Isaiah 28:14-22 - The Lord is a Rock!

Thus says the LORD, you scoffers, who rule this people in Jerusalem! Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement; when the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter"; therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am laying in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: 'He who believes will not be in haste.' And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter." Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through you will be beaten down by it. As often as it passes through it will take you; for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be sheer terror to understand the message. For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on it, and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in it. For the LORD will rise up as on Mount Perazim, he will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon; to do his deed - strange is his deed! and to work his work - alien is his work! Now therefore do not scoff, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord GOD of hosts upon the whole land.

THE LORD IS MY ROCK

rock stock by ~dark-dragon-stock on deviantART

People will lie to themselves and think that they can live in disobedience to the ways of the Lord and still not have to deal with the consequences of their bad decisions. They think death can be cheated and believe the lies of Satan, the lies of this present age.  Yet, The Lord has laid a cornerstone as a strong foundation. It is a sure foundation, when that can be trusted. It is He Himself!

Do I trust in this Rock or do I fall to the deceits of the world? If I follow the lies, I will inherit death; If I follow and cling to the Rock, I will be upheld in all trials. Surely, the man who trusts in the Rock will not be overwhelmed by the storms and will escape the false hope of the refuge of lies.

Trust in the Lord, O my soul and ignore the world. The world tells me to deny the ways of the Lord and to treat His precepts as old fashioned and not worth following. Yet, I cling to this Rock, who is my salvation. Amen.

Isaiah 26:21-27:9 - The Lord protects and waters His Garden

For behold, the LORD is coming forth out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed upon her, and will no more cover her slain. In that day the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.
In that day: "A pleasant vineyard, sing of it! I, the LORD, am its keeper; every moment I water it. Lest any one harm it, I guard it night and day; I have no wrath. Would that I had thorns and briers to battle! I would set out against them, I would burn them up together. Or let them lay hold of my protection, let them make peace with me, let them make peace with me."
In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots, and fill the whole world with fruit.
Has he smitten them as he smote those who smote them? Or have they been slain as their slayers were slain? Measure by measure, by exile thou didst contend with them; he removed them with his fierce blast in the day of the east wind. Therefore by this the guilt of Jacob will be expiated, and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin: when he makes all the stones of the altars like chalkstones crushed to pieces, no Asherim or incense altars will remain standing.

A Garden, watered and protected!
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The Lord will come to judge. But He also comes to protect His garden.  He shall guard it day and night. That garden will prosper and produce fruit that can be seen by the whole world. All the world will see God's protection of His people.  He punished His people by exile yet their guilt will be removed and their sins shall be far away from them. No longer will they worship foreign gods, but only the Lord of Hosts shall they worship.

God protects His own. Those who call upon Him and turn away from their sins will find that He is mighty to save.  He sets a wall around His garden. Actually, He Himself is that wall. He keeps the garden well watered and provides for its growth.  Does not the Lord protect me and satisfy my soul's thirst with His water? Let me always seek His protection. Let me always be immersed in His Energies, knowing that my soul can only be satisfied by Him.

O Lord, my God, this day I turn to You who is my protection and the One who drenches my soul with Your Spirit. Amen.

Isaiah 25:1-9 - The Veil of Death is Removed!

O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, For You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.Therefore the strong people will glorify You; The city of the terrible nations will fear You.For You have been a strength to the poor, A strength to the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, A shade from the heat; For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.You will reduce the noise of aliens, As heat in a dry place; As heat in the shadow of a cloud, The song of the terrible ones will be diminished.And in this mountain The Lord of hosts will make for all people A feast of choice pieces, A feast of wines on the lees, Of fat things full of marrow, Of well-refined wines on the lees.And He will destroy on this mountain The surface of the covering cast over all people, And the veil that is spread over all nations.He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken.And it will be said in that day: “Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”For You have made a city a ruin, A fortified city a ruin, A palace of foreigners to be a city no more; It will never be rebuilt.

Death is Conquered!
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The Lord is worth of Praise! The poor man finds strength in Him, the needy man can forsake his distress for the Lord is a refuge in the storm and a shade from the oppressive heat. The Lord provides a feast of the choices foods and best wines. All this is done because the Lord has destroyed the veil of death that destroys all peoples. Christ has conquered death by His death and as a result the Lord wipes away tears from all the faces. No longer will His people suffer.

How gracious is the Lord. How worthy of Praise. In the midst of the troubles that the people have inflicted upon themselves, He promises deliverance. In Christ, He has destroyed Death. For truly over ever action in a man's life their is a veil that threatens him. Even if a person lives over a hundred years and accomplishes great things and lives a full life, still death comes as a robber, taking that which we know we should have: Life! All men most die but, once that divide is crossed, thanks to Christ, we embrace Life.

