submissive to the will of God in our lives. So, when we rebel against God by returning to our lives of sin and self-will, we grieve him.
Because God’s people strayed from him and rebelled against him by their life choices, he came against them in judgment. He will do that with us, too. The Bible teaches us in the New Testament that God will discipline those he loves and that we are to regard judgment as his discipline upon us in order to bring us back into a right relationship with him. The New Testament teaches that judgment begins with the family of God. The letters to the seven churches in Revelation warn the churches against rebellion against God and failure to repent of their sins, and judgment is promised to them if they do not repent of their sin. So, just because we are the church and we have received salvation via Jesus’ death and resurrection does not mean we will not have to face God’s judgment and discipline when we choose to rebel against him. He will use his arm of correction against us in order to humble us and to get us to return to him if we refuse his words and his messengers and his calls to repentance. And, God’s purpose in divine correction (judgment; discipline) is so that we will return to him and so that he can return to us and can restore us to a right relationship with him and we can share, once again, in intimate fellowship with him, as he had planned.
When the Israelites faced God’s hand of judgment against them, they remembered their God and how he had led them, protected them, watched over them, and had nurtured them, etc. They recalled all the many ways he had provided for them in the past. And, they called upon him to do for them as he had done before. They saw that God’s previous tenderness and compassion were withheld from them. They wondered why God had allowed them to go astray, and they called upon him to return to them as their Savior and Redeemer. They recognized how they had once been a blessed people of God but now their enemies were trampling their holy city and God’s sanctuary.
God created each one of us with a free will. We are not puppets with God pulling all the strings. We do not lose our free wills once we believe in Jesus Christ. So, God will allow us to go our own ways for a time if we choose to forsake him and to rebel against him. He will keep speaking tenderly and compassionately to our hearts, calling to us to return to him, to repent of our sin, and to choose to walk humbly before him in obedience to his commands. Yet, it grieves him greatly when we choose to go our own way and to rebel. It pains him to see us living according to our sinful patterns of behavior, because he knows sin kills and destroys lives, which is why he loved us so much that he died on the cross so that we could go free. He is not an ogre who just wants to spoil all our fun. He knows what we need and what is best for us because he created us, and he wants us to be free so that we can walk in harmony and in fellowship with him and so we can enjoy all his many blessings he has for us. This is why he keeps calling out to us to repent and to return to him. If we do not repent, he will judge us in order to bring us back and to revive our hearts once again.
2 Chronicles 7:13-15 says: “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.”
I pray that we, as the church, will not wait until God has to send judgment upon us before we, as his people, humble ourselves, pray, seek his face, and turn from our wicked ways. If you, today, know that your heart is not right with God and you know you are not living to please him but you are living to please your flesh and he is taking a back seat to the other “gods” in your life, then I pray you will choose to turn from your sin today and to walk humbly and obediently before your Lord all the rest of your days.
For the One I Love / An Original Work / May 16, 2011
I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard… (Is. 5:1a)
I’ll sing for the One I love
A song about His great love.
He died for our sins,
He rose from the grave,
And He reigns triumphantly.
He entered the throne of heav’n,
Where He lives to intercede.
I’ll sing for the One I love,
A song of His forgiveness.
His blood paid the price,
So we could be free
To live in victory.
He conquered our sin in death,
So we’d live for Him instead.
I’ll sing for the One I love,
A song of His soon return.
He’s soon coming back
To receive His own,
Who wait for Him patiently.
He makes us His holy bride,
Prepared for her husband, King!
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
Song
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