Friday 14 April 2023
- Bible Book:
- Isaiah
On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; he sets up victory like walls and bulwarks. (v. 1)
Background
This passage evokes so many feelings in me. The only way I can cope is to allow only a small part to resonate at a given time. This ‘holy reading of the word’ comes from the monastic discipline of Lectio Divina. As you read the passage today, what sticks with you? What does it remind you of? I sense my own longing for justice and peace in a world that seems so unfair and violent. Like the psalmist I want to cry out "How long, Oh Lord?" (Psalm 13:1). I want to see God deal with some of the ‘bad actors’ on the world stage, such as the liars, the selfish and the greedy. To be honest I feel outraged at times. I wonder why such feelings are evoked at the moment, and why so strongly? Partly it is because the news is so miserable and, like the weather, hardly seems to change from one cold wet day to the next. However, I can see many of those faults in myself; I am stirred because I too am capable of dishonesty, selfishness and greed.
The challenge of Isaiah is both: ‘be patient God has got this in hand' and ‘have hope that the earth will give birth to the dead’. There is always hope: that is the essence of the Resurrection story. This is comforting, "death where is thy sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:55), and also disturbing and challenging for there’s suffering that accompanies such birth; the labour pains of God’s creation as she gives space to the new.
I am frustrated at times not only with the slowness of my own growth as a disciple, but the fact that so many don’t ‘get it’; or at least I don’t see them getting it. God’s grace is poured out with such generosity and is hidden by my ‘lack of zeal’ (v. 11). I start out resonating with the outrage that Isaiah feels for the world, but I finish allowing the passage to talk to me, noticing more clearly what God is doing, and my place in that. The song will be sung in the land! (v. 1)
To Ponder:
- What verses, or what mood, in this passage resonate with you today?
- How does the passage touch your life?
- What would you want to say to God in the light of that?