A Devotional Thought From Isaiah

Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.     Isaiah 32:1

When Messiah returns to earth He will rule as king in Israel and the world. He will rule in righteousness, and the world will know such glory and blessings as it has not known since the days before Adam’s fall. Because of righteousness,the King’s righteousness.  With righteousness permeating the life of humanity, we are told in verses 17 and 18 of this chapter: And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;

That is a glorious prophecy of the future, yet, there is a message here for today. If people of the nations throughout the world would commit themselves (as best they can) to righteousness as God sees it, and has defined it in His word, the Bible, some of the same benefits could be and would be seen in the present age revolutionizing the lives of millions on earth today.

Where there is no barbarous war people could live in secure cities, and towns, and villages. Where there is no butchering terrorism people could let down their guard, and just enjoy safety. Where there is no international drug trafficking or human trafficking the ills of crime would begin to disappear. Where there is no street violence communities would begin to rebound  financially. Where there is no inordinate price gouging on food and medicine starvation and illness disappears. When there is no government corruption nations can truly help their people. When there is a sharing of peaceful technology the desert will blossom like the rose.

The ultimate expression of righteousness in this world will come when Messiah, King Jesus, returns and reigns righteously as predicted in the devotional verse for today Isaiah 32:1. Harry A. Ironside wrote in his commentary on Isaiah (©1952, Loizeaux Brothers): “There will be protection from every ill when Messiah takes over the reins of government.” And Christ’s return will rescue this world.

But until then, if nations and neighbors, faiths and friends, corporations and communities, and all connections of people, however they are connected in this world, would strive for righteousness, this world would experience a preview of universal peace and safety, and quietness and assurance.

A Devotional Thought From Isaiah

Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!     Isaiah 5:20

It should come as no surprise that there are people in our world who call evil good. They say as it were: Oh, killing infants in the womb is a good thing. No baby would want to be born into a family that doesn’t want her. She’d rather be dead than live that way; or, cheating on your wife to have sex with another woman can be good for a marriage; or, enforcing the law against rioters and looters is discriminating so let them burn and pillage as much as they want.

Any observant watcher of the news knows these statements are no exaggerations. And, the same people who say these evils are good, look at preachers of righteousness who call evil evil, and say, it is the judgmental spirit of the religious people that is evil not the actions of the sinners. That’s not an exaggeration either.

God says of these people who reverse reality Woe unto them. Such rejection of truth does not bring blessings. It brings death, destruction, sorrow, broken marriages, dysfunctional family, broken hearts, societal hostility, and the breakdown of civilization. The woe to the purveyors of these falsehoods becomes the woe of the whole world. This is specially true when it is the leaders of a land who would change the rules, and call evil good and good evil. Here’s what Isaiah says about that scenario: For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed (9:16).

Evil is evil. Do not be mislead. Reject the false values of a sin sick society. Live according to goodness as God defines it, and seek goodness for your nation. If enough people follow God’s word nations can be restrained, reformed, revived, and rescued from destruction.

A Devotional Thought From Isaiah

The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! For they have rewarded evil unto themselves.     Isaiah 3:9

The people of God in those days knew better. They had the word of God written in the Torah, and declared by the prophets. They had the believer’s behavior set before them as it should have been lived out, but they chose to ignore it. You could see their rebellion in their faces. Instead of being embarrassed by their sins they declared (announced, heralded, publicized) their sin openly like the people of the wicked and infamous city Sodom had done. It was a defiant proclamation that they would do what they chose to do, even though the sinful behavior was condemned by the word of God.

And, Isaiah says, Woe unto their soul! Woe may mean judgment, grief, regret, misfortune, distress, and Isaiah says that woe will come from the evil they have earned for themselves by their sins.

By their sinning and flaunting it, they have rewarded themselves. They have earned evil unto themselves. Choosing sin means choosing sin's consequences too. This is a basic general observation that if made by anyone could save his/her life from the effects of sin. Choose God’s way and be blessed. Choose sin in revolt against God’s way and you set yourself up for bad outcomes in your personal life.

