Reading the Bible Together

Passage for the Day

 1 ”Here is my servant, whom I uphold, 
       my chosen one in whom I delight; 
       I will put my Spirit on him, 
       and he will bring justice to the nations.

    2 He will not shout or cry out, 
       or raise his voice in the streets.

    3 A bruised reed he will not break, 
       and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. 
       In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

    4 he will not falter or be discouraged 
       till he establishes justice on earth. 
       In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”

    5 This is what God the LORD says— 
       he who created the heavens and stretched them out, 
       who spread out the earth with all that springs from it, 
       who gives breath to its people, 
       and life to those who walk on it:

    6 ”I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; 
       I will take hold of your hand. 
       I will keep you and will make you 
       to be a covenant for the people 
       and a light for the Gentiles,

    7 to open eyes that are blind, 
       to free captives from prison 
       and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

    8 ”I am the LORD; that is my name! 
       I will not yield my glory to another 
       or my praise to idols.

    9 See, the former things have taken place, 
       and new things I declare; 
       before they spring into being 
       I announce them to you.”

 10 Sing to the LORD a new song, 
       his praise from the ends of the earth, 
       you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, 
       you islands, and all who live in them.

    11 Let the wilderness and its towns raise their voices; 
       let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice. 
       Let the people of Sela sing for joy; 
       let them shout from the mountaintops.

    12 Let them give glory to the LORD 
       and proclaim his praise in the islands.

    13 The LORD will march out like a champion, 
       like a warrior he will stir up his zeal; 
       with a shout he will raise the battle cry 
       and will triumph over his enemies.

    14 ”For a long time I have kept silent, 
       I have been quiet and held myself back. 
       But now, like a woman in childbirth, 
       I cry out, I gasp and pant.

    15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills 
       and dry up all their vegetation; 
       I will turn rivers into islands 
       and dry up the pools.

    16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, 
       along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; 
       I will turn the darkness into light before them 
       and make the rough places smooth. 
       These are the things I will do; 
       I will not forsake them.

    17 But those who trust in idols, 
       who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’ 
       will be turned back in utter shame.

Points of interest:

·         ‘my chosen one in whom I delight’—this servant, and the Branch/Root from Monday, remind me of Abram: one person chosen to bring about blessing for all people.  It’s as if God is pushing the reset button.  God started out by calling all of humanity to carry goodness into the world.  In the aftermath of the Babel incident, he decided to focus on Abram alone, as a small start to worldwide blessing.  He expanded from that one person to a single nation, Israel.  The idea was for Israel to serve as a model for other nations, and as a nation of priests to connect those other nations with God.  Thus far, Israel has fallen short on both counts.  Israel has had a difficult time staying in faithful relationship with God themselves, and—apart from some anomalies like in the time of Solomon—shown very little interest in introducing other nations to God.  So, here God is starting over again with one person.  The goal remains the same: setting everything right in all the earth.

·          ‘a smoldering wick he will not snuff out’—this is an interesting contrast with the Branch, who killed his enemies with his breath.  Here, the servant (who I think is actually the same person as the Branch) is so gentle that he won’t blow out a guttering candle.

·         ‘till he establishes justice on earth’—again, like in the psalms, one of God’s major concerns is to see that all nations are governed well.

·         ‘who gives breath to its people’—this is a poetic way of saying that God is the source of all life, but I think it might also be a reference to the Spirit Isaiah has been talking about.  Remember, ‘spirit’ and ‘breath’ are related words.  Maybe Isaiah is saying here that the Spirit that rests on this servant is intended eventually for all people.

·         ‘will make you to be a covenant for the people‘—this is interesting.  You may recall from our Exodus passage that a covenant is a contract or an agreement.  Somehow, this person will serve as a contract between God and people.

·         ‘and a light for the Gentiles’—this is the first time we’ve run across the word Gentiles.  It’s an anglicized version of the Latin for ‘nations.’  In the original Hebrew, this is exactly the same word as is translated ‘nations’ elsewhere.  I’m not sure, but I think the translators chose to render it ‘Gentiles’ here to mark the fact that increasingly the word took on a technical, theological meaning as ‘those outside of the covenant.’  Over time, Jewish theologians (Jew meaning ‘from Judah’) increasingly split the world into two groups: the Jews (those on the inside), and the Gentiles (those on the outside).  In this verse, these outsiders are actually being included in the covenant.

