August 5 - Isaiah 57:14-21

August 5 – Isaiah 57:14-21

And it will be said: “Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.” For this is what the high and lofty One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

I will not accuse forever, nor will I always be angry, for then the spirit of man would grow faint before me— the breath of man that I have created. I was enraged by his sinful greed; I punished him, and hid my face in anger, yet he kept on in his willful ways.

I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him, creating praise on the lips of the mourners in Israel. Peace, peace, to those far and near,” says the LORD. “And I will heal them.”

But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud.  “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

In Isaiah 40:3-5, we were told to prepare a way for the Lord; now the Lord prepares the road for us.  Those are contrite and lowly will find a clear path to the Lord.

This would come as welcome news to the Israelites who had lived through the exile and who were weary and exhausted from dealing with their God who had been absolutely furious with them. 

Isaiah clearly spells out what it was that infuriated the Lord – man’s greediness and his insistence to do his own thing and walk in his own way.

It continually astounds me to see the Lord move from anger to forgiveness as He does.  It takes nothing more than a contrite heart and God is ready to move mountains for His children.  He knows His children, Isaiah says that He can see their ways.  But, that simple act of contrition moves the Lord to healing, to guidance and comfort.  The response of His children is praise, even when they are coming out of mourning.

The Lord brings peace to those who bow before Him, but to the wicked, there will never be peace.