Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

Our title says it all.  The consequences of one’s actions will have to be dealt with eventually.  God is sovereign and God is just.  He allows us to choose our thinking and behaviors but He chooses the consequences of our behavior that hurts, robs, kills, betrays, mocks the innocent.  Babylon desecrated the temple, took over the land God gave to His People and robbed them of their dignity and pride.  The leaders of Babylon marched them from their homeland, stripped bare of all possessions, and exiled them to live as prisoners of war, serving them as slaves.

Since our war is not with “flesh and blood” ultimately, as Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12, we must realize that even in this time and place, the cruel Babylonians were driven by the inner force of God’s enemy, Satan, which is evident by all the horrific behaviors dealt to God’s chosen.  God wanted to get the attention of His People but Babylon went too far.  Remember God is still in control.  “What goes around, come around”—the Babylonians will pay for their overachievements in evil. 

All that was meant for pure evil from the Babylonians was used by God for showing all people who is still Sovereign—over all and in all.  God’s original purpose was to turn His People back to Him and to all that is good, right and the best for them.  His People had all but forgotten God, going about their lives without Him and His protective guidance.  God chooses the consequences of that kind of living without Him.

The consequences of this lack of God in our lives leads us to believe we can do without God as we step out from under his “wings of protection.” (Psalm 91:4) When we step away from God, we risk all that God provides with protection. We become vulnerable to the evil one who wants to swoop in and destroy.

Realizing the consequences of Babylon’s fall, Isaiah experienced pain like a “woman in labor” and felt crushed like grain in a mill.  Evil causes pain.  Babylon will fall to the Assyrian army’s advances who are even more powerful.  The betrayer is betrayed.

Isaiah 21, The Message

The Betrayer Betrayed

^1-4 A Message concerning the desert at the sea:

As tempests drive through the Negev Desert,
    coming out of the desert, that terror-filled place,
A hard vision is given me:
    The betrayer betrayed, the plunderer plundered.
Attack, Elam!
    Lay siege, Media!
Persians, attack!
    Attack, Babylon!
I’ll put an end to
    all the moaning and groaning.
Because of this news I’m doubled up in pain,
    writhing in pain like a woman having a baby,
Baffled by what I hear,
    undone by what I see.
Absolutely stunned,
    horror-stricken,
I had hoped for a relaxed evening,
    but it has turned into a nightmare.

⁵ The banquet is spread,
    the guests reclining in luxurious ease,
Eating and drinking, having a good time,
    and then, “To arms, princes! The fight is on!”

^6-9 The Master told me, “Go, post a lookout.
    Have him report whatever he spots.
When he sees horses and wagons in battle formation,
    lines of donkeys and columns of camels,
Tell him to keep his ear to the ground,
    note every whisper, every rumor.”
Just then, the lookout shouted,
    “I’m at my post, Master,
Sticking to my post day after day
    and all through the night!
I watched them come,
    the horses and wagons in battle formation.
I heard them call out the war news in headlines:
    ‘Babylon fallen! Fallen!
And all its precious god-idols
    smashed to pieces on the ground.’”

¹⁰ Dear Israel, you’ve been through a lot,
    you’ve been put through the mill.
The good news I get from God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
    the God of Israel, I now pass on to you.

* * *

^11-12 A Message concerning Edom:

A voice calls to me
    from the Seir mountains in Edom,
“Night watchman! How long till daybreak?
    How long will this night last?”
The night watchman calls back,
    “Morning’s coming,
But for now it’s still night.
    If you ask me again, I’ll give the same answer.”

* * *

^13-15 A Message concerning Arabia:

You’ll have to camp out in the desert badlands,
    you caravans of Dedanites.
Haul water to the thirsty,
    greet fugitives with bread.
Show your desert hospitality,
    you who live in Tema.
The desert’s swarming with refugees
    escaping the horrors of war.

^16-17 The Master told me, “Hang on. Within one year—I’ll sign a contract on it!—the arrogant brutality of Kedar, those hooligans of the desert, will be over, nothing much left of the Kedar toughs.” The God of Israel says so.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Psalm 91

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
    will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
    he is my God, and I trust him.
For he will rescue you from every trap
    and protect you from deadly disease.
He will cover you with his feathers.
    He will shelter you with his wings.
    His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
    nor the arrow that flies in the day.
Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
    nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
Though a thousand fall at your side,
    though ten thousand are dying around you,
    these evils will not touch you.
Just open your eyes,
    and see how the wicked are punished.

If you make the Lord your refuge,
    if you make the Most High your shelter,
no evil will conquer you;
    no plague will come near your home.
For he will order his angels
    to protect you wherever you go.
They will hold you up with their hands
    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
You will trample upon lions and cobras;
    you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!

The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
    I will protect those who trust in my name.
When they call on me, I will answer;
    I will be with them in trouble.
    I will rescue and honor them.
I will reward them with a long life
    and give them my salvation.”

Believe.  Really believe that what God says is real.  Believe Him when He says what He will do for us.  Believe that God is God, the One and Only—and realize we are not God. 

Believe that He is Truth in a world of people who spread the lies of the “father of lies”.  This father of lies, master of manipulation, and temporary ruler of this world, and everything opposite of God battles God for our souls.  Jesus described Satan as the one who fell from heaven, kicked out actually, for wanting to be God.  It is this evil being that is at war with God for our souls.  This betrayer of God will be betrayed and does not win in the end.  Jesus is the Victor over all evil.  To believe with all our hearts, minds and souls in our Victor, makes us victors! 

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.”  2 Corinthians 2;14

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 8:31-39

Lord,

You are God.  Jesus You are the One and Only sent to save us. There is no one like You.  There is no love greater than your love.  Why believe anyone else but you?  I don’t.  I believe in You.  I believe You live in me.  I believe you provide all that I need and more.  I believe you saved me and made me your own.  And I am grateful, so eternally grateful.

