disgusted with idolatry

The LORD has given commandment about you:

“No more shall your name be perpetuated;

from the house of your gods I will cut off

the carved image and the metal image.

I will make your grave, for you are vile.”

Nahum 1:14

The book of Nahum is all about the end of wicked Ninevah. Jonah was a story of grace undeserved to a wicked and violent people who repented at God’s warning of judgment. Ninevah was a given a reprieve under Jonah. In the oracle of Nahum however, Ninevah is handed over to complete annihilating judgment. Assyria’s dominance and violence would end. Ninevah’s idolatry would be finished. God would deliver the judgment He demanded.

God does not tolerate idolatry. We must remember that Ninevah did at one point repent and turn to God. So these harsh words against idolatry are right of God to pronounce. He had forgiven them only to be rejected. His worship was abandoned for idolatry once again. Here then is what God really thinks about idolatry!

The results of Ninevah’s idolatry look like this:

1) Ninevah would be destroyed and forgotten. Not only does nobody remember Ninevah’s false gods… nobody remembers Ninevah! The name of Ninevah is trivial. It is as if her gods never existed.

2) Idolatry would be cut off at its source. The temples of Ninevah’s false worship are no more. There are no more wooden or metal images of what was worshiped there. Idols, as mere physical objects, are easily destroyed by God.

3) The Assyrians themselves are gone. God dug their graves Himself in this prophecy. He ended idolatry in Ninevah by ending idolaters. False worship kills. It’s that serious.

4) False worship makes a person vile. It isn’t a little thing to turn from God to something else. We must see worship of anything other than God Himself in the most disgusting terms. God does.

Before I Call

Before they call I will answer;

while they are yet speaking I will hear.

Isaiah 65:24

When my spirit is weary

feels like I have faced it all

God knows my burden

even before I call

He sees my trouble

He knows my need

He longs to deliver

from sin and sorrow freed

I am struggling

even to begin to pray

and His Spirit is interceding

with words I cannot say

He speaks when I can’t

silence is broken above

as He clears my confusion

with God’s unfailing love

Before I call

I am already heard

Before I pray

God answers with His Word

While I am waiting

His work is alive

When I am failing, falling

He is making me thrive

Words are flailing

faithful is His power

I feel forgotten

He is yet in this hour

Always ready

Jesus is here

Always answering

my unvoiced prayer

Jesus, I love You

my faithful friend

You will hear and care

bringing a joy-filled end

mountains tremble

Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,

that the mountains might quake at your presence—

as when fire kindles brushwood

and the fire causes water to boil—

to make your name known to your adversaries,

and that the nations might tremble at your presence!

Isaiah 64:1-2

Do I pray like God is this powerful? Do I believe, in my prayers, that were God’s presence revealed, the Himalayas would shake to gravel and the seas would boil? This vision in prayer asks a fearful God to make Himself fearfully known to a world that does not fear Him. The God Who makes mountains shake should make people tremble as they are aware of His holiness, His greatness, His power, and His authority!

I long for that sort of power to be known in this world. I want God to shake things up. I want the deafening rattle and hum of His power to electrify this world. A mighty God is in control. And He is our Judge and our Savior! My soul is moved to worship God in His truly awesome power this morning. He Who has shaken all my mountains, boiled my life in His hands, burned up the brushwood around me… He is making Himself known by His sole greatness. At the center of all fallen mountains stands the majesty of my Savior… all I need!

Did you feel the mountains tremble
Did you hear the oceans roar
When the people rose to sing of
Jesus Christ the risen one

Did you feel the people tremble
Did you hear the singers roar
When the lost began to sing of
Jesus Christ, the saving one

And we can see that, God, You're moving
A mighty river through the nations
When young and old return to Jesus
Fling wide, you heavenly gates
Prepare the way of the risen Lord

Open up the doors and let the music play
Let the streets resound with singing
Songs that bring Your hope
Songs that bring Your joy
Dancers who dance upon injustice

Do you feel the darkness tremble
When all the saints join in one song
And all the streams flow as one river
To wash away our brokenness

And here we see that, God, You're moving
A time of jubilee is coming
When young and old return to Jesus
Fling wide, you heavenly gates
Prepare the way of the risen Lord

Open up the doors and let the music play
Let the streets resound with singing
Songs that bring Your hope
Songs that bring Your joy
Dancers who dance upon injustice

—Matt Redman

Light of my world

Your sun shall no more go down,

nor your moon withdraw itself;

for the LORD will be your everlasting light,

and your days of mourning shall be ended.

