In The Word
Read: Isaiah 50:4-51:16
4 The Lord God has given Me the tongue of disciples,
So that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
5 The Lord God has opened My ear,
And I was not disobedient,
Nor did I turn back.
6 I gave My back to those who strike Me,
And My cheeks to those who pull out My beard;
I did not hide My face from insults and spitting.
7 For the Lord God helps Me,
Therefore, I am not disgraced;
Therefore, I have made My face like flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.
8 He who vindicates Me is near;
Who will contend with Me?
Let us stand up to each other.
Who has a case against Me?
Let him approach Me.
9 Behold, the Lord God helps Me;
Who is he who condemns Me?
Behold, they will all wear out like a garment;
A moth will eat them.
10 Who is among you who fears the Lord,
Who obeys the voice of His servant,
Who walks in darkness and has no light?
Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.
11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
Who encircle yourselves with flaming arrows,
Walk in the light of your fire
And among the flaming arrows you have set ablaze.
This you will have from My hand:
You will lie down in torment.
Israel Exhorted
51 “Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness,
Who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were cut,
And to the quarry from which you were dug.
2 Look to Abraham your father
And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;
When he was only one I called him,
Then I blessed him and multiplied him.”
3 Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion;
He will comfort all her ruins.
And He will make her wilderness like Eden,
And her desert like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
Thanksgiving and the sound of a melody.
4 “Pay attention to Me, My people,
And listen to Me, My nation;
For a law will go out from Me,
And I will bring My justice as a light of the peoples.
5 My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,
And My arms will judge the peoples;
The coastlands will wait for Me,
And they will wait expectantly for My arm.
6 Raise your eyes to the sky,
Then look to the earth beneath;
For the sky will vanish like smoke,
And the earth will wear out like a garment
And its inhabitants will die in the same way.
But My salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness will not fail.
7 Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
A people in whose heart is My Law;
Do not fear the taunting of people,
Nor be terrified of their abuses.
8 For the moth will eat them like a garment;
Yes, the moth will eat them like wool.
But My righteousness will be forever,
And My salvation to all generations.”
9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord;
Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago.
Was it not You who cut Rahab in pieces,
Who pierced the dragon?
10 Was it not You who dried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
Who made the depths of the sea a pathway
For the redeemed to cross over?
11 And the redeemed of the Lord will return
And come to Zion with joyful shouting,
And everlasting joy will be on their heads.
They will obtain gladness and joy,
And sorrow and sighing will flee away.
12 “I, I Myself, am He who comforts you.
Who are you that you are afraid of mortal man,
And of a son of man who is made like grass,
13 That you have forgotten the Lord your Maker,
Who stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth,
That you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor,
As he makes ready to destroy?
And where is the rage of the oppressor?
14 The exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, nor will his bread be lacking. 15 For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar (the Lord of armies is His name). 16 And I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
Who are you? What is it that identifies you from others? For Israel, it was not that they identified with God, but that God identified with them. The Lord Himself declared, “You are My people.” It was this identification that set Israel apart from all other nations, and it was this same identity that moved the heart of God to see their bondages and move with mercy toward them. God claimed them as His own, and even in Israel’s unfaithfulness, God’s very nature of faithfulness prevented Him from ever breaking his covenant with them. It was the fact that He identified them as His people that made the difference.
As Christians, we talk a lot about how we identify with Christ, and this is true; we should. But do we truly understand that identification with Christ is not simply words spoken; it’s intimate relationship to the point that Christ identifies with us? Even in scripture we see where many people will say “Jesus, I identified with you.” But Jesus will say, “Depart from me, for I never knew you. (Matthew 7:22-23)”
Our lives must be distinguished not by who we know, but who knows us. We can see an example of this kind of relationship in today’s reading, Isaiah 50:4-5. We are God’s people when we wake morning by morning with His voice, and we live every day to be with Him and to do His will. Then, all that we need will be supplied because we are God’s people. What is it today that sets you apart, the fact that you say you know Him, or that He intimately knows you?