In Jesus Name, Amen

After reading this passage, my first thought was to put myself in the place of Isaiah.  I shudder at the thought of being physically exposed, walking around naked while people mock me and treat me as though I was a crazed and confused wounded animal.  This would be the ultimate in humiliation, right?  But because God told Isaiah to do it, he did it—for three years!  For three years, the prophet dressed like a prisoner of war, wearing only a loincloth, to demonstrate his message. It was a sign of things to come. 

God has a way of allowing us to encounter challenging situations to deal with before we deliver His message of truth to others. I have often asked God why must I live it before I speak it.  His answer is clear.  A message from God to tell others is better received from someone who has felt, seen, heard and walked the message themselves.  “Been there, done that” with lessons learned, brings out our humility, compassion, love, empathy and true sympathy for others who are currently living in the confusion and chaos of challenging circumstances. God wants us to “feel” the message He asks us to deliver with a humbled heart.   

Our real hope—all that we stake our lives upon, trust with all that is in us in faith, is exposed when troubles push us against the wall with what seems to be no place to go and nowhere to turn.

God is asking Isaiah to rid himself of all that protects him except from God alone.  Isaiah will experience what it will feel like to be exposed as an exile with everything taken away—including his dignity and pride. 

Isaiah 20, The Message

Exposed to Mockery and Jeers

20 ^1-2 In the year the field commander, sent by King Sargon of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought and took it, God told Isaiah son of Amoz, “Go, take off your clothes and sandals,” and Isaiah did it, going about naked and barefooted.

^3-6 Then God said, “Just as my servant Isaiah has walked around town naked and barefooted for three years as a warning sign to Egypt and Ethiopia, so the king of Assyria is going to come and take the Egyptians as captives and the Ethiopians as exiles. He’ll take young and old alike and march them out of there naked and barefooted, exposed to mockery and jeers—the bared buttocks of Egypt on parade! Everyone who has put hope in Ethiopia and expected help from Egypt will be thrown into confusion. Everyone who lives along this coast will say, ‘Look at them! Naked and barefooted, shuffling off to exile! And we thought they were our best hope, that they’d rescue us from the king of Assyria. Now what’s going to happen to us? How are we going to get out of this?’”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW WILL WE RESPOND?

Isaiah, as all other prophets of God, reveal our real, everlasting, relentless, assured and “best hope” in Jesus throughout their messages.  Jesus who is our only Hope, the One and Only who saved us lived the message God told him to preach, too.  Jesus was stripped of his clothes, beaten beyond physical recognition, then marched through the streets with a cross on his shoulders.  He was mocked, jeered, gossiped about, and spit upon.  He came to earth in humbled form.  He lived the message of humility that Micah, the prophet, spoke who clearly said what God expects of us.  “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

Jesus did nothing of significance on earth without directions from His Father.  After getting instructions from God in daily prayer conversations, Jesus then said what God told Him to say and did what God told him to do.  “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does…”John 5;19-20

So, if Jesus, Son of God, does nothing without going to God, who are we to think we can do life with going to God first?  Just a thought, but a heart stopping thought…

For even greater emphasis and bears repeating, Jesus tells his followers, “By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.”  John 5:30 It is in this same chapter, Jesus tells us he doesn’t seek the glory of man but of God alone.  His goal is to please the One who sent Him, the One and Only God, our Father, who loved the world (yes, all of us) so much He sent His own Son to save us from our sins.  Jesus, Our Hope.  Our only Hope.

I pray that our troubles expose where our real Hope lies—in Jesus Christ, Savior and our Lord.  When we are laid bare in humiliating circumstances beyond our control, may all we are, think, do or say be prompted by God, in the Name of Jesus, His Son, for His glory.  Yes!  And Amen!

“And I will be with you always…” –Jesus

Once we realize that nothing, absolutely nothing, escapes the notice of God, peace comes—right in the middle of our current chaos, our challenges of each day and our wonderings about how it will all turn out.  God is in control, even when it doesn’t feel like it or look like it.  God knows.  God has always known.  God is sovereign—He has supreme power and has the final say in all that He has created.  Be still (let go) and know God.  We are not alone.

So, our question for today is this: 

Do we really believe God? 

Do we really believe that what God says and does is really real?  Our thoughtful response will be reflected in our behaviors.  Our knowledge of God will be reflected in our demeanor.  Our spontaneous, without thinking, response will also show in our actions.

What if our first thought, our very first thought, as we rise from bed was God? 

What if we thanked God first then asked God what He wanted for each new day?

What if our first reaction to a challenging word or action from another was our love for them?

Let your first thought—your very first thought—be our love for God, then for each other, the kind of love that Jesus showed us while He was on earth. 

WARNING:  This is revolutionary thinking.  It might change the world!

Isaiah, spokesperson for God, Himself, tells listening people who God is and how God works in power and majesty to bring His People unto Himself.  Why?  Because of His great love for all nations, all people who will listen and love Him back.  In this remarkable prophecy, Isaiah declares that the three enemies—Egypt, Israel, and Assyria (modern Iraq)—will one day be united in worshiping the Lord and sharing His blessing!  Wow.  Just wow.

Isaiah 19, The Message

Anarchy and Chaos and Killing!

A Message concerning Egypt:

Watch this! God riding on a fast-moving cloud,
    moving in on Egypt!
The god-idols of Egypt shudder and shake,
    Egyptians paralyzed by panic.

^2-4 God says, “I’ll make Egyptian fight Egyptian,
    brother fight brother, neighbor fight neighbor,
City fight city, kingdom fight kingdom—
    anarchy and chaos and killing!
I’ll knock the wind out of the Egyptians.
    They won’t know coming from going.
They’ll go to their god-idols for answers;
    they’ll conjure ghosts and hold séances, desperate for answers.
But I’ll turn the Egyptians
    over to a tyrant most cruel.
I’ll put them under the rule of a mean, merciless king.”
    Decree of the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

^5-10 The River Nile will dry up,
    the riverbed baked dry in the sun.
The canals will become stagnant and stink,
    every stream touching the Nile dry up.
River vegetation will rot away
    the banks of the Nile-baked clay,
The riverbed hard and smooth,
    river grasses dried up and gone with the wind.
Fishermen will complain
    that the fishing’s been ruined.
Textile workers will be out of work, all weavers
    and workers in linen and cotton and wool
Dispirited, depressed in their forced idleness—
    everyone who works for a living, jobless.