Isaiah 60:20

There is a time coming, Jesus, O Light of the world, where You will be all the light this world will need. No more night will bring dread. No more long darkness, alone, weary, cold and tired, will prolong our hope of Your new day. There will be only Your bright dawn shining on. It will be glorious!

And Jesus, You are even now the light of this heart! I am weary. I am cold. I am anxious as the long lonely winter nights come to me. I miss the warm days… the bright sun… the brilliant hope… the healing warmth of light. And so I pray for the seasons You have made to keep turning… for this long year that You control to change for me, even as winter nights serve Your purposes to remind me of what was in my past by what is in the present so I trust what will eventually be in Your future. I live with anticipation.

The hope of each dawn that You bring, Lord, points me to a greater hope yet to come for all the world. A day will come where with Your light all mourning everywhere, even in my heart, will end… all sorrows in the night will be forgotten… all weeping will be eclipsed by the bright joy of the light of Your revealed love. Shine soon, O Great Light of the World! Amen

Sometimes at night, when I am afraid

I cover my eyes, cover my shame

So here in the dark, broken apart

Come with Your light and fill up my heart

O Great Light of the World

Fill up my soul

I’m half a man here

So come make me whole

O Great Light of the World

Come to impart

the light of Your grace

to fill up my heart

— Bebo Norman

A Redeemer has come.

“And a Redeemer will come to Zion,

to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the LORD.

Isaiah 59:20

God promised a very sinful and disobedient people (read Isaiah 58 and 59 for the full context of just how disobedient Israel had become) that He would, in an act of pure mercy, provide the means for their sins to be atoned. God Himself would both punish sin and redeem sinners. God saw the complete inability for Israel to either keep covenant with Him, or to atone for their own wicked ways. They were completely incompetent and impotent. No human could intercede between God and mankind. God would have to provide the intercession and He promised to do so Himself (Isaiah 59:14-16).

God stepped in when sin was the great divider that kept His loved creation from Him. God interceded when there was no person who could. When justice needed to be done, God sent His Son to perform it. When righteousness was far away, Jesus came near. When truth was stumbling and falling in the public square, Jesus came to boldly declare Himself the Light of the World… the only Way… the only Truth… the only Life! When God’s people and the entire world needed saving, Jesus was the hero who arrived to be our Savior!

Armed like a warrior for battle against all evil (see the description in Isaiah 59:17-19), Jesus arrived to fight for all that was needing to be saved. His righteousness was on display. His salvation became ours. He came in holy zeal to right all wrongs, to make evil pay for past oppression, and to renew a godless world with a rushing, glorious river of mercy and grace!

Lord Jesus,

Today I thank You for being my Redeemer. Today I am grateful that You have become the salvation of all who believe the gospel. Today, my prayers of gratitude are for the glorious hope Your salvation has renewed, not just in my heart, but for the entire world. The Redeemer has come. You are here now, saving now, loving now, and You rule this world in Your saving mercy!

Amen

at peace and grateful

“Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the LORD,

“and I will heal him.”

Isaiah 57:19

God’s peace is extended in this prophecy to the entire world. It is a peace offer that is global. All people far (Gentiles) and near (Jews) are offered the same peace. It is a peace that is Messianic. Only Jesus can offer this kind of universal peace. It is a peace that is gracious. God offers it despite knowing our sins, and in a mercy, He limits His judgment (Isaiah 57:16, 18). It is a peace that renews and restores. God heals the wounds made as sin has festered in our hearts.

As I reflect on this extended grace, mercy, and peace, I realize they all pour into my heart daily. I am one of those far from God that Jesus has now drawn near in peace. Thank God He calls those who are far from knowing Him into His love and grace! I too know that Jesus is my peace. He is my only solution. He is my Savior. He is my Lord. I know the grace of God… the riches of His love in Christ… as I live in Jesus, given all that I need for life and godliness in His great and precious promises. 

