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 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.
² 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.’

I am aware that many elections are taking place around the world this year. Here in the UK we had our first televised debate of this election season, last evening (5th June), between our Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and the leader of the opposition, Sir Keir Starmer.

Reading these two verses this morning, I am reminded of Paul’s injunction to pray for political leaders, as a matter of priority:

 ‘I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people – ² for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ³ This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, ⁴ who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all people.’ (1 Tim.2:1-6a).

Prayer: Lord, in your mercy, please will you give us leaders who care about justice and righteousness and your truth – who live their lives before you, walking in the fear of God, recognising that they are accountable to you. Save our politicians through the redeeming work of our Lord Jesus Christ. May we continue to enjoy peace and freedom to live and preach the gospel.

(Just to put these verses into context, God’s call to His returning exiles is to practice justice and righteousness in the land to which they are returning. It is for both leaders and led. It was injustice that had brought them to ruin previously (5:7). ‘Now those who will wake on the other side of this nightmare and have the opportunity to make a fresh start are reminded that God has the same passionate commitment to justice that he always had, and that he expects them to share it…Their life together is to be a visible sign that the kingdom of God – his reign of perfect justice and righteousness – is just around the corner, breaking in and already making its presence felt.’ Barry Webb: ‘Isaiah’, pp.220,221).

This will be for the Lord’s renown,
    for an everlasting sign,
    that will endure forever.”

Although the section we looked at yesterday may be about the return from Babylon in the short term, ultimately it is about more than that. It is a pointer to the greater deliverance still to come, in and through Jesus and His death on the Cross. The ‘second exodus’ from Babylon is the mountain peak in the foreground here. But behind it there stands the mount of Calvary, although a long valley of time separates the two.

”For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.” (2 Cor.1:20).

The Lord is faithful to all His promises.

It is in and through the gospel that we will see ultimate transformation, for the glory of God.

” Thorns and briers came in with sin and were the fruits of the curse, Gen 3 18. The raising of pleasant trees in the room of them signifies the removal of the curse of the law and the introduction of gospel blessings.” Matthew Henry.

‘I’m not what I want to be, and I’m not what I’m going to be. But praise God, I’m not what I was!’

You will go out in joy
    and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
    will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
    will clap their hands.
¹³ Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,
    and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the Lord’s renown,
    for an everlasting sign,
    that will endure forever.”

God’s Word is His work. What He says will happen. His Word will not return to Him ”empty” (11). His people will return from exile to their homeland. They will go joyfully, peacefully, musically. They will experience miraculous transformation. It will all be for God’s glory. Why? Because He wills and decrees it.

”They shall go out of their captivity, and be led forth towards their own land again. God will go before them as surely, though not as sensibly, as before their fathers in the pillar of cloud and fire. They shall go out, not with trembling, but with triumph, not with any regret to part with Babylon, or any fear of being fetched back, but with joy and peace. Their journey home over the mountains shall be pleasant, and they shall have the good-will and good wishes of all the countries they pass through. The hills and their inhabitants shall, as in a transport of joy, break forth into singing; and, if the people should altogether hold their peace, even the trees of the field would attend them with their applauses and acclamations. And, when they come to their own land, it shall be ready to bid them welcome; for, whereas they expected to find it all overgrown with briers and thorns, it shall be set with fir-trees and myrtle-trees: for, though it lay desolate, yet it enjoyed its sabbaths (Lev 26 34), which, when they were over, like the land after the sabbatical year, it was the better for. And this shall redound much to the honour of God and be to him for a name.” Matthew Henry.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.
¹⁰ As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire

This passage is often quoted by preachers (or about preaching). It is, understandably, a great encouragement, and a promise to cling to. It also applies to any sincere and faithful use of God’s Word as we seek to share it with people both inside and outside the church.

As I write these words, a soft, gentle rain is falling, and I can sense that it is refreshing the plants in our garden, and also the fields and hills around us. It is doing something. It’s having an effect.

‘Like the rain and snow that seem to be wasted, God’s Word accomplishes His will on the earth.’ Warren Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.486.

Because God’s ”thoughts” (and ”ways”) are ”higher” than ours, His Word needs to ”come down from heaven” to us, as ”the rain and the snow” do. Here on earth, and in our hearts, His Word works.

”One way or other, it will take effect.” Matthew Henry

‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,’
declares the Lord.
⁹ ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

I heard about a Christian preacher who said he felt he heard the Lord say to him one day, ‘Bob, you and I are incompatible, so one of us is going to have to change; but it’s not going to be me!!’

‘Have you ever tried to explain the grace of God to an unsaved person who thinks that heaven is a ”Hall of Fame” for achievers instead of the Father’s house for believers? In this world, you work for what you get, and you are suspicious of anything that is free.’ Warren Wiersbe: Old Testament Commentary’, p.1196.

We don’t get far in the Christian life before discovering that there is, naturally speaking, an unbridgeable gulf between God’s mind and ours.

