Isaiah 51-52
Anchored to the Rock Vs. 1-8
Filled with Joy Vs. 9-23
Put on Your Strength Vs. 1-12
Intro:
Happy Mothers Day
Cartoon of Motherhood Inc
To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you
To those who lost a child this year – we mourn with you
To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains – we appreciate you
To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you
Motherhood is by far the most labor intensive underpaid job in the universe
You can work at it for 20 years and still feel like failure
Yet in those brief moments God can give you a joy so intense that nothing on earth compares
If anything motherhood is exhausting and if there was some logical way to give up I think most would
God gives comfort to those who are weary and the future looks uncertain
He fights for us and strengthens us in ways we can't imagine
Even in the midst of a jam that we got ourselves into He is there
Today we are going to see how God comforts those who need it
Read Isaiah 51:1-4
Transition:
God addresses an audience made up of a group of righteous Hebrews,
“those who pursue righteousness” and “those who seek Yahweh.”
These are not sinners who have rebelled against God
Pursuing righteousness implies a desire to maintain a life characterized by that quality.
Pursuing “righteousness” in Deut 16:20 is related to acting justly in a court of law,
In Prov 21:21 pursuing righteousness is parallel to having a relationship of loving others
In Zeph 2:3 the way to avoid God’s judgment is to seek to be righteous and exhibit humility
The “seeking” of God does not involve the activity of trying to find a God who is hidden in some faraway place;
It is the activity of remaining in relationship with him at the sanctuary at a time of sacrifice or through prayer.
It involves earnest and concerted effort with singleness of heart.
The results of seeking God might involve his protection, his words of approval, or his presence with his righteous people.
There is a connection between seeking God, pursuing righteousness and receiving the benefits of having a relationship with God.
But even those who are trying to live a righteous life can get discouraged feel defeated
This morning God has a word of comfort and encouragement for those people
Anchored to the Rock Vs. 1-8
Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness:
The LORD here speaks to His people; but His people have had trouble listening to Him.
So three times in this chapter, the exhortation is given: Listen to Me.
The reason that He is saying listen to me is because he is going to lay out how God’s comfort is available
Look to the rock from which you were hewn . . .
To be hewn out of a rock means that a master sculpter came and chiseled you out
We have been cut out to be molded and shaped into his image
If we forget what we are supposed to look like we are to look to the rock
God counsels His people to look at His work in His people in days past.
This is one of the great glories of God’s Word to us; it tells us how God has dealt with His people, and gives us faith and guidance for His work in our lives - if we will listen to Him.
As Isaiah speaks to them here, God’s people were in a discouraged place.
They felt defeated, and the prophet tells them to look to God’s work in and through His people in days past.
“Once a Christian gets eaten up with discouragement and unbelief it takes a great deal to shake him out of it.
Those two emotions are the masterstrokes of Satan.
If satan can convince us that something isn't right and that it isn't going to get any better then he can get us in a pattern of defeat
God reminds us to remember what he has done as proof that he will do something
So long as the child of God maintains an attitude of praise and trust in the Lord, then he is invincible.
The Lord offers comfort and makes deserts like gardens
He will put the joy and gladness back into our hearts and a song on our lips
Isaiah 35:10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
So how does this comfort and joy come about?
Vs. 4 Give Attention to me
This is more than pay attention to what I’m saying
God is actually saying do what I say
If we obey his word he says righteousness will draw near
Salvation will also go out
Vs. 6 Lift up your Eyes to heaven
This one actually means direct your attention and has to do with our focus
Lift your eyes and focus on me and don’t get distracted by all the things around us
This world is going to pass away but my salvation will last forever
Focus on eternal things not temporary things
Set your mind on things above and not the useless information we get fascinated with
In fact that is a good barometer of what we should concentrate on
Does this have lasting impact or is it here and gone?
Vs. 7 Don’t Fear Man
This is the third time God has intimated “Listen up”
The third admonition (51:7–8) focuses on looking within, where we find either fear or faith.
Why should the nation fear men when God is on its side?
So much of what we do and how we think is based on the perception of what people might say
They haven't even said it yet we are anticipating it so we act accordingly
Isaiah 12:2 “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid”
For those who are righteous and obey His word do not fear the reproach of man
The NLT says it this way: “Do not be afraid of people’s scorn, nor fear their insults.