It is a peace that showers mercy over me who by nature am  a broken and awful sinner. I know my heart. I know where my sin and pain and broken experiences have twisted me. And God’s mercy is more than all my sin! 

And I also know His healing peace… especially this year of change, loss, and humiliating sorrow, when the broken pieces of this shattered life dream have begun to be healed, strengthened, and restored as only Jesus can do!

Lord,

I thank You for all this. And in peace I trust where it is all going. I am Your Work… Your redeemed life… Your story to write for Your glory!

Amen

wasteland no more

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;

instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;

and it shall make a name for the LORD,

an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Isaiah 55:13

I felt the heat

gritty sand at my feet

hot blast in my face

of moisture not a trace

I staggered through the thorns

hands and feet sore and torn

the wilderness I knew

felt abandoned, Lord, by You

The empty dunes stretched for miles

I’d forgotten all the past smiles

distance magnified by my pain and sin

desert blast of burning wind

dry brush and weeds all scattered

staying alive was all that mattered

Wandering further, drifting away

I tried to reach out — tried to pray

Words fell empty to the sand

desperately needing Your saving hand

Reduced by wasteland to my bones

I cried out for You to lead me back home

And then one drop of rain fell

and showers watered that dry personal hell

until verdant flowers and leaves appeared

and once again my Lord came near

Thorns replaced by river cypress

briers broken, washed into that old mess

Your vibrant Word watered it all

into a woodland shady and tall

and as this fragrant garden grew

I saw it all renewed by You

I felt Your Word reshape this husk of a soul

I know Your Spirit has made me whole

cool breeze of heaven in the air

calls me by faith to see Jesus here

wasteland eclipsed by new creation

I am in awe of this grace-filled situation

everlasting sign from my Father above

I praise the Lord of renewing, saving love!

The depth of His death

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

Isaiah 53:11

I must not forget what it cost my Savior to redeem me and all those who will trust Him. It was more than just ending a human life. It was also an anguish of soul unimaginably vast. The death Jesus died was not just physical. Many people have heroically given up their physical lives. Jesus also experienced an emotional and spiritual death… an anguish of soul… unique to His sacrifice for those who believe.

And where did this anguish of soul find its roots? It was anguish because He bore our sins. In the massive sin debt Jesus took upon Himself He suffered as the Holy One of God. The Lamb of God that took away the sin of the world shouldered an unspeakable evil as the cup of the wrath of God was poured upon Him by the Father. All the sin of all the world of people, from all time, was borne by Jesus on that dark afternoon we know as “Good Friday”. 

Jesus also had an anguish of soul from all the brokenness, all the griefs, all the sorrows He bore all at once. He took on Himself every depression any human ever had or will have. Every tear-filled grieving over loss was nailed to His cross. Every sorrow over a broken relationship was felt in His heart. All human suffering from every war, every atrocity, every genocide, every infidelity, every family rebellion, every broken heart was His anguish as He died to take all our pain, our sorrows, and our iniquities upon Himself. It was God’s will to crush His only Son with the weight of all our sickening sin and grief (Isaiah 53:10).

Lord Jesus,

I really cannot fathom the extent of Your sorrow as You bore my sin, and all sin and sorrow of all time on Your cross. I am in remarkably dumb-founded awe of the intense depth and breadth of Your love as You gave Your life, and of the power of Your resurrection beyond all that darkness, depression, and death! Thank You, Lord! You are worthy of all worship, all commitment, all my heart!

Amen

When God says, “Here I am!”

Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.

Isaiah 52:6

God, in power, in delivering might, in a mercy undeserved by His people Israel, promised to deliver them. They did not earn it, yet God gave them hope that after stern judgment would come a great deliverance. God had given them over to captivity (“You were sold for nothing” Isaiah 52:3) and He would bring them out again just as dramatically (“you shall be redeemed without money” Isaiah 52:3). Yet even though the captive rulers of Israel despised God’s name, He would be merciful and deliver them again (Isaiah 52:5).

Why would God do this? Why would He deliver them again? Why would He redeem a broken, rebellious, and oppressed people who did not worship Him despite their losses? He did it to make Himself known. He redeemed them so they would see Him, believe Him, worship God again. He did not wait for them. Without a doubt a redeemed generation would know God had brought them back. God didn’t just make their circumstances better. God redeemed them to HIMSELF. And they would know Him, not despise Him. The God Who had seemed distant would quickly rescue them and sweep them up close in an embrace, announcing with love and authority, “Here I am!” His power, presence, and mercy would be undeniable.

