Repairer of Broken Walls

Saturday, February 09, 2013, 6:00 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Have Thine Own Way, Lord” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Isaiah 58:1-12 (NIV 1984):

“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.

    Raise your voice like a trumpet.

Declare to my people their rebellion

    and to the house of Jacob their sins.

For day after day they seek me out;

    they seem eager to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that does what is right

    and has not forsaken the commands of its God.

They ask me for just decisions

    and seem eager for God to come near them.

‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,

    ‘and you have not seen it?

Why have we humbled ourselves,

    and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please

    and exploit all your workers.

Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,

    and in striking each other with wicked fists.

You cannot fast as you do today

    and expect your voice to be heard on high.

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,

    only a day for a man to humble himself?

Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed

    and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?

Is that what you call a fast,

    a day acceptable to the Lord?

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

    and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

    and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry

    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—

when you see the naked, to clothe him,

    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

    and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness will go before you,

    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;

    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,

    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness,

    and your night will become like the noonday.

The Lord will guide you always;

    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

    and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

    like a spring whose waters never fail.

Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins

    and will raise up the age-old foundations;

you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,

    Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

The Declaration

God told Isaiah to shout it aloud, to not hold back, but to raise his voice like a trumpet, and to declare to God’s people their rebellion. Psalm 96:3 counsels us to declare God’s glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. Micah said that he was filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, to Israel his sin. Paul asked for prayer that he may declare the gospel fearlessly, as he should. And, Peter said that we, as followers of Jesus Christ, are God’s chosen people, “a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (see 1 Pet. 2:9). And, John said: “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

All of these “declarations” have the same central focus – God and his holiness – and same central message – turn from sin, obey the Lord, trust in him, commit your way to him, follow him, forsake your hypocrisies, be transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God, and walk in the Spirit, no longer conformed to the ways of this world, and no longer following your own evil desires. This is the thrust of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny (disallow) himself, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and self) and follow (obey) him (see Luke 9:23-25). This is not optional. This is a requirement! And, in Eph. 4:17-24 we read that the way in which we come to know Christ is by forsaking (dying to; putting off) our old lives of sin, by being transformed of the Spirit of God in heart and mind and by putting on our new self (new life), “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” This is the essence of the gospel, and this is what Isaiah was called to declare to God’s people.

The Rebellion

Isaiah was to declare to God’s people, then the nation of Israel, today the church, their rebellion and their sins. They sought God out daily, and they seemed (appeared) eager to know his ways, as if they were truly a people who did what was right, and as though they had not forsaken God’s commands. They offered sacrifice and went through the motions of religious piety, and they thought God should be pleased with them, and that he should answer their prayers. They gave superficial honor to God through religious sacrificial acts, but their hearts were far from God, so their acts were hypocritical.

Today the people of God are his church, the body of Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit. And, these same truths spoken of here are repeated throughout the New Testament in various ways. God has not changed. He is the same from beginning to end. He still wants his people to forsake their sins, to call on him in truth and humility, to allow his Spirit to transform our hearts, and to make us new creatures in Christ Jesus. He still desires that we walk in righteousness, holiness and purity, committing our ways to the Lord. And, he still wants us to obey his commands (Christ’s commands), which is how we show we love him (see 1 John). He doesn’t want our religious acts or activities that we decide to do for him. He wants us as living sacrifices on the altar, holy and pleasing to God, which is our reasonable service of worship to him (see Ro. 12:1-2).

The people of God went through the motions of following after God, but that is all it was. And, that is where many Christians are today, as well. They give off the appearance of following after God, and they appear religious on the outside, but in reality they are still living to please themselves. And, they do not love others with Christ’s love. They give honor to the flesh of man, but they mock and criticize those who are truly following after the Lord and who are doing what he said to do. They refuse to forgive others their offenses and make it their practice to speak ill of those with whom they contend or with whom they disagree. They are actively involved in the institution of church, and they may even be involved in multiple ministries within the church, yet they fail to obey God and to walk in his ways. In fact, many of them flatly just ignore God and pay him no attention at all.

Much of today’s institutional church has turned away from pure devotion to God/Jesus Christ, and has turned to become followers of men, man-made religion and religious business marketing techniques and schemes for the purpose of attracting the world to the church. Many “worship” services are nothing more than places of good, clean entertainment. Bible studies have been replaced with book studies of men. The gospel is being diluted, and it is being taught that repentance and obedience to Christ are not necessary components of believing faith for salvation. Thus, the church in America, I believe, is on a spiritual decline. Homosexuality is being tolerated and accepted. A vast number of preachers are addicted to pornography. Many are failing to lead their people spiritually to holiness and purity. And God is calling attention to this spiritual decline and is calling his people to repentance, to renewed faith, and to holiness. He said we cannot continue as we have been and still expect our voices to be heard on high.

God Desires

He desires that we loose the chains of injustice. In other words, we should no longer call evil good and good evil, and treat those who are walking in truth, and who are leading others to do so, as though they are weird, while we honor and value those who are walking according to the flesh. He desires that we untie the cords of the yoke and set the oppressed free. In other words, he wants us to confront sin in sinful man, instead of placating sin and/or suppressing the truth of the gospel which calls for repentance, and he wants us to teach repentance, because that is the only way we will truly be set free of the yoke of sin. Jesus died so we would be free from slavery to sin and so we would be free to walk in righteousness. It is no grace at all if we are still left in our sins. John said that if we continue to live a sinful lifestyle, we have not really come to know Christ (see 1 John).

God also desires that we share our food with the hungry, and this includes sharing our spiritual food with the spiritually hungry. When we keep the word of God to ourselves and we do not give it out to others, it is the same as seeing a starving person while we are gorging ourselves with plates full of food and doing nothing to help. He also desires that we provide shelter for the poor wanderer, which also applies to showing people the way to the cross – to Christ, our shelter.

Obviously both of these, in a physical realm, require much wisdom and discernment because not everyone who says he is hungry is truly hungry, or is truly wanting food, nor is everyone who is homeless or in need of shelter truly thus because of unfortunate circumstances out of his or her own control. There are those within our society who abuse the generosity of others, and so when we help, we might be helping someone continue in harmful ways, yet we also should not ignore them, but should inquire of our Lord as to what to do. I believe he will help us to see the true needs, and to meet those needs if we are willing.

Yet, when we do what is right in the eyes of the Lord, and cease to do what is right in our own eyes according to our own desires, then the Lord said that our light will break forth like the dawn, our healing will quickly appear, our righteousness (the Lord’s within us) will go before us, and the glory of the Lord will be our rear guard. In other words, God will revive our hearts, he will renew us in mind, heart and spirit, he will restore us to himself, he will guide us and lead us in the way we should go, he will watch out for us, he will answer our prayers, he will satisfy all our needs, and we, as the people of God will have a new outlook and approach to the gathering together of God’s saints. In other words, we will return to God’s original design for his church, and we will repair and restore what was broken in the church - in our teaching, in our services, and in our relationships, one with another.

Have Thine Own Way, Lord / Adelaide A. Pollard, 1862-1934

George C. Stebbins, 1846-1945 / Tune: ADELAIDE, Meter: 54.54 D

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

Thou art the potter, I am the clay.

Mold me and make me after Thy will,

While I am waiting, yielded and still.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

Search me and try me, Master, today!

Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,

As in Thy presence humbly I bow.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

Wounded and weary, help me I pray!

Power, all power, surely is Thine!

Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

Hold o'er my being absolute sway.

Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see

Christ only, always, living in me!