25th January
Read Psalm 145
If you don’t have a bible at home you can find the readings on a website such as www.biblegateway.com or an app such as YouVersion
There are a few hymns based on psalm 145 which is not surprising considering its content of praise across the generations and times. If we need cause to praise God we should pause and look at this Psalm; “The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all, he has compassion on all he has made” (v7&8). Our prayers ought not to be limited to ourselves but should show and recite the greatness of God.
As you read the Bible Stop; Read; Ponder; and Pray.
Monday Isaiah 44:24-28
We can get many scams on the phone today when a strange voice claims to be somebody they are not. In the time of the Old Testament Isaiah had many other prophets around him but who were false, claiming to have words from God which they did not have. Here in these verses we hear God’s voice giving testimony to himself so that the people would pay attention – “I am the Lord, the Maker of all things” (v24) – he goes on to say that he foils the signs of false prophets but fulfils the predictions of his messengers (v26).
Through Isaiah he predicts the rebuilding of Jerusalem which will be destroyed when Nebuchadnezzar invades it but it will be restored and rebuilt when Cyrus, King of Persia grants release to captives to go home and rebuild. All this would be seen in due course, long after Isaiah was dead, but the people would know that his word was true. Sometimes it takes a while for people to realise the truth of the Word of God.
Tuesday Isaiah 45:1-7
This chapter opens with a surprise. We are used to a King of Judah being referred to as God’s anointed, more particularly the reference is to the coming Messiah of God but here we are listening to God calling Cyrus the Emperor of Persia as his anointed. It isn’t that Cyrus is Christ but that Cyrus, a pagan King, is doing God’s will in the subduing of various nations. He says, “I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honour though you do not acknowledge me” (v4). Wow, we might say! But if we hold that God is sovereign over all the Earth, over the Universe, we must say that all who hold power and influence do so under his control and behest.
In the New Testament the apostle Paul says that “the powers that be are ordained of God” (Romans 13:1). We may not easily get our heads around this but that is what the scriptures tell us. It does not mean that all powers are ordained for good but under God’s sovereignty good will happen.
Wednesday Isaiah 45:8-25
The latter part of the chapter is a declaration by God of himself, who he is and what he has made. He challenges the nations of the world to come up with evidence from themselves of everything in the world and where its history came from. Again and again he declares that it is himself and he tells them that they are behaving foolishly like one who questioning their maker. He says, “does the clay say to the potter what are you making?” (v9), or the child say to the father or mother “what is this that you have brought to birth” (v10). The lives we have are created and given us by God and it is not ours to question but to live them. Verse 22 is God’s call to the world “Turn to me and be saved all you ends of the Earth; for I am God, and there is no other “ (v22)
Thursday Isaiah 46:1-13
The subject of idols is mentioned again, here it is Bel and Nebo, gods of the Babylonians, who are mentioned but it makes no difference who they are the whole subject of idols is mentioned and condemned.
God calls his people to listen to him because he has kept them, the remnant of Israel, through all the trials and judgements they have had and he promises to stay with them “even to their old age and gray hairs” (v4). Is that not a great word for us, young or old? He asks them to whom they would compare him as they look around at the idols of Babylon. He is speaking to people still in captivity in Babylon but telling them that he is going to summon a man (who is Cyrus) from a far off land to fulfil his purpose to grant salvation to his people.
Friday Isaiah 47:1-15
In chapter 47 we see the demise of Babylon. Babylon thought herself great but it was her power and her pride that brought her down under the judgement of God. Instead of being a Queen she will end as a servant girl. God says that he was angry with his people and because of that in judgement he gave them into the hands of the Babylonians but they showed no mercy to the Israelites who had been exiled to their country (v6).
The chapter shows the futility of relying on worldly power which is a word to all powers throughout the world in whatever age, they all fall to dust and not even their reliance on alternative spiritual means – the astrology of Babylon – will be able to deliver them. Babylon has been a symbol of evil against God’s people, Old and New Testament, through the ages but this prophetic chapter shows that God will hold her to account and bring her down, as the chapter closes, “there is not one that can save you” (v15)
Saturday Isaiah 48:1-11
In chapter 48 God speaks to the people of Israel, particularly those left in the Kingdom of Judah, and calls out their persistent resistance to him. They may have persisted in their religious activities and even taken oaths in the name of the Lord but what they lacked was truth and righteousness. This is always a challenge to the Church through the ages. Having told them all he has told them about the Babylonians and the coming victory of Cyrus over them he asks them which of the false gods, the idols they have turned to, revealed these things to them. The answer was, none (v5).
He was going to tell them even more things, but would they listen? Some of them would when Cyrus came and overthrew the Babylon regime. It was said by Karl Barth, the German theologian that everyone needs to keep a Bible beside their daily Newspaper because the events of the world are interpreted for us by God’s Word.