A Devotional Thought From Isaiah

Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.     Isaiah 5:13, 24

The punishment for God’s ancient people was captivity. The invading armies of the Assyrian horde would conquer and carry away the population of the northern kingdom of Israel, and Babylon would do the same to Judah. Many would die in the invasion, many would be enslaved, and many would be deported to the lands that had defeated them.

After that, when anyone looked at the land of Israel, or viewed the situation of the poor captives, it would give the appearance of having been burned over by fire. Fire that burned up the chaff and stubble and undergrowth of the land. The land and the lives would be blossomless, no flowers, no beauty, and the roots of the trees and plants would look as though they were rotted out. It would be a desolation.

This is a sad and terrible thing. Why? Why would God punish His people in such a dreadful way? There is an answer in this passage. Here it is: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Modern nations take note. The people of God, His beloved people, were punished for despising the word of God. Societies anywhere who despise the word of God found in the Bible may be playing a dangerous game of “Russian roulette.”

A Devotional Thought From Isaiah

As for my people, children are their oppressors,…     Isaiah 3:12

                This phrase caught my attention when reading my devotions recently. The biblical prophets are often called upon to declare strange and terrible things in store for the ancient people of God who turned their backs on his commandments and ways. Historically the prophecies have come true and the brutality predicted could be described with gory imagination that might not even reach the high level of cruelty, pain, and destruction that actually happened when enemies were allowed to invade and conquer the land.

                This phrase used in the context of that ancient destruction drew my thinking to modern times and the appropriateness of its application to today. Nations in Africa have for many years, if not decades, seen the terrible oppression and destruction committed by “child soldiers.” Imagine 10 and 12 year old boys, even younger, carrying A K 47s or some sort of sub machine gun, and at the command of their leader leveling those weapons against their own people and killing with the squeeze of a trigger and no conscience about it at all. In western countries we hear tales of child criminals used by gangs for robberies and killings, because presumably the law treats these childish shooters with lighter penalties than adults. In other countries where violence is a way of life we hear news reports of children wearing homicide/suicide bomb vests and wreaking savagery up their own countrymen.

                None of us growing up would have ever have thought “modern” societies would stoop to this level of horror. Even theologians who understand the inherent sin nature of human beings are shocked to think that anyone could sink so low. How could the Bible predict such unimaginable stuff? It doesn’t make sense, but again and again, over and over, we see things predicted for the ancient times mirrored in modern days. Trust the Bible to give you the truth about the world, about life, about God’s saving message.

A Devotional Thought From Proverbs

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule the people mourn.     Proverbs 29:2

The people of any nation want to be happy. They want their kids to be able to go to school without being propositioned to take drugs, or tempted to view pornography, or shot by marauding thugs. They want markets to provide good food sold honestly, and doctors to be well trained and effective in maintaining good health, and many other things. They want to rejoice in all good things, and what the Bible makes clear here and in other passages is that such a comfortable life style for all the population comes closest to fruition when the politicians and government leaders are righteous. They do the right thing. So any people, any nation, who wants peaceful , good lives should put righteous leaders into place.

            On the contrary when the wicked are in power the nation mourns. They mourn the poverty and crime of the inner cities, the drug problems in the suburbs and small towns, as well as, the inner cities. They mourn the failure of government for all their people. And they mourn many other problems as well.  And while some leaders are clearly and outspokenly wicked, many are wicked unwittingly. Unwitting because they parrot suggested ideas and principles they know do not explain or legitimately solve the problems their nations experience so the mourning continues.

            For the people to rejoice in any country they need to seek and employ righteous leaders, and follow righteous ways.

A Devotional Thought From Proverbs

But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.     Proverbs 6:32

In the moral laxity, many would use stronger words in describing it, of the Western democracies sexual sin has virtually been enshrined as a virtual virtue, rather than as sin. All sorts of sins are overlooked or even approved by a society that has decided personal desires are more important than right living. I call it right living because God’s word teaches us that some things are just plain wrong. And, when people commit such sins they may not realize it but they have gone a long way to destroying their own souls.