^11-15 The princes of Zoan are fools,
    the advisors of Pharaoh stupid.
How could any of you dare tell Pharaoh,
    “Trust me: I’m wise. I know what’s going on.
    Why, I’m descended from the old wisdom of Egypt”?
There’s not a wise man or woman left in the country.
    If there were, one of them would tell you
    what God-of-the-Angel-Armies has in mind for Egypt.
As it is, the princes of Zoan are all fools
    and the princes of Memphis, idiots.
The honored pillars of your society
    have led Egypt into detours and dead ends.
God has scrambled their brains,
    Egypt’s become a falling-down-in-his-own-vomit drunk.
Egypt’s hopeless, past helping,
    a senile, doddering old fool.

* * *

^16-17 On that Day, Egyptians will be like hysterical schoolgirls, screaming at the first hint of action from God-of-the-Angel-Armies. Little Judah will strike terror in Egyptians! Say “Judah” to an Egyptian and see panic. The word triggers fear of the God-of-the-Angel-Armies’ plan against Egypt.

¹⁸ On that Day, more than one city in Egypt will learn to speak the language of faith and promise to follow God-of-the-Angel-Armies. One of these cities will be honored with the title “City of the Sun.”

^19-22 On that Day, there will be a place of worship to God in the center of Egypt and a monument to God at its border. It will show how the God-of-the-Angel-Armies has helped the Egyptians. When they cry out in prayer to God because of oppressors, he’ll send them help, a savior who will keep them safe and take care of them. God will openly show himself to the Egyptians and they’ll get to know him on that Day. They’ll worship him seriously with sacrifices and burnt offerings. They’ll make vows and keep them. God will wound Egypt, first hit and then heal. Egypt will come back to God, and God will listen to their prayers and heal them, heal them from head to toe.

²³ On that Day, there will be a highway all the way from Egypt to Assyria: Assyrians will have free range in Egypt and Egyptians in Assyria. No longer rivals, they’ll worship together, Egyptians and Assyrians!

^24-25 On that Day, Israel will take its place alongside Egypt and Assyria, sharing the blessing from the center. God-of-the-Angel-Armies, who blessed Israel, will generously bless them all: “Blessed be Egypt, my people! . . . Blessed be Assyria, work of my hands! . . . Blessed be Israel, my heritage!”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Don’t mess with God of all who is in all and is our supreme sovereign!  Do what He says!  Life is lived in sweet assurance when we trust God!  We obey because of His love for us first!  We live for Him because He lives in us.  What kind of love is this?  It is a love that is beyond our wildest dreams.  God will do anything to preserve His love for us!

God knows what you are going through and He will be right beside you AS you walk, run or crawl through it.  God will teach us while we are in the middle of it all.  God leads us to grateful hearts because of all He has done in our lives, all He is doing right now and all we now know He will do! So, why worry when we have God, sovereign over all?  That is the question we must answer.

“In our day of instant communication and of rapid transportation, when in a matter of minutes nations can come to the brink of war, we forget that God is still sovereign and can do whatever He pleases in human affairs. God destroyed everything that the Egyptians trusted—their political unity, their economy, religion, wisdom—and made them an easy target for the Assyrians. When the international news is frightening and you wonder where God is, read Psalm 2 and Acts 4:23–32, and take hope.”  Warren Wiersbe, Wiersbe Study Bible.

God wins in the end.  He always has and always will.  Really believe and be saved—saved from fear, worry, anxieties, wonderings.  May the peace of Christ rule in our hearts today!

Lord,

Thank you for Isaiah’s tenacity to tell of how you will act, how you love, along with Who you are!  Thank you, dear Jesus, for saving my soul and making me whole by your consistent teaching of Your Holy Spirit in me.  Thank you for the ability to tell others of your great, unending, unconditional, relentless love!  Show me your ways and I will walk in them by the power of your Spirit working in me and through me.

In Jesus Name, Amen

*What a wonderful day it will be when peace comes to the Middle East because the nations have bowed before the King of kings! We must continue praying, “Amen! Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20).

I listen to the trumpet of Jesus
While the world hears a different sound
I march to the drumbeat of God Almighty
While the others just wander around
I’m a member of the Holy Ghost traveling band
We’re moving on up to a better land
I hear the voice of the Supernatural singing
Like only those who know Him can

*Composer, Russ Taft

In a world full of noise, voices clamoring for our attention, we must find a place where we meet God in silence so we can hear only His voice.  This is God’s Place for us.  The world we live in gets noisier every day.  So, it is even more imperative that we, like Jesus, come away to a quiet place to have a conversation with God.  By the way, a conversation is where one talks then listens for what the other one has to say.  So, we talk, assured that God listens.  Then we listen to His voice speak to our hearts and minds with words that go deep into our souls.  We end the conversation with grateful praise for the One most high who bent down to listen and speak with us.  This is Amazing Love. This is a great conversation!

The more we listen the louder HIS voice becomes in our lives.

One sweet sound makes
A whole world of difference
When the world seems indifferent to you
His melody of love calls you to be great
When marking time was all you thought you could do
So if you’ve been playing all your days by ear
Never knowing what your song was to be
Then pull up a chair, let down your hair
And take a few lessons from me…

Isaiah 18, The Message

People Mighty and Merciless

^1-2 Doom to the land of flies and mosquitoes
    beyond the Ethiopian rivers,
Shipping emissaries all over the world,
    down rivers and across seas.

Go, swift messengers,
    go to this people tall and handsome,
This people held in respect everywhere,
    this people mighty and merciless,
    from the land crisscrossed with rivers.

³ Everybody everywhere,
    all earth-dwellers:
When you see a flag flying on the mountain, look!
    When you hear the trumpet blown, listen!