When God makes Himself known… when He redeems a people for Himself… Here are the experiences they should expect:

• Good news is proclaimed (Isaiah 52:7).
• Peace is known (Isaiah 52:7),
• Happiness is felt (Isaiah 52:7).
• Salvation is theirs (Isaiah 52:7).
• Joy abounds (Isaiah 52:8).
• Singing breaks forth (Isaiah 52:8-9).
• Comfort is real (Isaiah 52:9).

In Jesus, God has come near… announced to the entire world: “Here I am!” Jesus has brought redemption to the enslaved, healing for the broken, and pardon for the rebellious. And in Jesus we have good news, peace, happiness, salvation, joy, rejoicing song, and comfort!

he who comforts you

I, I am he who comforts you;

who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,

of the son of man who is made like grass,

and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker,

who stretched out the heavens

and laid the foundations of the earth…”

Isaiah 51:12-13a

God is comfort. God comforts His people. These words, spoken to a rebellious people who turned from God, only to experience His judgment and justice, were an encouragement to a people still loved by God. His love demanded He do what would be necessary to bring them to a re-commitment to His Covenant. And so He sent Babylon to Jerusalem to take away a generation from Judah. In the ruins of Jerusalem the survivors staggered in fear. And God, through His prophet, brought comfort again. As His people in pain and trial turned to Him again, God would use their deepest failures and pain to rewrite a story of His restoration of them.

Fear takes our eyes off the comforting control of God’s loving and mighty ways. But even in desolation God asks us to take our eyes off the ruined landscape and look to Him. God asks us to stop looking horizontally at what seems hopeless and instead to gaze in faith vertically at our only hope in Him! “I am he who comforts you.” Yes, Lord, You are!

How then does this historical account of God’s restoration of Israel inform our own needs for His consolation today? I don’t think my suffering is due somehow to ways in which I have broken covenant with my God. In fact, as a child of His, reborn in faith in Christ, adopted into God’s family, and heir with Jesus, I believe grace rules over all my experience… even loss! That alone is a huge comforting perspective. God’s comfort is great.

But honestly, I get disappointed by human comfort alone. To this day the least comforting thing people still say to me is something like this: “I can’t imagine what you are going through.” Really? You can’t imagine death and sorrow? No, what you mean is, “I am uncomfortable identifying with your loss. I don’t want to think about me going through the same thing.” Thanks for nothing, O man! Literally. Human inability to comfort aside, God says the exact opposite. God IS comfort. He knows loss because Jesus gave His life. Jesus carried our sorrows on the cross. God knows the pains that people push away. Jesus experienced them. He designed my circumstances and is right beside me in them for His glory and my good. It is God Who comforts the hurting.

Near

He who vindicates me is near.

Who will contend with me?

Let us stand up together.

Who is my adversary?

Let him come near to me.

Isaiah 50:8

My Savior is near.

I have no foe to fear.

My salvation is here.

His Word is clear.

Jesus is near.

My God is near.

His deliverance is dear.

His voice I can hear.

His power has no peer.

Jesus is near.

Vindication is near.

No judgment I fear.

His Word is my mirror.

Christ’s holiness I now wear.

Jesus is near.

The Way is near.

I see a path that is clear.

His direction points me where

my steps should take me there.

Jesus is near.

The Truth is near.

His gospel rings in my ear.

His Spirit comforts all my fear.

His Word guides me to where

Jesus is near.

New Life is near.

Abundant life is right here.

Eternal life will be there.

Death no longer I fear.

Jesus is near.

great God

For I know that the LORD is great,

and that our Lord is above all gods.

Whatever the LORD pleases, he does,

in heaven and on earth,

in the seas and all deeps.

Psalm 135:5-6

I too know the greatness of God. He has constantly and without fail shown Himself consistently great and powerful in the circumstances of my life. All I am right now, all I experience, all that has changed, all that is new, all that is no longer mine, all that is now mine, all that is different, all that is the same… all of that is the work of a great God! The world of humanity is chaotic. Because humans fail at sovereignty, what we do is naturally out of control and filled with dangers. False gods are worshiped non-stop and promoted as true… gods such as self-rule, materialism, naturalism, scientism, politics, wealth, fame, even the very earth itself is now a god. Basically any form of physicality that we can take in with our senses we will falsely worship instead of God.