This is huge when it comes to the comfort of God
If we are constantly worried about what people are saying or might say we will never be comfortable
It is so easy to get caught up in what people are saying or implying and allowing that to dictate our actions
Mothers are so susceptible to this
They get caught up in comparing themselves or being swayed by insecure comments of others
Matt 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell
Filled with Joy Vs. 9-23
Vs. 9 Put on Your Strength, Lord
Israel is begging God to wake up and show His strength
They are asking God to come to their rescue
It's time to show that strength
Is 40:10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
The arm is the symbol of strength
Caleb and Ninja Warrior
Loves ninja warrior and wants to convert our backyard to an obstacle course
There is one problem
It takes a lot of upper body strength to do most of the obstacles
He has really long skinny arms with no strength in them
Luke 1:51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
The Israelites remind God of what he has done
Vs. 9b Cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon?
Among God’s great works remembered is His defeat of Rahab.
But when did God cut Rahab apart, and wound a serpent?
The name Rahab means pride, and ever since the Garden of Eden, the serpent has been associated with Satan (Genesis 3:1-6).
This speaks in poetic terms of God’s victory over Satan, as it does also in Psalm 89:10.
So God will often comfort us by defeating the enemy
But God will often comfort us by dicing up our pride
That word cut in the Hebrew is actually Ginsu 2000
Who would've thought that our pride might get in the way of God's comfort
"Get them Lord!" Well actually lets work on your pride
My pride? What do you mean?
I mean your pride is your biggest stumbling block and you won't get past this until you deal
Vs. 11 The ransomed of the Lord shall return, they shall obtain gladness and joy
With every enemy defeated, and every obstacle taken care of, So the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing.
This is another promise with both a near and an ultimate fulfillment.
Vs. 14 He who is bowed down shall speedily be released
You forget the LORD your Maker . . . You have feared continually every day: The two go together.
We will only live in fear continually every day if we forget the LORD.
When we forget the LORD, we forget His tender love and care for us:
But those who are bowed down shall be released speedily
Those who are humble will be rescued
Vs. 16 I have put my words in your mouth
The phrase I have covered you with the shadow of My hand reminds us of how God covered Moses with His hand, as Moses hid in the rock and the LORD made His glory to pass before Moses (Exodus 33:17-23).
The LORD would shelter and protect His people the same way.
Nothing comes to us unless it has first passed through His counsel.
"Ask the question again, ‘Where is the fury of the oppressor?’
And the answer comes, it is under the control of God. Even Satan, your fiercest foe, -
God created him, God governs him, God can do with him just as he pleases.
Then as to that poverty of which you are afraid, it will not come unless God permits it; and if it does come, the Lord can alleviate it.” (Spurgeon)
Put on Your Strength Vs. 1-12
Vs. 1 Put on your strength
In vs. 9 Israel is begging God to wake up to their problems
Here we see God telling them to wake up and put on their strength
God is telling them to put on the strength of the Lord, not their own strength
God has always been the strength of Israel and every Christian
So in essence he is telling us to put on Christ
What does that mean?
It means to put on our salvation, which means to recognize that we have been saved by Christ
We also need to put on His Grace, that means to walk in the humility of his forgiveness
Finally we need to put on the power of the Holy Spirit
That means we walk in His leading and allow the fruit to grow in us
Vs. 3 You were sold for nothing and shall be redeemed without money
This is a humbling phrase because it shows that Israel was given away because of their sin
Even more so they were not bought back with money but with a price even greater
They, and we, were bought back with the blood of God’s only son
Vs. 7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who bring good news
This is an interesting section
It would be easy to think this is talking about Jesus but it isn’t
This is said of Christ later in Isaiah
Is 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound
This is talking about us: “How beautiful are the feet who bring good news”
Of course those words good news means the Gospel of Jesus Christ
That Jesus came and bought us back, not with money, but with his own blood
Through that our sins were forgiven and we are brought back into a right relationship with God
So we have a mission that actually strengthens us
It is to get the gospel out
The word feet actually means
Rom 10:14-15 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Closing:
