Scripture

“I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!”

Observation

The Lord was ready to respond but no one called to Him. He said, “Here I am!” but they did not call on His name. He is waiting for His people, but they are burning incense to idols.

The Lord will destroy the wicked, but He will preserve those who are truly His servants. He will preserve a remnant to possess the land. He is creating a new heavens and a new earth. Jerusalem will be a place of joy. Babies will not die prematurely, and adults will live to a hundred.

The blessings will be so great that God will answer prayers before they even pray.

Application

We live under the new covenant that Isaiah looked towards. It is not yet fully consummated as the creation still needs to be reformed.

God’s blessings towards his people are enormous. We don’t think of God answering prayers before we ask or while we are talking about the needs. God sees our need before we do, and His heart is so favourable to us that He answers before we ask.

This chapter begins with God expressing anger because He is ready to respond, but they don’t ask. In the new covenant age, He is happy to answer before we ask.

This does not say that we do not need to pray or to seek the Lord. Prayer is meant to be relational not transactional. We don’t pray to get answers, but from a need to be close to the Lord.

Prayer

Thank you Father for the privilege of prayer. Thank you that you desire to communicate with me. Amen.

Scripture

For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him.

Observation

Come down from heaven Lord and cause the mountains to shake and the nations to tremble. When you came down long ago, you did awesome deeds.

Since the world began, no eye has seen nor ear heard of a God like this one, who works for those who wait on Him.

The Lord welcomes those who walk in His ways, but the people of Israel have not been like that. No one calls on the name of the Lord or asks for mercy.

Yet He is our father. After all the destruction that has happened, will He continue to be silent?

Application

The pagan idea of God, or gods, was that they were unpredictable and likely to cause great suffering unless people offered them sacrifices do mollify them.

But our God is different. He is so different in fact, that nobody has ever heard of anything like it. He does not demand our service; rather, He works for those who wait for him.

This is partnership, not servitude. We wait on God and listen. We make our requests to Him and we listen to His directions. We serve him, but He also works for us.

God is a Father not a distant king. He loves each one of us and is working out our lives so that we become all that we can be in Him.

We need to be careful that we do not start to think of God as our personal assistant, or worse still, as a vending machine of blessings and goodies. It is all about relationship – living and loving.

Prayer

Lord, you are my God. Thank you that you invite me to walk with you each day. Amen.

Scripture

Who is this who comes from Edom, from the city of Bozrah, with his clothing stained red? Who is this in royal robes marching in his great strength? “It I I, the Lord, announcing your salvation! It is I, the Lord, who has the power to save!”

Observation

The Lord comes with his robes stained red. He has come from His winepress where He has crushed Israel’s enemies like grapes.

The Lord was amazed that no one intervened to save His people from their enemies. So He stepped in to save them.

The Lord has saved His people even though they rebelled against Him. Then they remembered the days of old when they knew the Holy Spirit and received His rest.

Application

The Lord judges people and punishes His enemies. It is a sad fact that not everybody will be saved. Many people will reject God’s gracious offer of salvation.

The result is that God will destroy them. His royal robes will be stained red by the blood of those who hate the Lord.

There can be no heaven without a sorting and a judgement. The whole point of salvation is to remove our sinful rebellion against against God. If God allows sin to go on in eternity, heaven will be no better than earth.

There will be a judgement. Those who reject God will themselves be rejected by Him. Those who accept God will be accepted by Him.

Prayer

Thank you, Lord, for salvation through Christ’s death on the cross. Please help me to be faithful to the end. Amen.

Scripture

To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, praise instead of despair.

Observation

The Lord has anointed the servant to bring good news to the poor, to comfort the brokenhearted, to proclaim release for captives, to declare that the time of the Lord’s favour has arrived.

To everyone who mourns, He will give beauty for ashes, blessing for mourning, praise for despair.

The people of Israel will rebuild their cities. They will enjoy a double share of honour and of prosperity. Joy will be theirs forever.

Isaiah says he is overwhelmed with joy in the Lord. He is dressed in the clothing of salvation, a robe of righteousness.

Application

God is all about exchanging human weakness and sin for a new state of holiness and strength. He takes away the old burdens and clothes us with new righteousness.

Here he promises a crown of beauty for the ashes of mourning, joy instead of sadness, and praise instead of despair.

At times when I have felt worn down by grief, I have felt joy bubble up from within me. Despite my current difficulties I am united with the eternal God, and this grief will only last for a short time.

He doesn’t always take the pain away completely, but he does give us strength to continue the journey.

Prayer

Lord, you promise to exchange our mourning and despair for joy in you. Thank you for this wonderful promise. Amen.

Scripture

“This is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit will not leave them, and neither will these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children’s children forever. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

Observation

The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save, nor his ear too deaf to hear. Our sins separate us from God. No one cares about justice or righteousness.

