After chapter 13, I leap at the first words of chapter 14! "The Lord will have compassion ... and will choose." Me! I'm reading this with my name substituted for Jacob's. Never forget that no matter how great God's wrath and anger appear when He is punishing for sin and wickedness, His compassion for His children is equally as great.
It's somewhat unique that much of this chapter is written as a taunt that reveals attitudes as well as events. I find verses 13-14 most revealing.
"But you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God... I will make myself like the Most High."
Matthew Henry says the following: "It is a gracious ambition to covet to be like the Most Holy, for he has said, Be you holy, for I am holy; but it is a sinful ambition to aim to be like the Most High, for he has said, He that exalteth himself shall be abased, and the devil drew our first parents in to eat forbidden fruit by promising them that they should be as gods."
We should strive to be holy as God is holy, but we must never strive or put ourself in a position to try to be God. This may seem obvious, but I'm not confident I'm in the clear. Does my pride ever lead me to judge what God does as faulty? Do I ever think I have a better plan than what I see God doing? Do I ever reject God's ways?
I don't think I'm likely to raise a throne or a banner to myself or consciously proclaim myself to be like God. But I feel I need to be watchful of the heart attitudes that creep in and lead me to consider myself the sole authority and the one with the best ideas. When I grumble about what God is doing, perhaps I need to check my heart and make sure I'm not acting as the clay berating the potter.
I more frequently fall into this when I see things happening around me that I conclude can't possibly be the will of God. But look at verses 24 and 27.
"Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand."
"For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it?"
The times that I doubt God's plans are the times I must be careful not to think of myself as God or more highly than God. When I think I could run things better. When I suspect God is impotent. When I doubt God's goodness as I look at circumstances.
This is hard! Divorce, illness, death, financial devastation, floods (literally!), fire, job loss. How do I reconcile the plans of God with the things that from my perspective seem solely destructive, negative or full of evil?
I believe that this is why knowing the character of God is crucial. When we can't see the goodness of God, we need to be able to remember who He is. From our study so far in Isaiah, here is what I have gleaned about God's character:
-God always has a plan for redemption.
-God is for the poor, the widow, and the orphan.
-God is for justice and righteousness.
-God invites us to walk with Him.
-The Lord alone will be exalted.
-The Lord is holy.
-God is with us.
-God is light, salvation, strength, song.
He planned it. It will stand. He is good.
That's all I have to stand on.
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