Month: September 2016

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ISAIAH 25:1-28:13 | GALATIANS 3:10-22 | PSALM 61:1-8 | PROVERBS 23:17-18

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We find Isaiah offering great praises to the Lord Almighty in this chapter.  He starts out with these simple verses that have stood the test of time in that they ring true to any person who has tasted the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord.  Like Isaiah, we can also each of us say the same:

1 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.

Yet another set of verses that have timeless appeal, are these:

“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.”

Isaiah’s song of praise has still more gems to be admired, as can be seen here:

3 You will keep in perfect peace

   those whose minds are steadfast,

   because they trust in you.

4 Trust in the LORD forever,

   for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.

5 He humbles those who dwell on high,

   he lays the lofty city low;

he levels it to the ground

   and casts it down to the dust.

May it be that like Isaiah, we would also say these very words with the same sincerity:

8 Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws,

   we wait for you;

your name and renown

   are the desire of our hearts.

9 My soul yearns for you in the night;

   in the morning my spirit longs for you.

Isaiah speaks of the deliverance of Israel in these verses: 12 In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, Israel, will be gathered up one by one. 13 And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

Turning now to our reading of Paul’s letter to the Galatians, we find Paul continuing to write about the futility of clinging to the Law now that there is the redemption of life through faith in the grace of the work of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection.  This must have been a difficult concept for the people to understand and accept without reservation.  They still wished to adhere to the observance of the old Law as first given to Moses, but Paul is saying to them, no, it’s no use, you must give it up, or else it will be as if Christ has died in vain, and your faith in Christ is meaningless. 

Paul’s actual words are:  10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

Paul goes on to explain the difference between the Promise and the Law:  the promise having been made by God to Abraham—of multiplying his seed by as much as the stars in the heavens and the sand on the shore, and the Law having been given to Moses much later—in order to address the sins of the people.  But the Law was so perfect that it couldn’t have ever been humanly observed in its entirety, and therefore proved futile. 

To address this dilemma—of the Law being perfect and the people unable to keep it, yet another provision was made in the persona of Jesus Christ, God incarnate.  And it is in the work accomplished by Jesus that there was now a solution to the problem of man approaching God.  Paul explains it in this way:

The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. 18 For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.19 Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. 20 A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one. 21 Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22 But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

Turning now to our reading of the psalms, we find these beautiful verses penned by David, the psalmist.  He says:

2 From the ends of the earth I call to you,

   I call as my heart grows faint;

   lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

3 For you have been my refuge,

   a strong tower against the foe.

Finally, a set of verses from the book of Proverbs which happen to comprise one of many such “sayings”:

17 Do not let your heart envy sinners,

   but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD.

18 There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.

May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.

Click Here For Today’s Reading

ISAIAH 22:1-24:23 | GALATIANS 2:17-3:9 | PSALM 60:1-12 | PROVERBS 23:15-16

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Isaiah continues with his prophecies, and employs great imagery to deliver it.  Jerusalem is not spared either, and he says this of its impending ruin: ²⁵ “In that day,” declares the LORD Almighty, “the peg driven into the firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.” The LORD has spoken.

Of the ancient city of Tyre, modern Lebanon, these are the prophets words: ¹⁷ At the end of seventy years, the LORD will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. ¹⁸ Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the LORD; they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the LORD, for abundant food and fine clothes.

And if all this sounds quite dismal, there is an even more terrifying prophecy against the entire earth about its impending devastation.  This is what Isaiah says:

¹⁹ The earth is broken up,
the earth is split asunder,
the earth is violently shaken.
²⁰ The earth reels like a drunkard,
it sways like a hut in the wind;
so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion
that it falls—never to rise again.

Turning next to our reading of Paul’s letter to the Galatians, we find Paul saying what he has said many times already:  he is vehement about the fact that Christ’s work on the cross is a full and complete one that offers redemption of all sins, and this cannot be equaled by the Law or the observance of it. 

Paul says: ¹⁹ “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

There is almost a palpable measure of frustration in Paul’s words even as he tries to explain how futile it is to wish to go back to practicing the Law after having received by faith the righteousness of God. 

He says:  ² I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? ³ Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? ⁴ Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? ⁵ So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? ⁶ So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

And yet, Paul is careful not to completely discount the value and calling of the Jewish people, and in these words, he so tactfully points out to all the Law-loving people God’s greater purpose and mission for the children of Israel. 

He says, ⁷ Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. ⁸ Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” ⁹ So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Turning now to our psalm for the day, we find David’s great confidence in the saving power of the Almighty.  Like him, may it be that we also recognize that the power of the aid and comfort received from God is far superior to that received from mere humans.  David puts it like this:

¹¹ Give us aid against the enemy,
for human help is worthless.
¹² With God we will gain the victory,
and he will trample down our enemies.

Finally, a few verses from the book of Proverbs that are timeless in that the sentiment that is conveyed through them is one that every parent would wish to speak out to their child.  Solomon, the wise king of Israel, says this:

¹⁵ My son, if your heart is wise,
then my heart will be glad indeed;
¹⁶ my inmost being will rejoice
when your lips speak what is right.

May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.