12/7/12. Isaiah 25:1-12. YOU HAVE DONE MARVELOUS THINGS-my devotional

Key Verse: 25:1                                                                                        Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF

“Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.”

Dear Lord, thank you for this Christmas season. Thank you for the members of the DeKALB community that work hard to bless the whole community with holiday cheer. Lord, this season, fill our hearts with amazement and wonder on what you accomplished through sending Jesus into this world as a baby in a manger. I also want to thank you for being the steady rock that you are. Many things change, but you stay the same. Your creation is almost steady state. The heavens are unchanging. May we turn to you every day and find peace and stability in you. Please grant me one word of God to hold onto. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1:  In Perfect Faithfulness (1-5).

Verses 1-5, “Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago. ² You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin, the foreigners’ stronghold a city no more; it will never be rebuilt. ³ Therefore strong peoples will honor you; cities of ruthless nations will revere you. ⁴ You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall ⁵ and like the heat of the desert. You silence the uproar of foreigners; as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled.”

Isaiah sang a psalm of praise to the Lord. He was amazed at the perfect faithfulness of God. The Lord is a holy and righteous God who will completely judge sin and yet restore all things. When Isaiah saw cities in rubble and fortified towns in ruin, he saw the marvelous work of God and the power and righteousness of God. God’s name was then honored among the pagans. God is all powerful and righteous, but he also a very merciful God. Verse 4a reads, “You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.”  He looked forward to the day when strong peoples would honor the Lord, when the poor would take refuge in God, and when the ruthless would be silenced.

God is working like this even now. He is showing himself strong among the nations. Jesus and the Gospel are the fasted growing religious faith in the world. Cultures and societies and world history are being changed right now. People and nations who appose Jesus and the gospel of Jesus are struggling so much. Many are becoming failed states, crippled with violence and corruption or falling into economic collapse. But God is also a shelter to any who come to him just as they are. He protects us from strong forces that want to assail our hearts and minds and souls. He keeps us strong at heart and is leading us all the way to thekingdomofGodeven when we are weak. God keeps us safe. Thank you Lord for who you are and your wonderful grace.

Part 2:  On This Mountain (6-12).

Verses 6-12, “On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines. ⁷ On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; ⁸ he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. ⁹ In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.” ¹⁰ The hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain; …”

Isaiah also looked forward to thekingdomofGod. All men were ruled by the power of death. In his sovereignty, God purposed to swallow up death. He promised the time when his people would have no more tears and disgrace. God sent Jesus to bear sin upon himself. Jesus died for our sins and was raised from the dead. In him is eternal gladness and salvation.

Our God took away the power of death from my heart. I was despaired to tears most days. I was longing to be taken from this world. But God planted in my heart the joy of salvation. He filled my heart with new hope and grace and forgiveness. He literally wipes the tears from my eyes. I am learning how to rejoice and be glad in his salvation instead of hardening my forehead like a flint to only do my mission and condemning myself for my weaknesses. He has been healing the relationships with my family.  In this sense these qualities of thekingdomofGodare being manifest now, in my own heart. Maybe that is why Jesus once said that theKingdomofGodis within you.

Though God is merciful we must come to him on his terms. Verses 10b-12 read, “…but Moab will be trampled in their land as straw is trampled down in the manure. ¹¹ They will stretch out their hands in it, as swimmers stretch out their hands to swim. God will bring down their pride despite the cleverness of their hands. ¹² He will bring down your high fortified walls and lay them low; he will bring them down to the ground, to the very dust.”

Because of their own sin, proud people will go to dust, but those who trust in God will rejoice in his salvation. If we are not able to rejoice in God’s salvation, we have no one to blame but ourselves. God is there extending the arm of grace, day and night. It is our pride that brings us down to the dust. Lord, help me to be humble before you as I walk this pilgrimage.

Prayer: Lord, you have done marvelous things. Bless me to trust in you and rejoice in your salvation.

One Word: Rejoice in his salvation