(Isaiah 25:1-12)
1 Lord, You are my God;
I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name;
For You have worked wonders,
Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.
2 For You have turned a city into a heap,
A fortified city into a ruin;
A palace of strangers is no longer a city,
It will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore a strong people will glorify You;
Cities of ruthless nations will revere You.
4 For You have been a stronghold for the helpless,
A stronghold for the poor in his distress,
A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat;
For the breath of the ruthless
Is like a rain storm against a wall.
5 Like heat in a dry land, You subdue the uproar of foreigners;
Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is silenced.
6 Now the Lord of armies will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain;
A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow,
And refined, aged wine.
7 And on this mountain He will destroy the covering which is over all peoples,
The veil which is stretched over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death for all time,
And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces,
And He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth;
For the Lord has spoken.
9 And it will be said on that day,
“Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
Let’s rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”
10 For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain,
And Moab will be trampled down in his place
As straw is trampled down in the water of a manure pile.
11 And he will spread out his hands in the middle of it
As a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim,
But the Lord will lay low his pride together with the trickery of his hands.
12 The unassailable fortifications of your walls He will bring down,
Lay low, and throw to the ground, to the dust.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name;
For You have worked wonders,
Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.
2 For You have turned a city into a heap,
A fortified city into a ruin;
A palace of strangers is no longer a city,
It will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore a strong people will glorify You;
Cities of ruthless nations will revere You.
4 For You have been a stronghold for the helpless,
A stronghold for the poor in his distress,
A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat;
For the breath of the ruthless
Is like a rain storm against a wall.
5 Like heat in a dry land, You subdue the uproar of foreigners;
Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is silenced.
6 Now the Lord of armies will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain;
A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow,
And refined, aged wine.
7 And on this mountain He will destroy the covering which is over all peoples,
The veil which is stretched over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death for all time,
And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces,
And He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth;
For the Lord has spoken.
9 And it will be said on that day,
“Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
Let’s rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”
10 For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain,
And Moab will be trampled down in his place
As straw is trampled down in the water of a manure pile.
11 And he will spread out his hands in the middle of it
As a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim,
But the Lord will lay low his pride together with the trickery of his hands.
12 The unassailable fortifications of your walls He will bring down,
Lay low, and throw to the ground, to the dust.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Every person will have a god or gods that they worship, exalt and thank. Whoever or whatever one makes as their priority in life - is their god. This is whoever or whatever one will work for, pay for, sacrifice for, serve, praise, glorify, depend on, hope in, give credit to, and identify with... But unless we deceive ourselves, we will very quickly see that people and things will only let us down, because no one is perfect, and things are just things!
As believers, we want to choose a spouse who is also a steadfast believer, and to some extent we will depend on them, more so than with any other person. If one isn't married, then we do need to have family members and/or friends that we can hang out with and depend on. And while it is very good to have those relationships who are trustworthy and loving, we should not look to them as our "rock" or "solid foundation". I'll even challenge the term "soulmate". Together, we should depend on and know that the Lord is truly our rock and solid foundation. And as believers, Jesus is literally our soulmate, and it is only Jesus that can complete us, fulfill us and satisfy us.
Even though this chapter is prophetic and speaks about the Millennial kingdom, the attributes of the Lord are unchanging. As He is described here, this is who He was, and who He is right now. Because He is sovereign, we can have complete faith in Him, knowing that He is fair and just. He has, He will and He does bring peace. Even though right now there might not always be physical peace around us, we can experience spiritual peace and joy!
Because the Lord is omnipotent, He has worked wonders, and He will and He does still work wonders! Being omniscient, He has laid out perfect plans which encompass the earth's very beginning to the very end. Because He is faithful, we can completely trust in Him. Because He is a stronghold, we can run to Him for refuge and strength. Because He is our heavenly Father who cares about us and for us, He provides nourishment and comfort. As our Savior, because He has given us life and eternal security, we can rest in Him and be confident. And because we have made Him our God, we will make Him our top priority. He alone is perfect! And in the joy that He gives us, we will realize that He is the most important relationship we could ever have, and we will be so very grateful and glad in Him!
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