^4-6 For here’s what God told me:

“I’m not going to say anything,
    but simply look on from where I live,
Quiet as warmth that comes from the sun,
    silent as dew during harvest.”
And then, just before harvest, after the blossom
    has turned into a maturing grape,
He’ll step in and prune back the new shoots,    ruthlessly hack off all the growing branches.
He’ll leave them piled on the ground
    for birds and animals to feed on—
Fodder for the summering birds,
    fodder for the wintering animals.

⁷ Then tribute will be brought to God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
    brought from this people tall and handsome,
This people once held in respect everywhere,
    this people once mighty and merciless,
From the land crisscrossed with rivers,
    to Mount Zion, God’s place.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

The original text has “Cush,” a land that covers the area now occupied by Ethiopia, the Sudan, and Somalia. Isaiah called it a “land with buzzing wings” (flies and mosquitoes) not only because of the insects that infested the land but also because of the frantic diplomatic activity going on as the nation sought alliances to protect them from Assyria. He pictures the ambassadors in their light, swift boats, going to the African nations for help. But God tells them to go back home because He would deal with Assyria himself, apart from the help of any army.  God will do what HE thinks is best.

In contrast to the frantic human activity on earth is the calm patience of God in heaven as He awaits the right time to reap the harvest of judgment. Assyria is pictured as a ripening vine that will never survive, for God will cut it down.  Believers who follow God’s voice and obey will be the remnant He will use to bring justice through His love, mercy and grace in the Person of Jesus Christ.

We must remember that this passage is a prophecy of things to come.  Instead of rushing here and there with diplomatic plans, the Ethiopians will go to Jerusalem with gifts for the Lord and for the king of Judah. When the messianic kingdom is established, the Gentile nations will go to Mount Zion to worship the Lord and bring Him gifts (Is. 60:1–7).

Listen to God.  Listen to the trumpet voice of Jesus as He calls us to come to God with a pure heart.

A spiritual fanfare has a sound all its own
At the birth of a lasting song
It’s been two thousand years since Jesus was born
And still the celebration goes on
If you feel the need to get your life in tune
‘Cause you’re tired of the dirge every day
Then turn yourself around
Put your feet on the ground
And just hear what I have to say…

I listen to the trumpet of Jesus
While the world hears a different sound
I march to the drumbeat of God Almighty
While the others just wander around
I’m a member of the Holy Ghost traveling band
We’re moving on up to a better land
I hear the voice of the Supernatural singing
Like only those who know Him can!

Can you hear the trumpet of Jesus?  Listen.  Believe.  Repent.  Live!

In Jesus Name, For His Glory, Yes and Amen!

When God is forgotten, all that is opposite God happens.  When the government becomes self-serving, self-seeking, and self-motivated to take down and destroy everyone in its way the opposite of what God wants and who God is happens.  Why does God allow it?  God created the world to recreate itself so life would be orderly and sustainable.  God created humans to manage what He created.  God also created humans with the ability called “free will” to choose Him, to love Him back, to obey Him in all of life—or not.  When God is forgotten, peace turns to chaos and confusion.  Hate takes away Love.  Foolish, perverted behaviors replace wisdom, the skills for living life well.

What happens in our own lives when we forget God?

What happens when we set him aside, only to be brought out on Sundays or special occasions?

What happens when our prayers become only cries for help instead of daily conversations that grow our intimate, personal, holy relationship with Him, God of all, in Jesus Name?

We become religious without relationship.  That’s what happens and God is not pleased.

Isaiah 17, The Message

Damascus: A Pile of Dust and Rubble

^1-3 A Message concerning Damascus:

“Watch this: Damascus undone as a city,
    a pile of dust and rubble!
Her towns emptied of people.
    The sheep and goats will move in
And take over the towns
    as if they owned them—which they will!
Not a sign of a fort is left in Ephraim,
    not a trace of government left in Damascus.
What’s left of Aram?
    The same as what’s left of Israel—not much.”
        Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

The Day Is Coming

^4-6 “The Day is coming when Jacob’s robust splendor goes pale
    and his well-fed body turns skinny.
The country will be left empty, picked clean
    as a field harvested by field hands.
She’ll be like a few stalks of barley left standing
    in the lush Valley of Rephaim after harvest,
Or like the couple of ripe olives overlooked
    in the top of the olive tree,
Or the four or five apples
    that the pickers couldn’t reach in the orchard.”
        Decree of the God of Israel.

^7-8 Yes, the Day is coming when people will notice The One Who Made Them, take a long hard look at The Holy of Israel. They’ll lose interest in all the stuff they’ve made—altars and monuments and rituals, their homemade, handmade religion—however impressive it is.

⁹ And yes, the Day is coming when their fortress cities will be abandoned—the very same cities that the Hivites and Amorites abandoned when Israel invaded! And the country will be empty, desolate.

You Have Forgotten God

^10-11 And why? Because you have forgotten God-Your-Salvation,
    not remembered your Rock-of-Refuge.
And so, even though you are very religious,
    planting all sorts of bushes and herbs and trees
    to honor and influence your fertility gods,
And even though you make them grow so well,
    bursting with buds and sprouts and blossoms,
Nothing will come of them. Instead of a harvest
    you’ll get nothing but grief and pain, pain, pain.

^12-13 Oh my! Thunder! A thundering herd of people!
    Thunder like the crashing of ocean waves!
Nations roaring, roaring,
    like the roar of a massive waterfall,
Roaring like a deafening Niagara!
    But God will silence them with a word,
And then he’ll blow them away like dead leaves off a tree,
    like down from a thistle.

¹⁴ At bedtime, terror fills the air.
    By morning it’s gone—not a sign of it anywhere!
This is what happens to those who would ruin us,
    this is the fate of those out to get us.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Friends, I don’t know about you but I do not desire a life void of God and end up with my soul becoming desolate, “a pile of dust and rubble”, as the city of Damascus became!

When we forget God and all that He is and all that He wants to do for us and in us, we become an island of self with no options of significance and no relationship.  We become like an annoying “resounding gong or clanging symbol” of religion without a relationship based on God’s love as Paul wrote so eloquently in 1 Corinthians 13:

(Read, Relate, Repeat)

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

“Apart from me, you can do nothing.” –Jesus

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”  Jesus, John 15:5, NIV

Lord,

I cannot forget You! Thank you for saving my soul and making me whole.  Thank you for being with us always.  Thank you for loving us first so we could love you back in a holy relationship. Thank you for your word that teaches us.  Thank you for Your Holy Spirit that challenges, comforts, instructs, and encourages us in our relationship with You.  I love you with all that is in me.  Help me to love others like you love me. 

In Jesus Name, Amen

When a country is at peace, prosperity thrives.  Peace brings an attitude of confidence.  Peace brings a “new normal” after war with those who cause suffering, torment, shame and death. Peace comes to us as the Son of Man and Son of God—Jesus.  When He comes back again, He will establish a new government that will be good for all people of all nations.  Jesus will make all things right.  Jesus sets us right with God. 

Jesus is the Prince of Peace!

Isaiah 16, The Message

A New Government in the David Tradition

16 ^1-4 “Dispatch a gift of lambs,” says Moab,
    “to the leaders in Jerusalem—
Lambs from Sela sent across the desert
    to buy the goodwill of Jerusalem.
The towns and people of Moab
    are at a loss,
New-hatched birds knocked from the nest,
    fluttering helplessly
At the banks of the Arnon River,
    unable to cross:
‘Tell us what to do,
    help us out!
Protect us,
    hide us!
Give the refugees from Moab
    sanctuary with you.
Be a safe place for those on the run
    from the killing fields.’”

^4-5 “When this is all over,” Judah answers,
    “the tyrant toppled,
The killing at an end,
    all signs of these cruelties long gone,
A new government of love will be established
    in the venerable David tradition.
A Ruler you can depend upon
    will head this government,
A Ruler passionate for justice,
    a Ruler quick to set things right.”

* * *

^6-12 We’ve heard—everyone’s heard!—of Moab’s pride,
    world-famous for pride—
Arrogant, self-important, insufferable,
    full of hot air.
So now let Moab lament for a change,
    with antiphonal mock-laments from the neighbors!
What a shame! How terrible!
    No more fine fruitcakes and Kir-hareseth candies!
All those lush Heshbon fields dried up,
    the rich Sibmah vineyards withered!
Foreign thugs have crushed and torn out
    the famous grapevines
That once reached all the way to Jazer,
    right to the edge of the desert,
Ripped out the crops in every direction
    as far as the eye can see.

I’ll join the weeping. I’ll weep right along with Jazer,
    weep for the Sibmah vineyards.
And yes, Heshbon and Elealeh,
    I’ll mingle my tears with your tears!
The joyful shouting at harvest is gone.
    Instead of song and celebration, dead silence.
No more boisterous laughter in the orchards,
    no more hearty work songs in the vineyards.
Instead of the bustle and sound of good work in the fields,
    silence—deathly and deadening silence.
My heartstrings throb like harp strings for Moab,
    my soul in sympathy for sad Kir-heres.
When Moab trudges to the shrine to pray,
    he wastes both time and energy.
Going to the sanctuary and praying for relief
    is useless. Nothing ever happens.

^13-14 This is God’s earlier Message on Moab. God’s updated Message is, “In three years, no longer than the term of an enlisted soldier, Moab’s impressive presence will be gone, that splendid hot-air balloon will be punctured, and instead of a vigorous population, just a few shuffling bums panhandling handouts.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Background by Warren Wiersbe,

“The one place the Assyrians could not conquer was Jerusalem. Though the Assyrian army entered the kingdom of Judah and did a great deal of damage to the land, it could not capture Jerusalem. Instead of fleeing to Mount Zion, however, the Moabite fugitives fled south to the fords of the Arnon River and the rock city of Sela in Edom.”

Isaiah warned the people that they would need more than a request: They would need to submit to the king of Judah, which meant acknowledging the God of Judah. In that day, sending animals (the lambs) to a ruler was a form of paying tribute.

Isaiah was not impressed and neither was God with the appeals of the Moabites. He knew of their pride, arrogance, and rage, and he announced that the nation was destined to be destroyed. Why? Because they wanted Judah’s help, but they did not want Judah’s God.

Friends, we sometimes do that by our lack of gratefulness.  How many times, in the heat of troubling circumstances do we turn to others for help, only to go on about normal life when the trouble is over?  People help us who are prodded by God in them to be His hands and feet on earth.  Do we recognize that all that is good comes from God?  Do we give and live in gratitude to God for all He has done and is doing?  We need to lay down all arrogance and pride when things are going well.  May we humble ourselves before God with sincere hearts who seek His wisdom.  Only then will we grow Christ-like character from all the challenges of this world.

Verse 5 is definitely a messianic promise, pointing to the day when Messiah will reign in righteousness and mercy on David’s throne. But Moab would not submit; they wanted deliverance on their own terms.

Moab’s pride kept them from submitting to Judah, and this led to their defeat. Their boasting would turn into wailing and their songs into funeral dirges. Moab would become like a vineyard trampled down and a fruitful field left unharvested.  So sad.

What is our pride and arrogance keeping us from right now? 

How is our pride hurting us? 

How does arrogance hurt our relationship with God and others? 

Lord,

There is no room in our relationship for my arrogance and pride.  I come to you with a more humbled heart this morning, thanking you for all You have done, are doing and will do in my life here on earth.  You made all things right by your sacrifice.  You give peace in the middle of storms, unending joy with love, mercy and grace no matter what our circumstances are at the moment.  No one but You can do that for us.  Thank you for your “new government” of all that is right, good and pleasing to You.  Help us to love like you love without conditions, without expecting anything in return for ourselves but to simply love.

In Jesus Name, Amen

God created the world and all its inhabitants.  God cleanses the world of evil that is destroying his created.  This is not called karma, it’s called justice.  God cleans what He has created when it gets dirty by the influence of sin.

As God judges Moab, their god is unable to save them, despite their mourning, and their armies are useless. God has compassion for Moab, nevertheless, and will allow some people to escape as fugitives to Zoar. The green grass will wither, wailing will be throughout the borders, and those who escape to Dimon will be mauled and taken by lions, as will any remnant remaining in their ravaged land.

