For God is With Us…Isaiah 7

Then the LORD said to Isaiah, "Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller's Field, and say to him: 'Take heed, and be quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah. Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying, "Let us go up against Judah and trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over them, the son of Tabel"— thus says the Lord GOD:

"It shall not stand,

Nor shall it come to pass.

For the head of Syria is Damascus,

And the head of Damascus is Rezin.

Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken,

So that it will not be a people.

The head of Ephraim is Samaria,

And the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son.

If you will not believe,

Surely you shall not be established."'"

Moreover the LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying, "Ask a sign for yourself from the LORD your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above."

But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, nor will I test the LORD!"

Then he said, "Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings.

The LORD will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father's house—days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah."

And it shall come to pass in that day

That the LORD will whistle for the fly

That is in the farthest part of the rivers of Egypt,

And for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

They will come, and all of them will rest

In the desolate valleys and in the clefts of the rocks,

And on all thorns and in all pastures.

In the same day the Lord will shave with a hired razor,

With those from beyond the River, with the king of Assyria,

The head and the hair of the legs,

And will also remove the beard.

It shall be in that day

That a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep;

So it shall be, from the abundance of milk they give,

That he will eat curds;

For curds and honey everyone will eat who is left in the land.

It shall happen in that day,

That wherever there could be a thousand vines

Worth a thousand shekels of silver,

It will be for briers and thorns.

With arrows and bows men will come there,

Because all the land will become briers and thorns.

And to any hill which could be dug with the hoe,

You will not go there for fear of briers and thorns;

But it will become a range for oxen

And a place for sheep to roam.—Isaiah 7:3-25

The bottom line of Isaiah Chapters 7-9 is that God was with Judah.  The nations that would come against Judah would not succeed. They would be shattered.  Verse 9 of chapter 7 says this three times…thinking that is for emphasis. 🙃

"Be shattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces!

Give ear, all you from far countries.

Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces;

Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces.

No matter what plan or strategy the enemy concocted it would not stand. The close of verse 10 tells us why.

Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;

Speak the word, but it will not stand,

For God is with us."(emphasis mine)

This is what separated Judah from all other nations. Immanuel (God with us) was with them. 

Beloved…the same is true for us as believers. Jesus had the name Immanuel on Earth and He has it now in Heaven. He is “God with us”.  In Him we are more than conquerors…

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:

"For Your sake we are killed all day long;

We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.—Romans 8:31-39

"O Death, where is your sting?

O Hades, where is your victory?"

The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.—1 Corinthians 15:55-58

In Christ is victory. God has promised us that He will never leave us nor forsake us and He is faithful. As His children we are to trust Him no matter the circumstance…no matter how things might look from a worldly perspective. By His Spirit who dwells in us we can be steadfast and immovable. We can abound in the work of the Lord because we know that our work is not in vain in Him.

God and Isaiah were proved right and King Ahaz’s was rebuked for his lack of faith.  

If you will not believe,

Surely you shall not be established.—Isaiah 7:9b

Even if we don’t believe what God tells us, it will still come to pass. King Ahaz was given God’s word through the prophet Isaiah. In the Bible we have been given His whole counsel of truth. If we reject it, it doesn’t make it any less true.  

Beloved..there are so many wonderful and comforting promises in God’s word that we as believers can rest in as the world waxes worse and worse. Don’t be like Ahaz.  Believe God. Lean not on your own understanding. Don’t go to the world for help…go to God. In all your ways acknowledge Him and trust Him to direct your path. Then, instead of fear there will be blessed peace as you moment by moment believe His promises.  (For more on Ahaz see 2 Kings 16 and 2 Chronicles 28:1-27)

PSALM 18

God the Sovereign Savior

(2 Sam. 22:1–51)

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD, who spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said:

I will love You, O LORD, my strength.

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;

My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;

So shall I be saved from my enemies.

The pangs of death surrounded me,

And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.

The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;

The snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called upon the LORD,

And cried out to my God;

He heard my voice from His temple,

And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.

Then the earth shook and trembled;

The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,

Because He was angry.

Smoke went up from His nostrils,

And devouring fire from His mouth;

Coals were kindled by it.

He bowed the heavens also, and came down

With darkness under His feet.

And He rode upon a cherub, and flew;

He flew upon the wings of the wind.

He made darkness His secret place;

His canopy around Him was dark waters

And thick clouds of the skies.

From the brightness before Him,

His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.

The LORD thundered from heaven,

And the Most High uttered His voice,

Hailstones and coals of fire.

He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe,

Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.

Then the channels of the sea were seen,

The foundations of the world were uncovered

At Your rebuke, O LORD,

At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

He sent from above, He took me;

He drew me out of many waters.

He delivered me from my strong enemy,

From those who hated me,

For they were too strong for me.

They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

But the LORD was my support.

He also brought me out into a broad place;

He delivered me because He delighted in me.

The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness;

According to the cleanness of my hands

He has recompensed me.

For I have kept the ways of the LORD,

And have not wickedly departed from my God.

For all His judgments were before me,

And I did not put away His statutes from me.

I was also blameless before Him,

And I kept myself from my iniquity.

Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness,

According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful;

With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;

With the pure You will show Yourself pure;

And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.

For You will save the humble people,

But will bring down haughty looks.

For You will light my lamp;

The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

For by You I can run against a troop,

By my God I can leap over a wall.

As for God, His way is perfect;

The word of the LORD is proven;

He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

For who is God, except the LORD?

And who is a rock, except our God?

It is God who arms me with strength,

And makes my way perfect.

He makes my feet like the feet of deer,

And sets me on my high places.

He teaches my hands to make war,

So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;

Your right hand has held me up,

Your gentleness has made me great.

You enlarged my path under me,

So my feet did not slip.

I have pursued my enemies and overtaken them;

Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.

I have wounded them,

So that they could not rise;

They have fallen under my feet.

For You have armed me with strength for the battle;

You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.

You have also given me the necks of my enemies,

So that I destroyed those who hated me.

They cried out, but there was none to save;

Even to the LORD, but He did not answer them.

Then I beat them as fine as the dust before the wind;

I cast them out like dirt in the streets.

You have delivered me from the strivings of the people;

You have made me the head of the nations;

A people I have not known shall serve me.

As soon as they hear of me they obey me;

The foreigners submit to me.

The foreigners fade away,

And come frightened from their hideouts.

The LORD lives!

Blessed be my Rock!

Let the God of my salvation be exalted.

It is God who avenges me,

And subdues the peoples under me;

He delivers me from my enemies.

You also lift me up above those who rise against me;

You have delivered me from the violent man.

Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the Gentiles,

And sing praises to Your name.

Great deliverance He gives to His king,

And shows mercy to His anointed,

To David and his descendants forevermore.—Psalm 18