Isaiah 14:24-32 - Enemies may rejoice...but not for long!

The LORD of hosts has sworn: "As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand, that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains trample him under foot; and his yoke shall depart from them, and his burden from their shoulder." This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back? In the year that King Ahaz died came this oracle: "Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you, that the rod which smote you is broken, for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder, and its fruit will be a flying serpent. And the first-born of the poor will feed, and the needy lie down in safety; but I will kill your root with famine, and your remnant I will slay. Wail, O gate; cry, O city; melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you! For smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks." What will one answer the messengers of the nation? "The LORD has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.

You won't hear the evil laughing forever...
photo by Robert Couse-Baker, used under the creative commons license
check out more photos at:
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The Lord may punish His people and the enemies of His people may rejoice at their misfortune but The Lord sees His people and remembers them, even in their misery  Yes,  Israel was carried away captive and, yes, her temple was destroyed and, yes, the people thinking that they were safe, only because of the Temple and, thus, didn't have to forsake their sin-all of this is true. It is true, too, that her enemies rejoiced in Israel's suffering.  But the Lord remembers His people.

"The Lord has founded Zion and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge." O, what a great promise to His people. For surely the discipline of the Lord has made His people very afflicted in soul. Yes, their whole life seems to have crumbled. Yet, it is the discipline of the Lord that brings His people back to Himself.  The Lord knows that a merry soul may sometimes forget Him but an afflicted soul turns to God for solace.
Happy is the man whom the Lord inflicts!

O Lord, this day, if I experience your chastening and I feel that my world is out from under my control and if it seems those who oppose me rejoice, then, O Lord, help me to find refuge in You! Amen.