Isaiah 15, The Message

Poignant Cries Reverberate Through Moab

15 ^1-4 A Message concerning Moab:

Village Ar of Moab is in ruins,
    destroyed in a night raid.
Village Kir of Moab is in ruins,
    destroyed in a night raid.
Village Dibon climbs to its chapel in the hills,
    goes up to lament.
Moab weeps and wails
    over Nebo and Medba.
Every head is shaved bald,
    every beard shaved clean.
They pour into the streets wearing black,
    go up on the roofs, take to the town square,
Everyone in tears,
    everyone in grief.
Towns Heshbon and Elealeh cry long and loud.
    The sound carries as far as Jahaz.
Moab sobs, shaking in grief.
    The soul of Moab trembles.

^5-9 Oh, how I grieve for Moab!
    Refugees stream to Zoar
    and then on to Eglath-shelishiyah.
Up the slopes of Luhith they weep;
    on the road to Horonaim they cry their loss.
The springs of Nimrim are dried up—
    grass brown, buds stunted, nothing grows.
They leave, carrying all their possessions
    on their backs, everything they own,
Making their way as best they can
    across Willow Creek to safety.
Poignant cries reverberate
    all through Moab,
Gut-wrenching sobs as far as Eglaim,
    heart-racking sobs all the way to Beer-elim.
The banks of the Dibon crest with blood,
    but God has worse in store for Dibon:
A lion—a lion to finish off the fugitives,
    to clean up whoever’s left in the land.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

What we know in our time is that Jesus IS indeed coming back to take all who believe back with Him.  He is preparing all the rooms for our eternal stay right now.  To those who refuses to believe or obey, there will be a cleansing.  God is sovereign.  God is compassionate, not wanting anyone to perish, but when that Day comes, we must be ready.

My dad used to say, we might be surprised by who will be in heaven.  Man’s judgement is self-motivated in all kinds of ways. God’s judgement is merciful and compassionate but complete.  God knows our hearts.  God sees what is in our minds at any moment.  God also sees what motivates and drives our behavior each day we live on earth.  There is nothing, absolutely nothing that is hidden from God.  So, only God’s Son, who is God, can be the judge and bring peace at last.   

Are we ready?

Lord,

Thank you for this sobering passage of lament over sins of self, following gods who are not you, worshiping anything and anyone but you.  Thank you for abiding with your power in those who believe so we know the difference in world thinking and your thinking.  Your thoughts are higher, so help us to think more like you so we will behave more like you taught us while on earth.  Thank you, dear Jesus, for saving my soul and making me whole.

Help me to love like you love me.

In Jesus Name, Amen                                                   

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father
There is no shadow of turning with Thee
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be

Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me

This old hymn plays in the background of my mind this morning as we study Isaiah.  God, our Father in heaven, is always in control when human efforts fail and cause more problems.  He is faithful and just to all who believe and follow in His ways.  He is our Provider, Healer, Peace, Problem Solver, Protector, Savior, and Lord.  ALL that we need, He knows about it first and has a plan to provide for that need.  When we are troubled and confused, He provides a way through it all so we can get to the other side with more wisdom, insight and understanding so we can help someone else through.  God is like that, friends, and ever so faithful!  Great is His faithfulness to us.  God never fails us.  God is always with us.  Humans cannot use the words “never” and “always” like God can.  God has proven Himself to us over and over again throughout the history of humans. 

Believe and be saved. Follow and be made whole and holy by God in us.

Isaiah 14, The Message

Now You Are Nothing—

^1-2 But not so with Jacob. God will have compassion on Jacob. Once again he’ll choose Israel. He’ll establish them in their own country. Outsiders will be attracted and throw their lot in with Jacob. The nations among whom they lived will actually escort them back home, and then Israel will pay them back by making slaves of them, men and women alike, possessing them as slaves in God’s country, capturing those who had captured them, ruling over those who had abused them.

^3-4 When God has given you time to recover from the abuse and trouble and harsh servitude that you had to endure, you can amuse yourselves by taking up this satire, a taunt against the king of Babylon:

^4-6 Can you believe it? The tyrant is gone!
    The tyranny is over!
God has broken the rule of the wicked,
    the power of the bully-rulers
That crushed many people.
    A relentless rain of cruel outrage
Established a violent rule of anger
    rife with torture and persecution.

^7-10 And now it’s over, the whole earth quietly at rest.
    Burst into song! Make the rafters ring!
Ponderosa pine trees are happy,
    giant Lebanon cedars are relieved, saying,
“Since you’ve been cut down,
    there’s no one around to cut us down.”
And the underworld dead are all excited,
    preparing to welcome you when you come.
Getting ready to greet you are the ghostly dead,
    all the famous names of earth.
All the buried kings of the nations
    will stand up on their thrones
With well-prepared speeches,
    royal invitations to death:
“Now you are as nothing as we are!
    Make yourselves at home with us dead folks!”

¹¹ This is where your pomp and fine music led you, Babylon,
    to your underworld private chambers,
A king-size mattress of maggots for repose
    and a quilt of crawling worms for warmth.

¹² What a comedown this, O Babylon!
    Daystar! Son of Dawn!
Flat on your face in the underworld mud,
    you, famous for flattening nations!

^13-14 You said to yourself,
    “I’ll climb to heaven.
I’ll set my throne
    over the stars of God.
I’ll run the assembly of angels
    that meets on sacred Mount Zaphon.
I’ll climb to the top of the clouds.
    I’ll take over as King of the Universe!”

^15-17 But you didn’t make it, did you?
    Instead of climbing up, you came down—
Down with the underground dead,
    down to the abyss of the Pit.
People will stare and muse:
    “Can this be the one
Who terrorized earth and its kingdoms,
    turned earth to a moonscape,
Wasted its cities,
    shut up his prisoners to a living death?”

