SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/15/2013
8:33 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The
Circumstances behind us
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Isaiah
40:1-11
Message of the
verses: We spoke in our last SD
about moving to the second part of the book of Isaiah which begins in chapter
forty. Dr. Wiersbe entitles chapter nine
in his commentary “Be Comforted” “How Great Thou Art!” and the first main
section will cover the 40th chapter of Isaiah, and he entitles this
first main point “God Is Greater than Our Circumstances.”
1 "Comfort, O comfort My people," says your
God. 2 “Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has
ended, That her iniquity has been removed, That she has received of the LORD’S
hand Double for all her sins."
“3 A voice is calling, "Clear the way
for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. 4
“Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And
let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; 5
Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, And all flesh will see it
together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken." 6 A voice says,
"Call out." Then he answered, "What shall I call out?" All
flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. 7 The
grass withers, the flower fades, When the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the
word of our God stands forever.
“9 Get yourself up on a high mountain, O
Zion, bearer of good news,
Lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; Lift it up, do not fear. Say to the
cities of Judah, "Here is your God!" 10 Behold, the Lord GOD will
come with might, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him
And His recompense before Him. 11 Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In
His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently
lead the nursing ewes.”
I believe that one of the things that I need to
understand as I look at these upcoming chapters is that they speak of the
children of Israel being in captivity in the nation of Babylon, now not all of
the chapters may be this way, but chapter 40 is for sure.
Now as the children of Israel look back from their
captivity they saw that they had failed, they had sinned and they truly needed
encouragement. Dr. Wiersbe points out
that they heard four voices that had special messages for these needy people.
The voice of pardon (vv. 1-2) God’s
children had sinned greatly for they had worshiped idols, they were immoral,
they did things to others in an unjust way, and they had not listened to the messengers
that God had sent to them. Yet God still
loved them because they were His children.
God had to deal with them according to their sins, and their sins were
great. The meaning of “double” does not mean God’s chastening were
unfair.
(2) The voice
of providence (vv. 3-5) We know that the ultimate fulfillment of this
section is the coming of John the Baptist, but the meaning for the Jews at this
time was the return to Jerusalem, and the way would be hard and therefore the
Lord would provide a “highway” for them to go on, and this theme of a highway
is seen at different times in the book of Isaiah.
(3) The Voice
of promise (vv. 6-8) Verse eight has to be one of the wonderful
memorized verses in all of Scripture.
Dr. Wiersbe writes: “All flesh is
grass!’ Assyria was gone, and now
Babylon was gone. Like the grass,
nations and their leaders fulfill their purposes and then fade away, but the
Word of God abides forever. (Pss.
37:1-2; 90:1-6; 103:15-18; 1 Peter 1:24-25).
As they began their long journey home, Israel could depend on God’s
promises. Perhaps they were especially
claiming 2 Chronicles 6:36-39.” “36 "When they sin against You (for there is
no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and deliver them to an
enemy, so that they take them away captive to a land far off or near, 37 if they take thought in the land where they
are taken captive, and repent and make supplication to You in the land of their
captivity, saying, ’We have sinned, we have committed iniquity and have acted
wickedly’; 38 if they return to You with
all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where
they have been taken captive, and pray toward their land which You have given
to their fathers and the city which You have chosen, and toward the house which
I have built for Your name, 39 then hear
from heaven, from Your dwelling place, their prayer and supplications, and
maintain their cause and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.”
(4) The voice
of peace (vv. 9-11). The passage mentions “Good News” and this speaks of
the Gospel. The good news for the
remnant of Israel at this time was they were returning to Israel, the good news
for us today is that the Lord Jesus Christ provides salvation for us as He
defeated sin and Satan on the cross.
Isaiah 61:1-3 says “ 1 The Spirit
of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the
afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to
captives And freedom to prisoners; 2 To
proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To
comfort all who mourn, 3 To grant those
who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness
instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So
they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He
may be glorified.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: The other
day while attending a men’s Bible Study a comment was made by a man there that
has meant a lot to me, something I think of often. He said that we as believers need to view
ourselves as God views us. I think that
this statement is very true for one thing and it also fits into the verses we
looked at this morning concerning the remnant of Israel, as they too needed to
see themselves as God saw them, for they had been disciplined by the Lord and
were forgiven for their iniquity. I too
have been forgiven by the Lord and He sees me through the shed blood of Jesus
Christ.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I want to see myself as God sees me.
Memory verses for the week: 2 Peter 1:1-8.
1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the
righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the
knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has
granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true
knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious
and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the
divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 5 Now for this very reason also, applying all
diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence,
knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control,
perseverance, 7 and in your perseverance godliness, and in your godliness,
brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing,
they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “Leviticus.”
Today’s Bible
Question: “Who said, ‘Thou art the
Christ the son of the Living God’?”
Answer in our next SD.
10/15/2013 9:56 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment