June 01, 2022 – Wednesday
Isaiah 26:8-10 NIV
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. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.
10 But when grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and do not regard the majesty of the Lord.
Comment.
This is obviously an excerpt from Isaiah 26, but what is not obvious is that it is an excerpt from a song that lasts all twenty-one verses of the chapter. It begins, In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts. In the NIV the title A Song of Praise is inserted as a header, in the ESV the title is Judah Will Celebrate, and in the NOG the title is The LORD’s People Praise Him for Salvation.
Before we look at the verses for today, I want to share two (only two!) of my favorite verses from this song. First verse 4, 4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal. This is a favorite because it speaks of eternal trust. Then verse nineteen, 19 But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise—let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy—your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead. This because it speaks of the resurrection of the faithful, a forerunner of the Good News of Christ Jesus, plus it ties in neatly with verse one which speaks of salvation!
Now to our verses for today. Verse eight is included as its thought is completed in the first part of verse nine thusly, Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. The preceding verses (5-7) speak of God’s judgment on the high and mighty who have no thought for anyone else and here we see, per the Pulpit Commentary, not a mere selfish desire for the cessation of persecution that caused the righteous to long for the time when God’s judgments would be manifested upon the earth, but a conviction that so only would an impression be made on the persecutors, and a certain number of them be induced to learn righteousness. A desire for the conversion of sinners to God characterizes God’s saints generally, and none more than Isaiah, who is here expressing what he conceives will be the thoughts of the redeemed.
Then we have the second part of verse nine with verse ten, When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness. But when grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and do not regard the majesty of the Lord. We can see the prior thought completed here where the longing for judgment is a conviction that only by God’s judgment can the world have a new beginning of righteousness. When I read about grace shown to the wicked and yet they do not learn righteousness at all, then I think of our world today where incredible tolerance and favor is shown and yet they choose to engage in ever greater unrighteousness and outright evil. It is as if they are demanding judgment from Almighty God. Sadly one day they will have it and it will be too late for them.
Bottom Line: Continue to trust in the Lord and one day we will behold the Majesty of the LORD.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Such a wonderful song to encourage our trust as well as our prayers for the lost. Thank You for preserving this for us. – In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
RileyD, nwJ
Riley D. Driver – Pastor
Calvary Chapel of Dayton
in Beavercreek