^18-20 Other kings get a decent burial,
    honored with eulogies and placed in a tomb.
But you’re dumped in a ditch unburied,
    like a stray dog or cat,
Covered with rotting bodies,
    murdered and indigent corpses.
Your dead body desecrated, mutilated—
    no state funeral for you!
You’ve left your land in ruins,
    left a legacy of massacre.
The progeny of your evil life
    will never be named. Oblivion!

²¹ Get a place ready to slaughter the sons of the wicked
    and wipe out their father’s line.
Unthinkable that they should own a square foot of land
    or desecrate the face of the world with their cities!

^22-23 “I will confront them”—Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies—“and strip Babylon of name and survivors, children and grandchildren.” God’s Decree. “I’ll make it a worthless swamp and give it as a prize to the hedgehog. And then I’ll bulldoze it out of existence.” Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

Who Could Ever Cancel Such Plans?

^24-27 God-of-the-Angel-Armies speaks:

“Exactly as I planned,
    it will happen.
Following my blueprints,
    it will take shape.
I will shatter the Assyrian who trespasses my land
    and stomp him into the dirt on my mountains.
I will ban his taking and making of slaves
    and lift the weight of oppression from all shoulders.”
This is the plan,
    planned for the whole earth,
And this is the hand that will do it,
    reaching into every nation.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies has planned it.
    Who could ever cancel such plans?
His is the hand that’s reached out.
    Who could brush it aside?

^28-31 In the year King Ahaz died, this Message came:

Hold it, Philistines! It’s too soon to celebrate
    the defeat of your cruel oppressor.
From the death throes of that snake a worse snake will come,
    and from that, one even worse.
The poor won’t have to worry.
    The needy will escape the terror.
But you Philistines will be plunged into famine,
    and those who don’t starve, God will kill.
Wail and howl, proud city!
    Fall prostrate in fear, Philistia!
On the northern horizon, smoke from burned cities,
    the wake of a brutal, disciplined destroyer.

³² What does one say to
    outsiders who ask questions?
Tell them, “God has established Zion.
    Those in need and in trouble find refuge in her.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Warren Wiersbe give us a little history for this passage;

“The picture is of a mighty monarch whose pride has brought him to destruction. This is what happened to Belshazzar when Darius the Mede captured Babylon in 539 B.C. (See Daniel 5). Isaiah described the king’s arrival in Sheol, the world of the dead, where the king’s wealth, glory, and power were gone. The dead kings already in Sheol stood in tribute to him, but it was all a mockery. Death is the great leveler; no kings are in the world of the dead. “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning” suggests that this king’s glory did not last very long. The morning star shines but is soon swallowed up by the light of the sun.”

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine with 10, 000 beside

Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me

“The phrase “son of the morning” means “morning star” and indicates that Satan tries to imitate Jesus Christ, who is “the bright morning star” (Rev. 22:16). “I will be like the Most High” reveals his basic strategy, for he is an imitator (2 Cor. 11:13–15). Like the king of Babylon, Satan will one day be humiliated and defeated. He will be cast out of heaven (Rev. 12) and finally cast into hell (Rev. 20:10).” –Wiersbe

God will provide a way for His own, His Chosen.  That Way is Jesus, Savior to all nations who will believe and follow Him as Lord of their lives.  Jesus is the only Way to Truth that gives Life now and forever.  We who believe are His Chosen.

Lord,

Thank you for saving my soul and making me whole.  Thank you for all your provisions and protection through good times and challenging times.  Thank you for the rough times that taught me great lessons of endurance and of your great love and faithfulness to us!  Thank you for always being with me.  Thank you for never letting me go.  Thank you for your love, mercy and grace.

In Jesus Name, Amen

We are and always will be “at war” with the one cast from heaven for wanting all power, control and glory for himself.  He didn’t want to do what God said, he wanted to be God.  This evil of self first appeared to Adam and Eve, God’s first created humans, in the form of a serpent in God’s perfect garden to draw them away from all that was God.  Because God gives his created humans the power of choice, they chose evil’s glossy presentation of self as the better way to live.  God cannot be where sin is with lies, manipulations, trickery, so Adam and Eve were banished from the garden of His Holy Presence.  But God still loved…

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16

So ultimately, God made a Way to lead people back to His Truth so that eternal Life, real Life, could be possible after falling for evil.  Evil is Babylon in this prophecy of Isaiah.  This is a prophecy against Babylon. The word “Babel” means “gateway to a god” and sounds like the Hebrew word balal, which means “confusion” (See also Gen. 10:8–10; 11:1–9).

In Scripture, Babylon symbolizes the world system that humans have built in defiance of God. Jerusalem and Babylon are contrasting cities: One is the chosen city of God; the other is the wicked city of sinful humanity. The city of God will last forever, but the rebellious, human city will ultimately be destroyed (See also Rev. 14:8; 16:19; 17, 18).

Isaiah 13, The Message

Babylon Is Doomed!

The Message on Babylon. Isaiah son of Amoz saw it:

^2-3 “Run up a flag on an open hill.
    Yell loud. Get their attention.
Wave them into formation.
    Direct them to the nerve center of power.
I’ve taken charge of my special forces,
    called up my crack troops.
They’re bursting with pride and passion
    to carry out my angry judgment.”

^4-5 Thunder rolls off the mountains
    like a mob huge and noisy—
Thunder of kingdoms in an uproar,
    nations assembling for war.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies is calling
    his army into battle formation.
They come from far-off countries,
    they pour in across the horizon.
It’s God on the move with the weapons of his wrath,
    ready to destroy the whole country.

^6-8 Wail! God’s Day of Judgment is near—
    an avalanche crashing down from the Strong God!
Everyone paralyzed in the panic,
    hysterical and unstrung,
Doubled up in pain
    like a woman giving birth to a baby.
Horrified—everyone they see
    is like a face out of a nightmare.

