Scripture

My people will live in safety, quietly at home. They will be at rest.

Observation

A righteous King is coming who will not be like the sinful, foolish, and weak kings of the past. He will rule with honest princes who will be like a refuge in the storm.

Everyone will be able to see the truth. Ungodly fools will no longer be heroes, and scoundrels will not be respected. Fools practise ungodliness and make poor people even poorer.

City women living in luxury and immorality need to take care. In the next year, their crops will fail. Their land will be overgrown with thorns.

But justice will rule in the wilderness, and it will bring peace.

Application

The Lord promises to care for and protect His people, and to give us rest.

Over many year,ears, I have been protected by the Lord in many ways, possibly more than I am aware of. When I am driving long distances, the Lord sustains me when I am tired. There have been numerous near misses where an accident may have happened, but it didn’t by a hair’s breadth.

We enjoy rest when we understand that God is in control and He loves us. There is no need to be anxious about anything when we surrender everything to the Lord. We can sleep deeply at night knowing that He cares. Whether I have plenty or little, the Lord will provide what I need. Whether my family is at peace or falling apart, God is greater.

Prayer

Lord, thank you for the rest that comes from knowing your love. Please help me to always rest in you. Amen

Scripture

What sorrow awaits those who look to Egypt for help, trusting their horses, chariots, and charioteers, and depending on the strength of human armies instead of looking to the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

Observation

Those who look to Egypt to protect Judah from Assyria are doomed. They depend on human armies instead of the Lord. The Lord will come against Egypt, and they will fall.

The Lord is like a lion growling over a sheep it has killed. It is not frightened by the shouts of the shepherds. In the same way, the Lord will hover over Jerusalem. He will protect and save the city.

Application

Judah was threatened by the rising power of Assyria to the north. To balance the odds against them, they sought the assistance of Egypt which was far more powerful.

The Lord says they are wrong to do this. The Egyptian soldiers are just humans. Rather, Judah should return to the Lord and put their trust in Him alone.

Whether it is geopolitics or personal safety, we can get things wrong. We tend to put our trust in other people or in our own ability.

The problem is, of course, that to put our trust in the Lord means that we rely on someone who cannot be seen. Even worse, there is an implication that to “return to the Lord”, we might have to give up our favourite idols and change our lifestyle.

It seems much more straightforward to make our own arrangements for our security. It is easier to trust ourselves then the Creator of the universe.

Prayer

Father, forgive me for my self- protectiveness and my inflated belief in my own abilities. Please help me to trust you in all things and at all times. Amen.

Scripture

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says, “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In and confidence and quietness is your strength.”

Observation

Judah makes alliances that are not directed by the Spirit of the Lord. They have gone to Egypt for help, but all who trust in Pharaoh will be disappointed. The Lord says that Egypt is a harmless dragon that cannot help them.

The people of Judah don’t want to hear the words of the prophets or the visions of the seers. They want to live life their own way without being bothered by the God of Israel.

The lord tells them that it is only in resting in Him that they will be saved. In quietness and confidence is their strength.

Justice will rule, and God’s righteousness will bring quietness and confidence forever.

Application

The people of Judah looked for peace and support from the ruler of Egypt instead of seeking it from the Lord.

God told them that it was only in returning to him that they would find quietness and strength.

The Lord is our strength. He is the one we should trust. He loves us and is always faithful.

Israel and Judah looked to make unholy alliances with other nations, Many christians seek strength anywhere but in God. We seek security in our jobs and our possessions. We look for affirmation in our families.

There is nothing wrong in any of these things of course, but the Lord is the source of our strength.

Put Him at the centre of everything.

Prayer

Lord, you are my quietness and my strength. Please help me to trust you always. Amen.

Scripture

So the Lord says, “These people say they are mine. They honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.”

Observation

Jerusalem will be punished by the Lord for the hypocrisy of the people. They celebrate the feasts, but the Lord will become their enemy.

Suddenly, the enemies will themselves be crushed. The Lord who has acted against Jerusalem will now act to save it. The nations fighting against Jerusalem will become like a dream.

The Lord will astound the hypocrites who honour him with their lips but their hearts are from him.

Soon the forests of Lebanon will become a fertile field. The humble will rejoice with the Lord, but the arrogant, and the false witnesses will be taken away.

Application

Many people pay lip service to the Lord. They go to church and claim to be born again, but they are just going through the motions. Such people were once described as Sunday morning christians. They are present in worship, but their lives remain unchanged the rest of the week.

