The Kingdom of Righteousness
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Isaiah 32:1-8
1. Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice. 2. Each will be like a hiding place from the wind, a covert from the tempest, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land. 3. Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed, and the ears of those who hear will hearken. 4. The mind of the rash will have good judgment, and the tongue of the stammerers will speak readily and distinctly. 5. The fool will no more be called noble, nor the knave said to be honorable. 6. For the fool speaks folly, and his mind plots iniquity: to practice ungodliness, to utter error concerning the Lord, to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied, and to deprive the thirsty of drink. 7. The knaveries of the knave are evil; he devises wicked devices to ruin the poor with lying words, even when the plea of the needy is right. 8. But he who is noble devises noble things, and by noble things he stands.
Psalm 2
1. Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain? 2. The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and his anointed, saying, 3. "Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us." 4. He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision. 5. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6. "I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill." 7. I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me, "You are my son, today I have begotten you. 8. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9. You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." 10. Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11. Serve the Lord with fear, with trembling 12. kiss his feet, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way; for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Isaiah proclaims the Messiah! David looks to the future glory of Christ! These two biblical “giants” knew in whom to put their trust! And more, they didn’t hesitate to share their divinely-granted vision of future glory for the “army of God!”
In The Purpose-Driven Life, the author points out that surrender is the way we are able to offer meaningful worship to God. A group studying the book met last night and we talked about how surrendering has such a negative connotation. But, Warren tells us, we choose the things and the people we surrender to – we choose to surrender to God or to wordly activities, people, things. David and Isaiah already knew that way back in the Old Testament! And they both knew the consequences of their choices.
Jesus is the only way to go! His example, His words, His commission. If we surrender to our own human desires, thoughts, and actions, we are not going to win eternal life in heaven. Is it that simple? Is it really that cut and dried? “But he who is noble devises noble things, and by noble things he stands.” David answers that too: “Serve the Lord with fear, with trembling, kiss his feet lest he be angry, and you perish in the way; for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”
Most of the book of Isaiah was recorded around 700 years before Christ! The Psalter was compiled in its final form around the third century B.C. Hundreds and hundreds of years ago, God revealed that He would send a savior and that the savior would be the one final, shining example of what is expected. Two thousand years later, we still struggle. How can we not trust a God whose vision and planning is so perfect and so perfectly timed!?
I hope you spend your day surrendering your time, your thoughts, your actions, and your life to God the Father, and live as His Son commanded us.
Mary