But God will still prove Himself superior over what our souls want to worship more than Him. He always does as He pleases in perfect holiness and justice. He will make Himself known as sovereign not only in His throne room, but in earth, which is His footstool. No wave rolls over us outside His command. No earthquake shakes in the deep that has not been stirred by His voice. He will show both His power, and in the gospel, His grace to this world intent on worshipping everything else BUT Him. God will be known, even as He is rejected.

Great God,

I bow before You this morning. I am aware of Your greatness, Your power, Your control, and Your might. And where my soul gets sucked into sinful worship of false gods, correct me, my King! Show Your power and urge me to repentance so that I too will worship only You. Let nothing I love get in the way of my love for You! May I be one in whom You do as You please!

Whatever I face today will be from Your sovereign and grace-filled hands. May Your mercies rain down from heaven upon my world. May this earth know the saving work of Jesus. May people surrender to Your Lordship and worship the God of heaven, earth, the seas, and the deeps!

Amen

Restore us!

Restore us, O God;

let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Psalm 80:3

Restore us, O God!

R - REELING in need of REDEMPTION; RUINED by our sin; RESULTS: desperation… disease… death.

E - EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE, EVEN me will EVENTUALLY die EXTRAORDINARILY doomed by death.

S - SALVATION is unattainable except by Your SON’S SACRIFICE.

T - TRUSTING You, Lord, by faith; TURNING from sin; TURNING TO follow Jesus; only in Him can change happen.

O - ONLY Jesus, the ONLY Son, the ONLY Savior can restore OUR souls.

R - RUNNING to You; RELYING on grace by faith we are REDEEMED and REMADE.

E  - EXCHANGING our sin and judgment for Christ’s holiness and life we EXPERIENCE ETERNAL and abundant life.

Restore us, O God!

Let Your face shine upon us as the Light of the world!

Save us that we might forever be new… with You… living in and for You… showing Your change that we have indeed been remade, restored, and saved!

God of the new and the hidden

“You have heard; now see all this;

and will you not declare it?

From this time forth I announce to you new things,

hidden things that you have not known.”

Isaiah 48:6

Israel had a relationship with God in which He made His will clearly known in the ministry of the prophets. God used these men so that in the blessings that Israel received, they could only attribute God as the source because the prophets had spoken. God knew Israel was obstinate. He knew they would try to trust in idols. And so He brought prophetic events to pass to prove only He was Israel’s God (Isaiah 48:3-5).

When judgment finally came, Israel also knew, because of the prophecies, that God had brought it. They could not either in good times or bad ever doubt that God was in control. His Word was true. His prophets were verified. God did what He said. 

And now in prophecy God was saying a new thing. And it was an outpouring of grace… a new mercy was coming! God knew they were treacherous people. God knew they had rebel hearts (Isaiah 48:8). The God Who brought judgment they deserved would bring deliverance they did not deserve. He would save and redeem. They would run out of captivity freed once more… liberated to serve the God Who both judged them and freed them (Isaiah 48:17-22). He would renew the kind of care for Israel historically exhibited in the wilderness. The biggest new thing promised in Isaiah 48? God would bring them back home.

God,

You are a God of revelation. You have spoken. I must believe You. 

You are a God of judgment. I too have a rebel heart. I must repent.

You are a God of new deliverance. I will trust You when You make new things from the old, in a mercy I will receive and a grace I never earned.

Amen

One Creator

For thus says the LORD,

who created the heavens

(he is God!),

who formed the earth and made it

(he established it;

he did not create it empty,

he formed it to be inhabited!):

“I am the LORD, and there is no other.”

Isaiah 45:18

One Creator

of heaven above and of earth below

One Revealer

of Himself — shown in His work — One we can know

One Lord

in worship before Him all will bow

One God

Who has firmly said “I am the LORD.”