Sinning with impunity hardens one’s heart, and makes it easier to fall into sin the next time you are tempted. Calling sin good instead of bad deceives one’s mind and causes those who say they have no sin to call God a liar, because God says they have sinned. He says All have sinned. Calling sin something other than sin, and saying it is really good not bad, may make some people think they don’t need a savior from sin, so they might never come to God by faith in Jesus and ask Him to forgive their sins and save their souls. So the original sin they committed whether adultery or some other, literally destroys their soul sending them into eternity unsaved.

A Devotional Thought From Proverbs

Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.     Proverbs 4:14

In this verse Solomon gives a basic, rock-bottom, foundational principle that will make anyone’s life better. Don’t go down the primrose path that the wicked follow, do not be like evil people. Anybody who stays away from where evil people go (and especially what they do) has a significantly higher possibility of leading a safe, less troubled, no jail time life than those who follow and do what the wicked  do.

This should be obvious to anyone who looks around and observes life. Some of the best rules for having a good life are simple and straightforward. Many years ago I read about a piece of graffiti that was well known at the time. It said “Evil spelled backwards is live.” Reverse your direction if you have entered into the way of the wicked. Stay away from evil pathways and live a good life. You will not have to regret it from a prison cell, an early grave, the divorce court, or from a vomit filled gutter after long nights of drinking and drugs, etc., etc., etc.

A Devotional Thought From Proverbs

Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it, cometh. For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.     Proverbs 3:25, 26

Solomon is speaking in these instructions to his son, presumably Rehoboam, who when he became ruler split the kingdom because he did not have or use the wisdom Solomon is attempting to share with him in this book of the Bible.

When events happen suddenly that would put fear in your heart do not be afraid, do not let the fear control you. Don’t be afraid of the destruction enemies would seek to inflict on you. (Let me interject at this point in my paraphrase of Solomon’s words, that these things “fear and desolation” are not good things. We would think normally anyone would be cast down when they occur, but Solomon’s answer to them is uplifting.) Don’t be afraid because the Lord shall be your confidence. By faith you can throw all your cares on Him, and God will keep you from being overrun and taken. He is able to deliver you. If you depend upon this truth and have the confidence that it is true truth you can sleep at night, work in positive expectation of protection, and realize that in the end by God’s hand all will be well.

This idea can be applied to nations as well as individuals. If a nation wants to live fearlessly and be able to sleep in peace without fear of destruction it’s confidence in the Lord is paramount. A nation that is motivated by faith in, and, obedience to, the wisdom and instructions of the God of the Bible is more likely to be protected from the wolf packs of war and terror than those nations that do not give God’s word, the Bible, any credence.

The people, and nation, who have confidence in the LORD share the same principles, moral values, laws, sensitivities, work ethic, speech ethic, love of country, and stand together and stand guard for one another.

A nation like that is strong, and as long as they continue like that will remain strong. A country strong like that does not need to fear desolation from inside or without. Their confidence is in God. They follow His guidance, and live without fear.

Of course, when the people of a nation turns its back on that biblical wisdom and rejects the ways of God like other countries they never know what will happen next.

A Devotional Thought From The Psalms

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.     Psalm 138:7

David’s personal relationship to his God is his confidence for life. David is a king. He has riches, supplies, an army, and the loyal support of his people at his command, yet he knows that he could still fall into difficulty. His country could be attacked from outside, he could be betrayed by rebellion from the inside, personal trouble could fall upon him, illness or other forms of harm could come into his life. He is after all just a man, a politician in the midst of the issues of a nation, the leader of a family with all its attendant needs, and he cannot know what may transpire in the future. But despite the shadows that might hang over his pathway he goes forward in life confidently praising God (138:1), worshiping God (138:2), remembering God’s blessings (138:3), and according to this verse of Scripture (138:7) expecting God to continue to be his support in the midst of trouble if it comes, defending him against enemies if they come, lifting him up and saving him out of whatever mess he is in.

The confidence we have in God comes from relationship. When a person fully trusts God by receiving the Lord Jesus Christ into his/her life as Savior and Lord a personal relationship with God becomes ours, and like all before us who have known Him we can be confident as well. Paul expressed it this way, I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me (Phillipians  4:19). God did it for David, He does it for us. Live with confidence and honor the Lord.