Meditation on
Isaiah 55
March 3, 2013
***
Ho,
everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy
and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you
spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which
does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight
yourselves in rich food. Incline your
ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an
everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. See, I made him a
witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. See, you shall
call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run
to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has
glorified you.
Seek
the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked
forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the
Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says
the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher
than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow
come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the
earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to
the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return
to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the
thing for which I sent it.
For
you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills
before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap
their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the
brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. (Isaiah 55)
***
Jim and I are still
trying to get acclimated to Minnesota winters.
Exactly when does winter begin?
And when does it end? The snow
comes whenever it wants. It doesn’t look
at the calendar and say, “Oh, today is the first day of spring. Time to go.”
We never expected Minnesotans
to complain about snow and ice—and yearn for spring. But they do. Gardeners are making plans and
buying seed and garden decorations.
Farmers are getting equipment ready and dreaming of fields planted with corn,
soybean, and sugar beet.
And
I, like other Minnesotans, have been dreaming about warmer weather, too. And
summer vacations.
The other day, I stepped out my door and
the wind blowing across the fields sounded just like the ocean! I remembered going
to the beach as a child. I think the memory was a gift from God. As if the Lord was saying, “Be patient. Winter won’t last forever.” It lightened my
burden to think about my many peaceful walks along the shore. I remembered how the ocean changes color with
the light and hues of the sky. And how the Atlantic is a murky greenish-brown—not
the deep blue children use when they color a crayon sea. But the sound of the ocean is my most vivid memory.
It’s a wild, natural noise. Loud, like the roar of a lion, so that if you try
to shout to someone a little ways off, your voice is a whisper in the wind.
When I stand and gaze at the ocean, I feel
very small, as it seems to go on and on. But at the same time, I feel safe and
secure. The ocean reminds me of our Creator—and how I am always in His presence,
no matter where I go. I am comforted
that He has plans, purposes, and ideas that are so much bigger than you or I
can dream.
I know that all the broken
places inside of me will eventually be made whole. I place my hope in His Son,
who has been with us, interceding for us, since before the very beginning.
Someday, Christ
will come again for us. And we will go
out in joy and be led back in peace.
***
I was thinking about the ocean this week,
an image God used to encourage me when I felt weary of winter that seems to go
on and on. I read this week’s Old Testament passage from the prophet Isaiah. And
I sensed God drawing me nearer to Himself, as He longed to draw nearer His
people during their Babylonian exile.
“Ho, everyone who thirsts!” The Lord says
through Isaiah. “Come to the waters!”
The waters are a
metaphor for God’s healing power, an image Israel can understand. They already think
of God’s Word, His Commandments, as bread—nourishment for the soul. The image
of the Spirit as cleansing, life-giving water that cannot be bought with money
but is something God freely gives reminds them of their wilderness wandering with
Moses. God provided for them, then, with cleansing, life-sustaining water and manna,
bread from heaven.
In Isaiah’s time, Israel is brokenhearted—exiled
from their homeland and held captive in Babylon. Jerusalem and the Temple are
destroyed. From what they can see, God has abandoned them. “Reality” to them is
their daily experience of deprivation and sorrow, anger and pain, and hatred
for those who conquered them and destroyed what they loved—their land,
religion, and way of life.
In their
brokenness, they have lost sight of the Lord, who is not a religion and has never
been tied to one land or one building—not even the Temple. God called out Abraham when he was far off
from the promise land, telling him to leave his home and kin and go as He led
him. The reality for Israel is that God
is still with them and is still loving and caring for them, just like He did
when they were lost in the wilderness.
Losing their faith,
Israel turns to worshiping the idols of its conquerors. But Isaiah tells them it’s
not too late. God’s grace has not run out.
God wants to heal and forgive them and make them whole!
He says, “Seek
the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked
forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the
Lord, that he may have mercy on them and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon…
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are
your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts…”
***
Israel doesn’t listen to Isaiah. Many go their own way. They want the things of the world, the
things that money can buy. They can’t
see the reality of the ever-present God whose love is steadfast, no matter their
earthly situation. And because they lack mercy and grace, they don’t understand
the reality of the God who abundantly pardons those who repent and turn back to
Him.
But it’s not too late for us,
my friends. Let the God who loves you nourish you with His cleansing, life-giving
Spirit. Come to the waters and drink deeply.
His grace is enough.
Be patient. Hold onto your faith. Winter won’t last
forever. Take comfort in knowing that
God’s thoughts and ways are higher than ours.
That God is much bigger than the ocean that seems to go on and on.
The reality is that you and I will
experience His healing. All those places in us that are still broken will be
made whole. Someday, Christ will come again for us. And we will go out in joy,
and be led back in peace.
Let us pray.
Loving Lord, We come to Your waters now.
We draw nearer to you. We want to
drink deeply of your Spirit and be changed, be made new, in Christ’s image.
Give us passion for Your Word that feeds our souls. Help us to see and
experience the reality of your Kingdom that is already here and is to come. Thank
you for being ever present with us, wherever we wander in this world. Thank you for being steadfast in your love
and ready to abundantly pardon those who repent and return to You. We eagerly
await the coming of Your Son, whose work on the cross is sufficient for all our
sins. We ask that you would continue to
heal us and look forward to the day when your work in us is complete—when all
our broken places are made whole and we see you face to face. In Christ we pray. Amen.
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