Scripture Reading(s)
Isaiah 50:4-9a
50:4 The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens– wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.
50:5 The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward.
50:6 I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.
50:7 The Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
50:8 he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me.
50:9a It is the Lord GOD who helps me; who will declare me guilty?
Reflections
When one is convicted of thier sins, it is in that moment that you are declared righteous and set free of all sin. God no longer holds anything against you and there is nothing that anyone can say that will bring judgment upon you. It is the Christ that justifies and saves us from our sins and He has done so!
Now that we are a friend of Gods, what enemy can possibly destroy you? This passage speaks on God being our first and foremost defender against any sin that the enemy Satan throws at us. At the point of conversion, you are now officially God’s chosen and loved child. His work on the cross has set you free from sin.
This passage speaks to the Christian that has given into the lie that because you have fallen into some sort of sinful struggle, that you are no longer a child of God and that you have somehow lost your salvation. In addition to this passage, Paul in Romans 8 emphasizes that there is absolutely nothing that can separate us from the love of God and that if He has declared you righteous that no sin can stand against you. There is no court that can bring any charge against you because a Holy and Sinless God has set you free from sin.
What an amazing thought and it brings an overwhelming joy to my heart to know that God’s love trumps my sin. Christian, if you are walking in sin today, I encourage you to turn back and run into the arms of the one who has declared you righteous. Remember that moment in which you declared that God was your first love. God back to that point once again and recall the joy you once felt when you gave your heart over to Christ. He died and saved you from your sin because He loves you. His love aims at your sin and completely erases it forever. Christian, do not give up on remembering who is fighting for you. With God, you are forever secure in His love. There is nothing that can ever take that away from you because God’s love is everlasting.
Isaiah 50 can be a difficult verse to understand. It is one OT passage where Christian’s clearly see foreshadowing of Jesus Christ and the Jews generally feel as though it’s a description of Israel. While must could be said about this interpretive question I will just say that there is a principle in this passage that is true no matter how it’s interpreted. Vengeance belongs to the Lord(Romans 12:19, Deut 32:35) and He is the one who sustains us.
As Christian’s we have the difficult task of going against our human instincts and love our enemies. The most basic survival instinct is to attack our attackers, but this is heathen behavior and God calls us to a higher place. To be clear, we do not need to be a punching bag but the scriptures are clear that we must practice loving others at every angle. It is perhaps the hardest thing ever done but Jesus forgave His murderers and we are supposed to follow in His footsteps.