Isaiah 43: 14-28

Pride goes before a fall, and God is in the habit of pricking pride-filled balloons. Our boast should be in the Lord. Everything else we take pride in will be exposed as empty (14, 15). The Babylonians, who had made fugitives of many, would themselves become ‘fugitives’, sailing in the ships in which they had taken such great pride. We reap what we sow.

Never forget who God is and what He has done (16, 17). We see the God of the exodus in (16-21) who is going to do a ‘’new thing’’ (19). He is going to do again what He has done before. But it will be no straightforward ‘repeat performance.’ There will be a second Exodus, bringing God’s people through the desert from Babylon. This will be a greater Exodus in which God’s wonders in the desert will outmatch even those of the Red Sea. It’s been pointed out that for the real fulfilment of these words we must look beyond the modest homecomings from Babylon in the sixth and fifth centuries B.C., although these are definitely in view, to the exodus which Jesus accomplished at Jerusalem (Luke 9:31; see 1 Corinthians 10:4, 11), and which alone justifies the language of this passage. When God delivers us; when we experience His rescuing power, it is in order that we may glorify Him (21): ‘’…the people I made especially for myself, a people custom-made to praise me.’’ The Message.

In spite of all God’s goodness to them, His people had not lovingly brought the prayer and worship to Him that He so richly deserved (22-24). ‘’It wasn’t that I asked that much from you. I didn’t expect expensive presents. But you didn’t even do the minimum – so stingy with me, so closefisted. Yet you haven’t been stingy with your sins. You’ve been plenty generous with them – and I’m fed up.’’ The Message. (Prayer can be hard work. What do we know, in our prayer meetings and personal prayer lives, of ‘wearying’ ourselves for God? Are we prepared for the hard work of prayer?) ‘’Israel’s devastating response to divine ardour is a yawn of apathy.’’ Derek Kidner: The ‘New Bible Commentary’, p.658

Ironically, God was the One who could ‘blot out’ the sins of His people, and would do if only they would confess and forsake sin. The wrongdoing of this people was deeply ingrained (25-28). ‘’So make your case against me. Let’s have this out. Make your arguments. Prove you’re in the right. Your original ancestor started the sinning, and everyone since has joined in.’’ The Message.

Prayer: ‘’Lord, it is my chief complaint, that my love is weak and faint. Yet I love thee, and adore; O for grace to love thee more.’’ (From the hymn: ‘Hark my soul, it is the Lord.’)