One God

the One Who made Himself revealed in His Word

One God

Who calls all people from sin to turn

One Lord

sent to us to live, die, redeem the slave

One Savior

in Whose life… and death… and life again… will save

One Lover

of our souls Who in love our sins forgave

One Creator

in Christ remakes our lives anew

One Rescuer

Who gave Himself, calling all to trust Him too

One Protector

holding all Who believe, calling everyone, saving the repentant few

One Lord

over His people now to reign

One God

Who calls us to return to Him again

One Savior

Who will renew forever, freed from sin and pain

false worship: a feast of ashes

He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

Isaiah 44:20

Isaiah 44:9-20 is all about the delusions and lies that come from worshiping idols. We are easily deceived into seeking from anything other than God what only God can provide. But God confronts idolatrous hearts. And in this passage He does so with a practical, almost comical, logic that points out the outlandish things we do, the illogical extremes our hearts go to, in the pursuit of false worship.

The four part case God presents to confront idolatry goes like this:

1.  Idol-making and idol worship lead to nothing. Idolaters will ultimately answer to God anyway (Isaiah 44:9-11).

2.  Idol-makers take what is natural and falsely convince themselves it is supernatural. They use tools to cut wood, carve idols of their own design, then deem the outcome “gods” (Isaiah 44:12-14), which makes absolutely no logical sense at all!

3.  The same cedar wood that is carved into a “god” is also burnt for fuel, bakes bread, and warms the idolater. A natural thing provided by the true God (wood) is falsely exalted by virtue of extreme human effort and its natural design (fire, fuel, food preparation) is rejected in favor of replacing it with a delusion (Isaiah 44:15-19).

4.  The end of the idol is destruction. It still has its natural ability to burn! God will burn our wood-carved idols to ash… (Isaiah 44:20) showing us what they really are! 

God’s point is this: Idol-making is irrational and stupid. It is a kind of crazy denial of reality. It attempts to replace the Creator with His creation. It relies on lots of human effort. We work hard at rejecting God and making our idols. And when they disappoint us (and they always will because THEY ARE WOOD FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!) we fall hard. Delusions are dangerous. False worship delusions are eternally consequential and lead to judgment and destruction. 

Lord,

I’ve never taken a chisel to wood to make my idols, but I have still indeed made plenty of them! I have suffered when I’ve worshiped this world’s stuff instead of You. Draw my heart to reject a false feast of ashes, to want You more than comfort, more than worldly concerns, more than thinking a career provides what I need, more than the acclaim of people!

Amen

talking back to fear

Fear not, nor be afraid;

have I not told you from of old and declared it?

And you are my witnesses!

Is there a God besides me?

There is no Rock; I know not any.

Isaiah 44:8

Once again I see comfort in the command to “fear not”. I look around my personal position and I see a remarkable peace that only God has brought. I can trust God although every morning, waking up still somewhat disoriented and alone, I see Him working in this different experience that has been this strange and unsettling year of 2023. Even as the year winds to a close, I am in such a better place! I trust God’s wisdom, His ways, His certainty that all have stayed the same… well… actually… that certainty has GROWN as the landscape of my life has become increasingly new and unfamiliar. Yet I do not need to fear.

I am indebted to biblical counselor Ed Welch for his insights into fear and peace. In his book, “Running Scared”, Welch talks about how fear always has a voice… is always talking in some degree. It says things to us… initially to make us stop and think… but inevitably that voice can get twisted, loud, and harmful. And then sinful fear speaks lies to us… lies that can turn us from God and His truth. God in His grace has led me to reject the worst lies that fear had gripped me with. I’ve been called to repent from:

• “You are alone.” No. I may have new solo life challenges, but with Christ I am never alone.
• “Nobody really cares or notices you.” No. I am living in Christian community and in a family, surrounded everywhere I look by people who love me.
• “You will never feel happy again.” No. I can choose joy despite loss and find contentment in my present situation. My life has a bright future because the joy of the Lord is my strength.
• “It is just one dreary day after another.” No. There may be seasons, or days, where grief is more intense. That is to be expected. But even storms are under God’s control, and rains replenish the earth. I will let this season draw my heart to God’s heart and reject the notion that a few clouds ruin my life.
• “This confusing time will never end.” No. This is just a season… and even now I see new light dawning as God teaches me, brings new things and experiences and people into this life. God loves me and is building new life from my old life, revitalizing my hope!

