LHC Midday Word

Saturday, 18 September 2021

The Book of ISAIAH - Chapter Fifty Eight

True fasting

‘Shout it aloud, do not hold back.

Raise your voice like a trumpet.

Declare to my people their rebellion

and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.

For day after day they seek me out;

they seem eager to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that does what is right

and has not forsaken the commands of its God.

They ask me for just decisions

and seem eager for God to come near them.

“Why have we fasted,” they say,

“and you have not seen it?

Why have we humbled ourselves,

and you have not noticed?”

‘Yet on the day of your fasting,

you do as you please

and exploit all your workers.

Your fasting ends in quarrelling and strife,

and in striking each other with wicked fists.

You cannot fast as you do today

and expect your voice to be heard on high.

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,

only a day for people to humble themselves?

Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed

and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?

Is that what you call a fast,

a day acceptable to the Lord?

‘Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter –

when you see the naked, to clothe them,

and not to turn away

from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness will go before you,

and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;

you will cry for help, and he will say: here am I.

‘If you do away with the yoke of oppression,

with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness,

and your night will become like the noonday.

The Lord will guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail.

Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins

and will raise up the age-old foundations;

you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,

Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

‘If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath

and from doing as you please on my holy day,

if you call the Sabbath a delight

and the Lord’s holy day honourable,

and if you honour it by not going your own way

and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

then you will find your joy in the Lord,

and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land

and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.’

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Word by Word Meditations

by Fred Ursell

Isaiah 58: “eager” (v.2)

Does God say twice here that his people are “eager” (v.2)? No! He says they “seem eager.” That’s the clue that things – and people (even God’s people) aren’t always what they seem. We’re a funny mixture, partly keen and partly not so keen. We want the Lord and what he has for us, but … as long as it’s not too intrusive or demanding. Believers at times feel that God is too tough: “why have we humbled ourselves and you have not noticed?” And if not quickly indulged we take the hump, “you do as you please” (v.3). Not you, is it? Humph!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

READING

The Book of ISAIAH- Chapter 58

- Read by David Suchet -

-=-=-

Isaiah 58

Timothy Keller (sermons)

- Justice -

https://youtu.be/73BIN1myTqg

Doing Justice and Mercy

Timothy Keller (sermon)

https://youtu.be/u8Fn4vTTXHM

TEACHINGS

-=-=-

The Book of ISAIAH

Part 1 by David Pawson

https://youtu.be/XqNzGrYbFWg

The Book of ISAIAH

Part 2 by David Pawson

https://youtu.be/1VLLZ_6ZjiE

OVERVIEWS

-=-=-

ISAIAH Chapter 1 to 39

- Overview -

The Bible Project

https://youtu.be/d0A6Uchb1F8

ISAIAH Chapter 40 - 66

- Overview

The Bible Project

https://youtu.be/_TzdEPuqgQg

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

=-=

Friday, 17 September 2021

The Book of ISAIAH - Chapter Fifty Seven

The righteous perish,

and no one takes it to heart;

the devout are taken away,

and no one understands

that the righteous are taken away

to be spared from evil.

Those who walk uprightly

enter into peace;

they find rest as they lie in death.

‘But you – come here, you children of a sorceress,

you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!

Who are you mocking?

At whom do you sneer

and stick out your tongue?

Are you not a brood of rebels,

the offspring of liars?

You burn with lust among the oaks

and under every spreading tree;

you sacrifice your children in the ravines

and under the overhanging crags.

The idols among the smooth stones of the ravines

are your portion;

indeed, they are your lot.

Yes, to them you have poured out drink offerings

and offered grain offerings.

In view of all this, should I relent?

You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill;

there you went up to offer your sacrifices.

Behind your doors and your doorposts

you have put your pagan symbols.

Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed,

you climbed into it and opened it wide;

you made a pact with those whose beds you love,

and you looked with lust on their naked bodies.

You went to Molek with olive oil

and increased your perfumes.

You sent your ambassadors far away;

you descended to the very realm of the dead!

You wearied yourself by such going about,

but you would not say, “It is hopeless.”

You found renewal of your strength,

and so you did not faint.

‘Whom have you so dreaded and feared

that you have not been true to me,

and have neither remembered me

nor taken this to heart?

Is it not because I have long been silent

that you do not fear me?

I will expose your righteousness

and your works,

and they will not benefit you.

When you cry out for help,

let your collection of idols save you!

The wind will carry all of them off,

a mere breath will blow them away.

But whoever takes refuge in me

will inherit the land

and possess my holy mountain.’