·         ‘I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols’—in Isaiah particularly, God often compares himself to so-called gods that are made by human beings out of wood or metal.  God’s glory, what distinguishes him from these idols, is that he can hear and respond when people ask him for help.

·         ‘the former things have taken place’—things have so far happened just as God predicted.  Now, he has something new in store.

·         ‘you islands, and all who live in them’—the islands is Isaiah’s way of saying, ‘the other end of the world.’

·         ‘the settlements where Kedar lives’—Kedar and Sela were remote settlements in the desert.  So, together verses ten and eleven say, ‘Praise him, whether you’re in the ocean or the desert.’

·         ‘The LORD will march out like a champion’—earlier, he was careful not to break a bruised reed.  Now, he’s more like a bull in a china shop.

·         ‘I will lead the blind‘—it turns out that even this more militant manifestation of the servant has a peaceful purpose in mind.  He’s leading a blind person, and clearing impediments out of that blind person’s path.

Taking it home:

·         For you: God is often in the business of doing ‘new things.’  Ask God to point your attention toward any new things he is doing in you or in your family.

·         For your six: Pray that God would be inviting your six into a vibrant connection with him.  Pray that any barriers that might get in the way of that connection would be removed.  Pray that nothing would keep your six from receiving whatever God might have for them.

.       For America: Pray that our nation would not be one that trusts in idols. Ask God to forgive us for ways that we rely on things we have created—such as the military, the economy, advancements in technology, and so on—instead of relying on him.

⁴¹ At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

⁴³ “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. ⁴⁴ “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ ^[a] Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. ⁴⁶ No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Very truly I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. ⁵⁰ But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which people may eat and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Peace and Hope

¹ Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹ Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ¹¹ Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

¹⁸ You who are my Comforter in sorrow,
my heart is faint within me.

¹⁹ Listen to the cry of my people
from a land far away:
“Is the LORD not in Zion?
Is her King no longer there?”
“Why have they aroused my anger with their images,
with their worthless foreign idols?”

²⁰ “The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we are not saved.”

²¹ Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;
I mourn, and horror grips me.

²² Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no healing
for the wound of my people?

Jeremiah 9

¹ Oh, that my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears!
I would weep day and night
for the slain of my people.

² Oh, that I had in the desert
a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,
a crowd of unfaithful people.

³ “They make ready their tongue
like a bow, to shoot lies;
it is not by truth
that they triumph in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
they do not acknowledge me,”
declares the LORD.

⁴ “Beware of your friends;
do not trust any of your people.
For every one of them is a deceiver,
and every friend a slanderer.

⁵ Friend deceives friend,
and no one speaks the truth.
They have taught their tongues to lie;
they weary themselves with sinning.

⁶ You live in the midst of deception;
in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the LORD.

For the director of music. A song. A psalm.

¹ Shout for joy to God, all the earth!

² Sing the glory of his name;
make his praise glorious.

³ Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power
that your enemies cringe before you.

⁴ All the earth bows down to you;
they sing praise to you,
they sing the praises of your name.”

⁵ Come and see what God has done,
his awesome deeds for humankind!

⁶ He turned the sea into dry land,
they passed through the waters on foot—
come, let us rejoice in him.

⁷ He rules forever by his power,
his eyes watch the nations—
let not the rebellious rise up against him.

⁸ Praise our God, all peoples,
let the sound of his praise be heard;

⁹ he has preserved our lives
and kept our feet from slipping.

¹⁰ For you, God, tested us;
you refined us like silver.

¹¹ You brought us into prison
and laid burdens on our backs.

¹² You let people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but you brought us to a place of abundance.

¹³ I will come to your temple with burnt offerings
and fulfill my vows to you—

¹⁴ vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke
when I was in trouble.

¹⁵ I will sacrifice fat animals to you
and an offering of rams;
I will offer bulls and goats.

¹⁶ Come and hear, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.

¹⁷ I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.

¹⁸ If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;

¹⁹ but God has surely listened
and has heard my prayer.

²⁰ Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me!