So I say to my soul: “Fear not. Do not be afraid. God has declared His love for me in Christ. I am witnessing His renewing work beyond my loss and my confusion. No one is like Him. His work in me RIGHT NOW is good! There is no Rock like my God!”

Only God is God.

“I, I am the LORD,

and besides me there is no savior.

I declared and saved and proclaimed,

when there was no strange god among you;

and you are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and I am God.”

Isaiah 43:11-12

God knows who He is. Do we? God is the Lord of all things. He is in control. We must submit under His rule. Will we? God is the provider of salvation. He always has been. In Jesus we have a mighty and complete Savior. Will we trust Him?

God’s Word has been declared. God has spoken the very universe by His breath. His Word sustains it all. Will we hear Him and believe Him? His Word brings saving truth to us. He speaks, He saves, He shares His good news of salvation. Will we be bearers of this great news to those around us so that the world can know that Jesus saves? There is only one Savior. There is only one hope. There is only one God. 

Only God is God. There is none other. We may be tempted to worship many other things. We make idols of His creation. These things were meant to draw us to Him and yet we will worship them. We may seek to find comfort, pleasure, fulfillment, or direction solely from other people, other places, other experiences, or other things we can touch, have or feel. But in the end we will be dissatisfied and broken if we fail to accept that only God is God.

Lord God,

Only You are God. Only Jesus is my Savior. Only You are Lord over this life. Forgive my wandering from this reality. Forgive my attempts to take control. Forgive my idolatrous worship of what You have made instead of worshiping You alone. You have declared Your Word. I believe it. You have saved me. I believe You and trust Jesus. You have proclaimed Yourself my Lord and my God. I submit in faith and trust in You.

Amen

God of the new

Sing to the LORD a new song,

his praise from the end of the earth

Isaiah 42:10a

God of the new

I sing of You.

Your power and might

have ended the night.

You’ve made a new day

in Your own loving way.

God of the new

my praise shouts to You.

A brand new grace

I see in Your face.

The old has gone.

The new has come.

God of the new

I worship only You.

Strength and power

arrived in my needy hour.

Your Word I will heed

as You always meet my need.

God of the new

You’ve seen me through

trials and pain

are now healed again.

Amazed I proclaim

the wonders of Your name.

God of the new

I sing to You.

You calmed my fear

by drawing so near.

New life I see

in what You have given to me.

God of the new

this song is for You.

My praises I bring

with lips that gladly sing

of a Father’s good love

poured over me from above.

God’s promises are greater than fear.

…fear not, for I am with you;

be not dismayed, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, I will help you,

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

The most repeated command in all of scripture is some variation of “fear not”. God knows how anxious our souls can become. He knows how fear, worry, sorrow, and pain can combine in a toxic cocktail that can sicken our souls, weaken our strength, and diminish our faith. And so He commands us not to fear.

But such a command by itself becomes almost ludicrous. Telling an anxious person “do not fear” is like telling a baby to stop crying! Anxiety is not logical and feels uncontrollable. There is not a switch to turn off. It is a condition — a set of circumstances — to understand, manage, review, and contemplate. That is why although there are two commands (do not fear; be not dismayed) in this verse, there are also five promises. And it is in these five promises that we find the power to obey the commands.

Do not fear. Why? “I am with you.” God is with us in our anxious moments. He is beside us in our fear and anxiety. He is in the midst of our bewildering and scary circumstances. We often fear what we think we face alone. But good theology reminds us that God is present and powerful with us at all times!

Don’t be anxious. Why? “I am your God.” The character and the power and the person of God are all “ours”! God is our God. The Creator of the universe is with us… is for us…is our God… is right here with us in all that we know and face in life.This is the perspective that will diminish dismay and extinguish anxiety.

And God promises to support us in three ways: 

“I will strengthen you.” — He resources us to be stronger than what we fear.

“I will help you.” — He provides assistance beyond what we can find when limited by our fear.

“I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” — He backs us up, embraces us, puts His strong arm around us so what we fear never ends in failure.

Thank You, Lord! I don’t have to be anxious or afraid! You are with me. You are my God. You are for me. You are my strength. You are my help. You hold me up. I will not fear. I will not be dismayed.

Amen