Yet God has closed gap through the gift of revelation:

• He has revealed Himself in His written Word, the Scriptures;
• He has finally and fully revealed Himself in the Person of the living Word, Jesus (who lies at the heart of the written Word).

Yes, although God’s ”thoughts” and ”ways” are ”higher” than ours, His Word has ”come down from heaven”(10) to reach us where we are. More about this tomorrow.

Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call on him while he is near.
⁷ Let the wicked forsake their ways
    and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
    and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

There are, I believe, times and seasons in the movements of God. There are days of opportunity for the soul, which, if missed, may never come again. Get into the Ark while the door remains open!

‘There is a sense of urgency in this passage: if we do not seek the Lord now, it may be too late to do so later. The Lord waits patiently for us to turn to Him, but He does not wait forever (see Jeremiah 29:13-14).’ Tom Hale: ‘Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.1059.

”Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 4:7; see Ps.95:7,8).

These words are about repentance. What a wonderful promise they contain. They seem to find their echo in the New Testament in 1 John 1:9: ”If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Notice that repentance involves ‘forsaking’ wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts. It is not about shedding ‘crocodile tears.’ Repentance is a change of mind leading to a change of direction.

Give ear and come to me;
    listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
    my faithful love promised to David.
⁴ See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
    a ruler and commander of the peoples.
⁵ Surely you will summon nations you know not,
    and nations you do not know will come running to you,
because of the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel,
    for he has endowed you with splendour.’

To all who come to God, in response to His generous offer, He promises He will make an ”everlasting covenant” with them. This is a continuation of the same covenant God made with David when He promised him an everlasting throne- a promise ultimately fulfilled in Jesus

One thing that happens when we immerse ourselves in the Scriptures – truly humbling ourselves before them, listening to God and seeking to obey Him – is this: we are ‘changed from glory into glory’. The Lord makes His people beautiful with the beauty of Jesus as they look to Him and on Him (2 Corinthians 3:18), Furthermore, this beauty attracts others. The Lord’s people become a ”city set on a hill” (Matt.5:14).

‘These words, of course, apply not only to the post-exilic Jerusalem of the Old Testament but also to the church of Christ in the New Testament and ultimately to the new Jerusalem where Christ will reign supreme forever (Revelation 21:1-5).’ Tom Hale: ‘Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.1059.

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
    and you will delight in the richest of fare.
³ Give ear and come to me;
    listen, that you may live.

It’s not just about reading the Bible daily as an important habit, is it? Yes it is that. But it’s more. It’s about life. Real life is found in these words, and we get this life from God for free. How amazing is that?!

In Dane Ortlund’s book, ‘Deeper’, he closes one of the chapters in this way:

‘In May 2020 the Wall Street Journal ran a piece by James Nestor entitled ”The Healing Power of Proper Breathing.” The caption under the headline read, ”How we inhale and exhale has profound effects on our health.”…

…You wouldn’t try to go through life holding your breath. So don’t go through life without Bible reading and praying. Let your soul breathe. Oxygenate with the Bible; and breath out the CO2 of prayer as you speak back to God your wonder, your worry, and your waiting. He is not a force, not an ideal, not a machine. He is a person. Keep open the channel between your little life and heaven itself through the Bible and prayer. As you do you will grow. You won’t feel it day to day. But you’ll come to the end of your life a radiant, solid man or woman. And you will have left in your wake the aroma of heaven. You will have blessed the world. Your life will have mattered.’ (pp.156,157).

“Come, all you who are thirsty,
    come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
    come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without cost.
² Why spend money on what is not bread,
    and your labour on what does not satisfy?

While my wife and daughter and I were on holiday in Norfolk recently, we attended a Sunday morning service at a ‘New Frontiers’ church in Sheringham. The preacher had come over from another church in Norwich. It was Pentecost Sunday and he spoke on the above text. A fine sermon it was too. He began by explaining that what we read here in Isaiah 55 flows from what has happened earlier in Isaiah 53. It is because of the Cross that Jesus can satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst. He had 3 points:

1. An urgent invitation (He said that in the King James Version of the Bible, the opening word is ‘Ho!’ This is like someone shouting, ‘Oi’, he told us: This is important. It matters. You need to hear this);
2. An amazing offer: everything is free to ”all” who will ”Come”. No-one has to pay in any way;
3. An astounding rejection: ”Hey there! All who are thirsty,
       come to the water!
   Are you penniless?
       Come anyway—buy and eat!
   Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk.
       Buy without money—everything’s free!
   Why do you spend your money on junk food,
       your hard-earned cash on cotton candy?

In a footnote in his ‘Applied Old Testament commentary’ Tom Hale writes:

‘Notice that this invitation is given to the thirsty. In order to receive the spiritual blessings God desires to give to us, we must thirst for them (Matthew 5:3,6; 11:28). It’s hard to give spiritual blessings to someone who doesn’t want them; it’s hard to give good news, the Gospel, to someone who isn’t interested.’

In the original context, God was asking this of the exiles in Babylon, who were becoming complacent and comfortable in their life there. Did they really think Babylon could satisfy?

Do we?