* * *

^9-16 “Watch now. God’s Judgment Day comes.
    Cruel it is, a day of wrath and anger,
A day to waste the earth
    and clean out all the sinners.
The stars in the sky, the great parade of constellations,
    will be nothing but black holes.
The sun will come up as a black disk,
    and the moon a blank nothing.
I’ll put a full stop to the evil on earth,
    terminate the dark acts of the wicked.
I’ll gag all braggarts and boasters—not a peep anymore from them—
    and trip strutting tyrants, leave them flat on their faces.
Proud humanity will disappear from the earth.
    I’ll make mortals rarer than hens’ teeth.
And yes, I’ll even make the sky shake,
    and the earth quake to its roots
Under the wrath of God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
    the Judgment Day of his raging anger.
Like a hunted white-tailed deer,
    like lost sheep with no shepherd,
People will huddle with a few of their own kind,
    run off to some makeshift shelter.
But tough luck to stragglers—they’ll be killed on the spot,
    throats cut, bellies ripped open,
Babies smashed on the rocks
    while mothers and fathers watch,
Houses looted,
    wives raped.

^17-22 “And now watch this:
    Against Babylon, I’m inciting the Medes,
A ruthless bunch indifferent to bribes,
    the kind of brutality that no one can blunt.
They massacre the young,
    wantonly kick and kill even babies.
And Babylon, most glorious of all kingdoms,
    the pride and joy of Chaldeans,
Will end up smoking and stinking like Sodom,
    and, yes, like Gomorrah, when God had finished with them.
No one will live there anymore,
    generation after generation a ghost town.
Not even Bedouins will pitch tents there.
    Shepherds will give it a wide berth.
But strange and wild animals will like it just fine,
    filling the vacant houses with eerie night sounds.
Skunks will make it their home,
    and unspeakable night hags will haunt it.
Hyenas will curdle your blood with their laughing,
    and the howling of coyotes will give you the shivers.

“Babylon is doomed.
    It won’t be long now.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Warren Wiersbe shares the history of Babylon with us:

“God punishes His enemies. The city of Babylon was completely destroyed in 689 B.C. by Sennacherib and the Assyrian army, but it was rebuilt by Sennacherib’s son. In 539 B.C., Darius the Mede captured the city (Daniel 5:31), but he did not destroy it. In the centuries that followed, Babylon had its shining moments, but after the death of its last great conqueror, Alexander the Great, the city declined and soon was no more. Isaiah’s prophecy of this chapter was fulfilled, for the city was not rebuilt.”

Evil doesn’t win.  Evil never wins.  God always wins in the end.  We have two choices to follow.  We must choose well for our very lives depend on it.

Choose Jesus.  Believe in Jesus, repent of the sins of evil and be saved for eternity.  In the meantime, we have the power of the resurrected Christ living in us to help us in all the details of life now!  We choose Him because, while we were yet sinners, He chose us and died to save us from the punishment we deserve.  There is NO ONE like our God.  There is no one but Jesus who can save us from our selfishness and resulting sins.

Lord,

Thank you for saving my soul for eternity. Thank you for being with us always. Thank you for the confidence in knowing that you win over evil.  Always.  Thank you for wisdom to choose well. Thank you for power to abide by choosing You above all.  Thank you for the Way to Truth that gives Life here now and forever with You.

In Jesus Name, Amen

I don’t know where you are, what you are thinking or doing, but I know I needed this Word from God at this very hour on this very day!  God is my strength, my song in the night that replaces my worry of wonderings with His peace.  God is my song of salvation, the One and Only who has saved my soul, healed my broken and bruised heart, and put me back together again. 

God is love.  He loved me first in ways that drew me to Him, clinging to Him, embracing that love so deeply and securely that I cannot let go.  I learned from the embrace that He will not let go of me!  Oh Lord, what precious thoughts I have about you this morning!  There is NO ONE like you, dear Jesus!  There is no one like our God!

Read the words, as many times as necessary, to shout His praises, thanking God for all He has done and is doing.  This is our response today—and always!  May we raise the roof of our hearts, minds and souls with pure, complete, focused, unrelenting praise.  God has come to save and redeem us to live for Him and with Him forever! Tell the world!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) 

Go, tell, point the Way to Truth that gives us Life now and forever.  Point to Jesus!

Isaiah 12, The Message

My Strength and Song

12 And you will say in that day,
    “I thank you, God.
You were angry
    but your anger wasn’t forever.
You withdrew your anger
    and moved in and comforted me.

² “Yes, indeed—God is my salvation.
    I trust, I won’t be afraid.
God—yes God!—is my strength and song,
    best of all, my salvation!”

^3-4 Joyfully you’ll pull up buckets of water
    from the wells of salvation.
And as you do it, you’ll say,
    “Give thanks to God.
Call out his name.
    Ask him anything!
Shout to the nations, tell them what he’s done,
    spread the news of his great reputation!

^5-6 “Sing praise-songs to God. He’s done it all!
    Let the whole earth know what he’s done!
Raise the roof! Sing your hearts out, O Zion!
    The Greatest lives among you: The Holy of Israel.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Salvation is a key theme in this song. “In that day” refers to the day of Israel’s regathering and reunion and the righteous reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Warren Wiersbe shares, “The LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; my father’s God, and I will exalt Him” (Ex. 15:2)—was sung at the exodus and at the rededication of the temple in Ezra’s day (Ps. 118:14). The phrase “become my salvation” can also be translated ‘given me victory.’ It was sung by the Red Sea after the Israelites had been delivered from Egypt by Moses, a prophet. It was sung in Jerusalem when the second temple was dedicated under the leadership of Ezra, a priest. It will be sung again when the Jewish nation accepts Jesus Christ as its King. They will recognize Him as “the Holy One of Israel” and willingly obey His holy law.”

What pleases God the most?  He is most pleased when sincere hearts praise Him, thanking Him for all He has done and then live His praises out loud to the world.  So, let’s raise the roof and sing our hearts out to the One who is greatest and now lives in us who believe and follow Him!  “The Holy of Israel.”  The God of all nations! 

Lord,

I do praise and thank you with all that is in me this morning.  I am going to praise you all day long.  You have renewed my Spirit, restored my soul this morning by Your Word given to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!  I want to live a life of praise to You!

In Jesus Name, Amen