Isaiah 55 : 1-12

1 "Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,

and your labor on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,

and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
3 Give ear and come to me;

hear me, that your soul may live.

I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

my faithful love promised to David.
4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,

a leader and commander of the peoples.
5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,

and nations that do not know you will hasten to you,

because of the LORD your God,

the Holy One of Israel,

for he has endowed you with splendor."
6 Seek the LORD while he may be found;

call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way

and the evil man his thoughts.

Let him turn to the LORD,

and he will have mercy on him,

and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,"

declares the LORD.
9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow

come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
12 You will go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills

will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field

will clap their hands.

I am not a fan of taking things out of context. Neither is my husband. Tonight's family devotion called for us to read verse 6.

Seek the LORD while he may be found;

call on him while he is near

But if I just take that passage, then I don't know WHY I should seek the Lord.

What is so special about Him?

It does not tell me that He is living water, the holder of a feast, of foods and wine, and milk, all of which I can buy, yet with NO money... no money?

If I only read and learn verse 6, I learn nothing of the fact that His food is good, it is of the richest fare, and He is inviting me to some banquet...

He is calling me to come to HIM. To hear Him speak. He has words for me..

This seems... well important...

Who is HE to call for me, and who am I worthy of such a calling?

He talks of having the power to give my very soul eternal life, of the LOVE of David, and it being a very faithful love, a love also he has for me?

Also this God, He speaks of a covenant and of it being an everlasting covenant....

When does THAT ever happen?...

people get married nowadays and "say" till death, but can't even stay married past 3 or 5 years....

This God is talking to ME about and EVER lasting covenant?

This is getting to be interesting....

I learn David was a witness, a leader...

I learn that this God is Lord

that He is HOLY

the Holy one over Israel

able to endow with splendor...

wow

THIS is where I am told to

6 Seek the LORD while he may be found;

call on him while he is near

And then all these promises are made, and I am told to let the wicked be, to let them have their ways, and Let the wicked turn to the Lord.... and the Lord will show mercy...

Mercy upon the wicked...

and when they turn to the Lord,

these wicked.... He will freely, or abundantly pardon...

wow..

I stand in awe of that...

He tells me that His ways are NOT my ways...

YEAH!

I can agree with that...

I like the wicked to be punished...

don't I....?

Well,

till I look in the mirror..

and see my sin,

my filth;

it is than that I think, I want to KNOW this God BETTER...

His ways Higher

deeper

wider

wiser

His ways INFINITE

while mine,

mine finite, ever and always finite....

But as the snow, and rain, the sunshine all work to bring for the fruit in the field, so His word does not return to Him Void... that is amazing... what a promise, that what He wants for it to accomplish shall be accomplished, and nothing anyone can do shall thwart the will of this GOD. He isn't depending on any of us.... He isn't leaning on me or you to hold him up like we were His crutch....

He stands on His own, holding the world in the palm of His hand...

and He promises

I will go in Joy

led in peace

and

the mountains and hills

will "burst in song" before me

the trees will clap their hands...

rather than being foreboding mountains, exhausting hills? Rather than being a looming forest dark and frightening?

I wonder if JRR Tolkien thought of this passage as he wrote Return of the King....

I find this passage exciting... illuminating the verse 6.... it tells me Why, the WHO the all of it...

I feel such compassion for Lyon..

for the people of this magnificent city I am growing to love...

for the believers here

for the unbelievers here...

and such hope!

There in the word of God it was so clear, so hopeful, in verse 7, where it said, Let him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him and freely pardon!!!!!!!! (There is a song Chris Tomlin sings that was written by the band Blue Tree out of Dublin I believe, and it is called "God of this City"... this song is very much on my heart.. that and the song "Give me eyes" by Brandon Heath)

I know that there is so much mercy for this city, so much pardon, so much hope for this beautiful city... These lovely souls...it simply fills me with that joy, and with that peace. I know I will pray for Lyon all my days, for the people here.... for our friend at the Baker, for our butcher, for guy at the little grocery, for each person who has come into our lives here, we have their names written down and we pray for them.
No, I haven't met that "rude Frenchman" yet... They have all been lovely... Warm friendly people, kind, patient with my poor use of their language... Their country is steeped in the history of the faith of the Saints.... yet they seem blind to it... I feel such joy for them, for what is just before them, so excited, to pray for them, to know them, to know about them....

no contempt here, only love for this people, this city, this land.... and hope! such hope!

is this what it means to be growing in grace?

praying....

for the saints

for those called to be saints...

yep, just praying..

because I believe Him... and frankly I trust HIM