O Lord, Fifty years I have lived on this earth which means more than half of my time is gone. I do not fear that great veil that Satan has convinced mankind to embrace in their disobedience to God. Rather, I trust in the Lord for He is my God, I wait for Him and He will save me and I will rejoice in His Salvation! Amen.

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...
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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.

I didn't make the time....

...to look at the Scriptures today. I know it's Sunday and I did get to church but still....

Mark 2:14-17 - The Doctor is here! Throw a Party!

As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.

Ready for A Party!
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Levi was just doing his job, collecting taxes on behalf of the Roman Government (and hated for it by his fellow countrymen) when Jesus said, "Follow Me." He got up and followed Him. Suddenly,  Levi had a new job. He was so happy to now be following Jesus that he threw a party in Christ's honor. All of Levi's tax collector friends were there and Jesus was not scandalized by associating with "these sinners. But the Pharisees despised Jesus for eating with such low society.  Jesus remarked that doctors are for sick people, not well people.  It is for the sinner that Jesus came, not those who don't realize their need of God.

I am among those whose soul needs a doctor.  I know that I am not righteous like the Pharisees are righteous  I will not spend my time worry about the hypocritical hearts of the Pharisees (for truly they are in need of a doctor just as much as the tax collector) but I have enough on my plate with my own sinfulness and it is enough for me to rejoice that Christ would call me to follow Him, sinful though I am.

O Lord, I rejoice in Your Grace and thank You for calling me. Help me to celebrate like Levi did and may all my friends see the celebration I feel in my soul for having You as my Physician. Heal me this day, I pray, Amen.

Proverbs 10:31-11:12 - Words of Wisdom

The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, But the perverse tongue will be cut out.

 

The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, But the mouth of the wicked what is perverse.

 

Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, But a just weight is His delight.

 

When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.

 

The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.

 

Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, But righteousness delivers from death.

 

The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way aright, But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.

 

The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, But the unfaithful will be caught by their lust.

 

When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish, And the hope of the unjust perishes.

 

The righteous is delivered from trouble, And it comes to the wicked instead.

 

The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor, But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.

 

When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices; And when the wicked perish, there is jubilation.

 

By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted, But it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.
He who is devoid of wisdom despises his neighbor, But a man of understanding holds his peace.

 

The Book of Proverbs
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O Lord, there is such wisdom in Your words. Each sentence in the passage above can be meditated upon in its own right.  Each phrase offers its own wisdom.  May I be like the mouth of the righteous who speaks only wisdom and may my tongue not utter perverse things.  May I always be like the humble man who knows wisdom in his humility. May I eschew dishonest scales but always be forthright with my neighbor.

O Lord, my money will do nothing for me in the day of judgement. Therefore, let me seek the  riches of eternal life. May integrity guide me all my days.  so that I am not destroyed as the unfaithful are destroyed. Lord, it is in Righteousness that I am delivered; let me not be caught up in the lust of the unfaithful.

Grant this all to me, I pray, in Your great mercy. Amen.

Isaiah 11:10-12:2 - A Highway back to God!

“And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious.”It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea.He will set up a banner for the nations, And will assemble the outcasts of Israel, And gather together the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth.Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart, And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, And Judah shall not harass Ephraim.But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west; Together they shall plunder the people of the East; They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab; And the people of Ammon shall obey them.The Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over the River, And strike it in the seven streams, And make men cross over dry-shod.There will be a highway for the remnant of His people Who will be left from Assyria, As it was for Israel In the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.And in that day you will say: “O Lord, I will praise You; Though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’”

God will Lead us back to Him
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Because His people deserted Him, the Lord allowed them to be carried away from their land, a land that the Lord Himself promised them.  They felt secure in the Lord's protection yet ignored His warnings to repent. When they didn't, they got carried away to a land they did not know.  Yet the Lord promises to pave a highway back. He promises that His people will not always be in exile. Their enemies will be destroyed and their mouths will be filled with praise for the Lord Who restores and forgives them. 

I do not always follow the path that God lays down for me. I stray and then the Lord allows me to live, as it were, in exile. In that place, I feel far from God but God promises to put me on a path, a highway back to Himself. How I should treasure the chastening of the Lord for it is His Love and Mercy that displays to me to shake me from my inattentiveness to Him. My life came from Him and belongs to Him; I should not live as if it were my own.  Rather, I shall rejoice in the God Who is my salvation, I wll trust and not be afraid.

Today I say, O Lord, I will praise You; Though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away and You comfort me.  You, O Lord, have brought me back to you in the Highway that leads to God.