We stumble and grope like blind people. Our sins are piled up before God. He is ready to judge, but when people repent and turn back to Him, He will redeem them from their sins.

God promises His Spirit will never leave them and His words will remain on the lips of their children and grandchildren forever.

Application

God makes some strong promises that seem absolute and unconditional. He says,”This is my covenant” and ” I, the Lord have spoken!” That sounds like a strong promise.

Firstly He promises that His Spirit will never leave His people. It is a terrible thing when the Holy Spirit departs from a person. Spiritually, they are like a living corpse. God says that will not happen to us. We can be filled, baptised, and anointed by the Spirit of God, and as long as we stay close to Him, He will equip, enable, and empower us to serve Him.

Secondly, He promises that His word will not leave us, nor our children, nor our grandchildren. They still need to make faith their own, of course, but He will make sure that they will not stray too far from Him.

Parents and grandparents, keep praying for your children and grandchildren that the word of God remains in their hearts and on their lips. God will take care of the rest; He has he has promised it

Prayer

Thank you Lord for your faithfulness. Please help me to be faithful to you. Amen.

Scripture

The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well watered garden like an ever flowing spring.

Observation

The people of Israel are sinners, despite their pious actions. They go to the temple every day. They pray and ask God to intervene on their behalf. they fast, expecting God to be impressed.

The kind of fasting the Lord requires is to free the wrongly imprisoned and let the oppressed go free. They are to look after the homeless and care for relatives in need.

When they do that, salvation will come like the dawn. When they call, the Lord will answer. If they feed the hungry they will shine like light in the darkness. Then the Lord will guide them continually and make them like a well watered garden.

Application

The Lord is not interested in our deeds of piety – prayers, praise, fasting and so on. These things are important, but they do not impress God.

The Lord is impressed when we allow our salvation to flow out to others in good deeds and when we set free the oppressed.

We are saved by faith in Christ. That then transforms our hearts and minds so that we live for Him and for other people. When we do that, the little light that is my relationship with God is magnified and shows forth in my community in actions that bring freedom and life.

Then we start to bloom like a well-watered garden. We help others to flourish, and by doing that, God’s grace multiplies in us.

As a a new Christian and a new member of Parliament, William Wilberforce asked God, “What can I do for you?” He dedicated his career to ending slavery and brought liberty to millions of people around the world. He became a well-watered garden that benefited countless people.

Prayer

Lord show me how to glorify your name today. Amen.

Scripture

Whom do you mock, making faces and sticking out your tongues? You children of sinners and liars! You worship your idols with great passion beneath the oaks and every green tree. You sacrifice your children down in the valleys, among the jagged rocks in the cliffs.

Observation

Good people die, sometimes as a young age, but they are going to a good place. God protects them from the evil to come.

The witches and idolaters mock the righteous people. They worship their idols and sacrifice their children. They commit adultery in the high places where they worship Molech and Baal. They travel far in order to find new gods.

God says to rebuild the road and clear away the rocks. God is restoring His people. He will lift up the humble and comfort those who mourn. Those who repent will know God’s peace, but those who reject God are like the sea which is never still.

Application

Those who consider themselves wise and knowledgeable mock those who follow the Lord. They pull faces at people who follow Jesus as if we are foolish and stupid.

Like the people Isaiah describes, they worship under every green tree. They claim that they love the environment, but they are destroying it. They cut down the rain forests to save the planet with windmills and solar panels.

While they are so in love with creation, supposedly, they murder their own children. We don’t have religious rituals of child sacrifice, but each year millions of babies are killed in the name of “reproductive health care.” This is an abomination to the Lord. As the people sacrificed to Molech in the past, our abortion industry is just as dedicated to this evil deity.

But the promise of God is that He will save those who turn to him. Worshipping other gods, abortions, and other sins can all be washed away when we turn to God in true repentance.

Prayer

Thank you Lord for being so gracious to those who turn to you. Amen.

Scripture

I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and I will fill them with joy in my house of prayer.

Observation

The Lord will soon rescue his people. Blessed are those who obey the Lord’s law and who observe the Sabbath days.

Foreigners who obey the Lord are a part of God’s people. Eunuchs will come into the house of the Lord. The Lord will build a monument and give them an everlasting name.

The Lord will bless foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord. They will come to the holy mountain and He will fill them with joy in His house of prayer.

Application

It was unthinkable to some people that the Lord might bless foreigners. By the time of Jesus, good Jews were not supposed to have any fellowship with Gentiles.

But the day would come when the Gentiles would be welcome in the temple, which was to be known as a house of prayer for all nations.

Jesus was the one who broke down the curtain that separated the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place. His death broke down every division between people because we are all saved by grace through faith – Jews, Gentiles, mean, women, eunuchs, and others.

Everyone may freely come and worship, having joy in the presence of the Lord.

Prayer

Hallelujah! You are a mighty and gracious Saviour. Thank you, Lord, for bringing me into your house of prayer. Amen.