“Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”…. Take Refuge from the Coming Judgment…
Sure it is raining here all day – A LOT – but take REFUGE FROM THE STORMS – dive into the REIGNING SAVING of the Lord – the reining-in of sin by repentance – THE REMEMBRANCE OF DELIVERANCE. There is HOPE in between the rain drops, rein-in drops and Reign Drops of the Lord’s corrections. REALLY.
Look throughout scripture and there are sunshine and salvation spots and stops. Really, I am talking about a Messiah mentioned among the mess of the Israelites’ pitfalls – embrace these readings in Isaiah 25 and 26 as if they were a GIANT UMBRELLA of protection – more than that, Isaiah is affirming the Shelter of the Lord. Yes, there is HOPE in repentance and salvation. Savor those steps UP in your life – and get yourself into those Rein Drops – where God corrals you into listening. God’s Rein in – Reign over – Rain down of Love.
Isaiah 24 – wow – remember the prophecies of the total earth destruction? Getting through that reign of terror? A Messiah!!!
Isaiah 25 – wow – a saving rainbow in our sky for Hope wow in a PRAISE!!
O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, For You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. Yes there is hope for the Israelites – Isaiah reminds them to repent – and hope for us – to be remembering to be rescued by the Lord.
Isaiah 26 – double wow – double rainbow plus a song of a Savior sliding into our scene for salvation. We have to remember that the people of the time were so oppressed and short term saving was immediate on their minds – long term salvation was and is hard to wrap our minds around but IS what is promised by God – both short and long term… Destruction of enemies also means a downfall of peoples that don’t listen. Lord, You will establish peace for us.
So, like this flooding rain – remember that there is no joy in the loss of life – no pride in “we made it because God crushed them” – there is only humble thankfulness that God’s provided this path this shelter this hope – immediate and long term. Yes, we like the Israelites can rejoice in this coming predicted saving – in this protection. Like this flooding rain that will seep into every spot – let us also hope that the seeds of knowledge shared will seep into every soul. The immense power of the Lord is enough to destroy – so how much more He wants to save. God wants repentance AND praise.
As for us in this storm, Lord, You are amazing and worth ALL our PRAISE. Let us love living in between YOUR Reign Drops.
AMEN!
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O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, For You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. For You have made a city a ruin, A fortified city a ruin, A palace of foreigners to be a city no more; It will never be rebuilt. Therefore the strong people will glorify You; The city of the terrible nations will fear You. For You have been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, A shade from the heat; For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
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You will reduce the noise of aliens, As heat in a dry place; As heat in the shadow of a cloud, The song of the terrible ones will be diminished. And in this mountain The Lord of hosts will make for all people A feast of choice pieces, A feast of wines on the lees, Of fat things full of marrow, Of well-refined wines on the lees. And He will destroy on this mountain The surface of the covering cast over all people, And the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken.
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And it will be said in that day: “Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” For on this mountain the hand of the Lord will rest, And Moab shall be trampled down under Him, As straw is trampled down for the refuse heap. And He will spread out His hands in their midst As a swimmer reaches out to swim, And He will bring down their pride Together with the trickery of their hands. The fortress of the high fort of your walls He will bring down, lay low, And bring to the ground, down to the dust.
A Song of Salvation
In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks. Open the gates, That the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in. You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, For in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength. For He brings down those who dwell on high, The lofty city; He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He brings it down to the dust. The foot shall tread it down— The feet of the poor And the steps of the needy.”
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The way of the just is uprightness; O Most Upright, You weigh the path of the just. Yes, in the way of Your judgments, O Lord, we have waited for You; The desire of our soul is for Your name And for the remembrance of You. With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; For when Your judgments are in the earth, The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
Let grace be shown to the wicked, Yet he will not learn righteousness; In the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly, And will not behold the majesty of the Lord. Lord, when Your hand is lifted up, they will not see. But they will see and be ashamed For their envy of people; Yes, the fire of Your enemies shall devour them.
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Lord, You will establish peace for us, For You have also done all our works in us. O Lord our God, masters besides You Have had dominion over us; But by You only we make mention of Your name. They are dead, they will not live; They are deceased, they will not rise. Therefore You have punished and destroyed them, And made all their memory to perish. You have increased the nation, O Lord, You have increased the nation; You are glorified; You have expanded all the borders of the land.
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Lord, in trouble they have visited You, They poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them. As a woman with child Is in pain and cries out in her pangs, When she draws near the time of her delivery, So have we been in Your sight, O Lord. We have been with child, we have been in pain; We have, as it were, brought forth wind; We have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth, Nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
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Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead.
Take Refuge from the Coming Judgment: Come, my people, enter your chambers, And shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, Until the indignation is past. For behold, the Lord comes out of His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; The earth will also disclose her blood, And will no more cover her slain.
Debbie Upper 