Isaiah 10:12-20 - A proud ruler will fall

When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem he will punish the arrogant boasting of the king of Assyria and his haughty pride. For he says: "By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I have removed the boundaries of peoples, and have plundered their treasures; like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones. My hand has found like a nest the wealth of the peoples; and as men gather eggs that have been forsaken so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing, or opened the mouth, or chirped." Shall the axe vaunt itself over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood! Therefore the Lord, the LORD of hosts, will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, and under his glory a burning will be kindled, like the burning of fire. The light of Israel will become a fire, and his Holy One a flame; and it will burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day. The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land the LORD will destroy, both soul and body, and it will be as when a sick man wastes away. The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child can write them down. In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean upon him that smote them, but will lean upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

The proud will fall, just like this poor guy!
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 The King of Assyria thought that everything he accomplished, he did by his own power and strength. He believed that he was the greatest in the earth and it was because of his great skill that all other nations were subservient to him.   While it is true that he did accomplish all that he did and that nations did serve him, the King of Assyria did not realize that he was a tool in the Hand of the Lord.  How foolish for a mere tool to boast of his own greatness when it is the skill of the One who yields it that should be praised. For though the King of Assyria did not realize that it was the Lord who directed his paths to accomplish His own will.

The King of Assyria should have remained humble as he ruled, then judgment would not have been meted out to him. I am reminded of the coronation ceremony given to the emperors of Byzantium. He is handed a royal crown for his head and a bad of dust for his hands. Yes, he may rule but he must remember that he is mortal and will return to dust someday like every other man.  It is the humble ruler who pleases God.

O Lord, in my life today, let me be humble. Yes, I don't rule any lands nor do I yield great power. Yet, I live in a land of plenty and could be given to pride for any number of reasons. Help me to keep a humble spirit for surely You rule and You reign.  Happy is the man who knows that! Amen.

Proverbs 8:32-9:11 - Wisdom gives us a feast!

“Now therefore, listen to me, my children, For blessed are those who keep my ways.Hear instruction and be wise, And do not disdain it.Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors.For whoever finds me finds life, And obtains favor from the Lord;But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; All those who hate me love death.”Wisdom has built her house, She has hewn out her seven pillars;She has slaughtered her meat, She has mixed her wine, She has also furnished her table.She has sent out her maidens, She cries out from the highest places of the city,“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,“Come, eat of my bread And drink of the wine I have mixed.Forsake foolishness and live, And go in the way of understanding.“He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself, And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself.Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you;Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you.

The Wise will feast!
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If Wisdom was a person, than Wisdom would make the pleas she does as is read in today's passage from Sacred Scripture.  Wisdom wants us to forsake foolishness for foolishness leads to the death of the soul.  It is the fool who ignores Wisdom but the Wise will find her and thus obtain favor from the Lord. Wisdom prepares for us a great banquet, a meal fit for a king! This sumptuous feast will fill us and thus we will be satisfied.

Why must we forsake foolishness and eat from the table of Wisdom? For God has made us in His Image and He calls us to higher things than our animal instincts may want of us.  The fools who live only fro pleasure do not understand why we would not join them in their carousing yet the fool does not know what he is missing.  Or if he does, than he has opted for the easier path.

Lord, this day help me to feast upon Wisdom's fare. Wisdom says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Help me to forsake any foolish ways and to seek that which is higher. Amen.

Isaiah 8:13-9:7 - God is Holy!

But the LORD of hosts, him you shall regard as holy; let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary, and a stone of offense, and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble thereon; they shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken."

Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples. I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. And when they say to you, "Consult the mediums and the wizards who chirp and mutter," should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the teaching and to the testimony! Surely for this word which they speak there is no dawn. They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry; and when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will curse their king and their God, and turn their faces upward; and they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be thrust into thick darkness.

But there will be no gloom for her that was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. Thou hast multiplied the nation, thou hast increased its joy; they rejoice before thee as with joy at the harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, thou hast broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

This is not what it means to FEAR THE LORD
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The Lord of Hosts is He Whom should be feared and it is He of Whom we should dread.  But what of this "dread?" Does it mean the Lord is not good and is Someone to be avoided at all costs or just appeased as a pagan god would be appeased?  No, but the Holiness of the Lord is so foreign to me in my present condition, I am like Isaiah who lamented that he was a man of unclean lips, dwelling in a land of unclean lips.  When I look at my own sin, how can I not feel dread when even contemplating being in the Presence of an all-holy God.

But the Lord promises to take away the gloom. In His love, He shines a light into the darkness of the Land.  In that Light, I shall walk and in that Light I shall take refuge. How happy is the man Who seeks the Lord in His favor.

O Lord, You are Holy indeed and I, in my imperfection, cannot stand in Your Presence.  Help me this day to remember Your holiness and walk in Your Goodness. I thank You, O Lord, that the Prince of Peace took Flesh upon Himself so we could look into the Holy Face of God. Amen.