Comfort for the contrite

And it will be said:

‘Build up, build up, prepare the road!

Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.’

For this is what the high and exalted One says –

he who lives for ever, whose name is holy:

‘I live in a high and holy place,

but also with the one who is contrite

and lowly in spirit,

to revive the spirit of the lowly

and to revive the heart of the contrite.

I will not accuse them for ever,

nor will I always be angry,

for then they would faint away because of me –

the very people I have created.

I was enraged by their sinful greed;

I punished them, and hid my face in anger,

yet they kept on in their wilful ways.

I have seen their ways, but I will heal them;

I will guide them

and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners,

creating praise on their lips.

Peace, peace, to those far and near,’

says the Lord. ‘And I will heal them.’

But the wicked are like the tossing sea,

which cannot rest,

whose waves cast up mire and mud.

‘There is no peace,’ says my God, ‘for the wicked.’

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Word by Word Meditations

by Fred Ursell

Isaiah 57: “pondered” (v.11)

Pointed questions will often make us really think, think before (rather than after) we’ve done something totally foolish and self-destructive. God asks through Isaiah, “whom have you so dreaded … you have … neither remembered me nor pondered this in your hearts?” (v.11). A follow-up question offers one reason, “is it not because I have long been silent?” Silence isn’t golden, it’s a formula for error. when we use our own judgement alone, making spontaneous or impetuous choices, or just drifting into them. ‘Ponder anew what the Almighty can do.’

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

READING

-=-=-

The Book of ISAIAH- Chapter 57

- Read by David Suchet -

STUDY

-=-=-

ISAIAH 57-Bible Study

Part 1

https://youtu.be/JhvnJMoFsWE

Part 2

https://youtu.be/wDRDJRfd00U

TEACHINGS

-=-=-

The Book of ISAIAH

Part 1 by David Pawson

https://youtu.be/XqNzGrYbFWg

The Book of ISAIAH

Part 2 by David Pawson

https://youtu.be/1VLLZ_6ZjiE

OVERVIEWS

-=-=-

ISAIAH Chapter 1 to 39

- Overview -

The Bible Project

https://youtu.be/d0A6Uchb1F8

ISAIAH Chapter 40 - 66

- Overview

The Bible Project

https://youtu.be/_TzdEPuqgQg

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

=-=

Thursday, 16 September 2021

The Book of ISAIAH - Chapter Fifty Six

Salvation for Others

This is what the Lord says:

“Maintain justice

and do what is right,

for my salvation is close at hand

and my righteousness will soon be revealed.

Blessed is the one who does this—

the person who holds it fast,

who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,

and keeps their hands from doing any evil.”

Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say,

“The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.”

And let no eunuch complain,

“I am only a dry tree.”

For this is what the Lord says:

“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,

who choose what pleases me

and hold fast to my covenant—

to them I will give within my temple

and its wall a memorial and a name

better than sons and daughters;

I will give them an everlasting name

that will endure forever.

And foreigners who bind themselves

to the Lord to minister to him,

to love the name of the Lord,

and to be his servants,

all who keep the Sabbath

without desecrating it

and who hold fast to my covenant—

these I will bring to my holy mountain

and give them joy in my house of prayer.

Their burnt offerings and sacrifices

will be accepted on my altar;

for my house will be called

a house of prayer for all nations.”

The Sovereign Lord declares—

he who gathers the exiles of Israel:

“I will gather still others to them

besides those already gathered.”

God’s Accusation Against the Wicked

Come, all you beasts of the field,

come and devour,

all you beasts of the forest!

Israel’s watchmen are blind,

they all lack knowledge;

they are all mute dogs,

they cannot bark;

they lie around and dream,

they love to sleep.

They are dogs with mighty appetites;

they never have enough.

They are shepherds

who lack understanding;

they all turn to their own way,

they seek their own gain.

“Come,” each one cries,

“let me get wine!

Let us drink our fill of beer!

And tomorrow will be like today,

or even far better.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Word by Word Meditations

by Fred Ursell

Isaiah 56: “bound” (v.3)

It’s one thing for a person to be “bound”, and another entirely to have “bound himself” (v.3) [i.e. freely and voluntarily]. There is no virtue in being forced to be and behave rightly; what counts is making the correct choice. It’s true as well that for some such a decision is difficult. For a “foreigner” [i.e. an outsider] to commit to God is a lot harder than for someone brought up to honour him. Realise joining an organisation is merely horizontal, but one needs to link oneself vertically.

Folk need to “bind themselves to the Lord” (v.6) – that’s the real deal!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The Book of ISAIAH- Chapter 56

- Read by David Suchet -