The Lord wants us to love Him with all of our heart, soul, strength, and mind. Every part of our being has to be surrendered to Him. Christ must be the centre of every part of our lives.

This is a process of dying to ourselves. For most of us this will be a lifelong quest, in which the Lord puts his finger on the various things we hold back from him.

The trouble is that we get to a comfortable level of sin. We can tolerate certain sins in our lives, even though we know that they are displeasing to the Lord. We must we must let go of everything.

Prayer

Father, please show me areas of my life that you want me to change and give me the grace to surrender them to you. Amen.

Scripture

In that day, the Lord will take his terrible swift sword and punish Leviathan, the swiftly moving serpent, the coiling, writhing serpent. He will kill the dragon of the sea.

Observation

The Lord will kill Leviathan, the sea dragon. The Lord will watch over His vineyard so that no one can harm it. He will burn up any thorns that grow up in the vineyard.

The time is coming when Israel will take root and fill the whole earth with fruit.

The Lord exiled Israel to call her to account. He did this to purge her wickedness. All the pagan altars will be crushed to dust.

Then the Lord will gather his scattered people together, and they will return to the land.

Application

Leviathan, the dragon of the sea, represents the forces of evil that oppose God’s order. it may symbolise political powers such as Babylon, Israel’s great enemy. It may also represent spiritual powers such as satan that seek to destroy human beings and separate us from God.

Often we can feel overwhelmed buy the evil in the world, whether it is nations oppressing people or terrorism, or just our own personal struggles. The good news is that in the end, God will destroy every evil thing. He will cast satan and all of his followers into a great pit forever.

The Lord has provided salvation for those who love Him. When Jesus died on the cross, He paid the price for all of our sins, the things that separate us from God.

Prayer

Thank you Lord for the knowledge that you have defeated every evil force in the world. There will be a time when you will welcome me into your heavenly realm where there is no sin or death or00 mourning. Amen.

Scripture

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you; all whose thoughts are fixed on you.

Observation

In the day of God’s favour, the people of Jerusalem will rejoice because their walls are God’s salvation. The Lord keeps in perfect peace all who trust in him. The Lord is our rock.

God smooths the path for the righteous. But the unrighteous people will only respond to the Lord’s actions in defending His people.

Those who die in the Lord will live; their bodies will rise again. The Lord’s life-giving light will fall like dew on His people in the place of the dead.

Application

God’s peace is a gift to all who trust in Him. The Lord is our eternal Rock, and we can stand securely in our trust in Him because He never changes.

If we trust the Lord, the world has no hold over as. What can the enemies of the Lord do to me? They can kill my body, but my spirit is secure in the Lord.

I have peace because I know that God’s hands carry me through times of anxiety, turbulence, and destruction

If God loves me enough to send Jesus to die for me, He will never let me down

God is love. He is faithful and and he does not change.

In times of joy, I trust the Lord.

In times of morning, I trust the Lord.

In times of adversity, I trust the Lord.

When I am fit and healthy, I trust the Lord.

When I am sick, I trust the Lord.

Prayer

Lord, you are utterly trustworthy. Thank you for your unfailing love. Amen.

Scripture

We hear songs of praise from the ends of the Earth, songs that give glory to the Righteous One.

Observation

In my Bible, the section consisting of chapters 24 through to 27 are labelled “The Little Apocalypse.”

The Lord will destroy the earth and make it a wasteland. The earth will be emptied and looted.

The earth suffers for the sins of its people who have violated God’s laws. Fires consume people and crops. There is no celebration, only mourning.

Throughout the earth, only a remnant is left like the stray olives left on the tree. But from the ends of the earth there is praise and worship of the Righteous One.

The Earth staggers and even the sun and moon will fade. but the Lord will come and rule from Jerusalem.

Application

The word translated as “earth” in this passage also means “land”, ie Israel. It is not clear whether a universal apocalypse is envisaged here, or if the main focus is Israel – or it could be both.

Even in the midst of this terrible disaster, the Lord leaves a remnant. He will punish the wicked, pursuing them to the point of death. But He leaves a remnant who praise God right through the turmoil.

There always seems to be great instability in the world. It really does feel sometimes that the earth is breaking up and staggering like a drunk (vs. 19-20) . The more access we have to news and social media, the worse things seem.

But God is in control. He is faithful, and He loves His people. Therefore we can praise Him and worship Him and rejoice, regardless of how bad things seem.

Prayer

Lord, I rejoice that nothing can shake me out of the safety of your arms. You hold on to me, even when I am not aware of it. You will punish the wicked and vindicate your people. I will rejoice in you every day. Amen.