This morning I am drawn to Isaiah 26 (NKJV). Specifically in this order…
Verses 8-9,
“…O Lord, we have waited for You;
The desire of our soul is for Your name
And for the remembrance of You.
9 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.”
Verses 17-19,
“Lord, in trouble they have visited You,
They poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them.
17 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.
18 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.19 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.“
Side note from some study notes referring to verse 17-18,
“We have had the torment of a woman in child-bearing, but not the comfort of a living child … for we have brought forth nothing but the wind; all our labours and hopes were vain and unsuccessful.” (Poole)
LORD, in trouble they have visited You: The humble heart relies on the LORD in times of distress and futility.
And then this reminder back at verse 3-5,
“You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
For in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.
5 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.“
This spoke to me in a very personal way this morning. I wasn’t even looking for it, but the Lord knew what I was looking for, what I needed to read to show me that He’s aware of all that I am going through, He’s aware of what’s going on in us, around us, He’s aware… He knows. He’s on it. He’s already taken care of it.
I love how the Lord responds to us so personally in His Word. This morning as I read over these verses I wept over them, not really knowing “why” other than just knowing that it was a direct response from the Lord, addressing what He knows is on my heart –my tears soaked these pages of my bible. You know what? That’s okay. That’s my response to His response. I don’t even understand it, but He does.
Thank You for speaking to us, Father. Your Word is right there, ready to speak to us when we are ready to hear it, ready to encourage us. It’s all right here for us. You’re right here for us while we’re in the waiting. You know our pain, You know our sufferings, You know our hearts, and we can know that we are promised perfect peace when our mind is stayed on You. Thank You for the reminders that keep us and hold us up while we’re confidently “in the waiting” for You.
-Heather ?