July 3, 2026, Isaiah 57:14-21

July 3, 2026, Isaiah 57:14-21

 ¹⁴ And it shall be said,

“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
    remove every obstruction from my people's way.”
¹⁵ For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
    who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
    and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
    and to revive the heart of the contrite.
¹⁶ For I will not contend forever,
    nor will I always be angry;
for the spirit would grow faint before me,
    and the breath of life that I made.
¹⁷ Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry,
    I struck him; I hid my face and was angry,
    but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.
¹⁸ I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
    I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
¹⁹     creating the fruit of the lips.
Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord,
    “and I will heal him.
²⁰ But the wicked are like the tossing sea;
    for it cannot be quiet,
    and its waters toss up mire and dirt.
²¹ There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

 

Isaiah 57:14-21 is a powerful passage offering comfort to the repentant but a stern warning to the wicked. It contrasts the majestic, transcendent nature of God with His intimate desire to heal and revive the humble, ultimately promising true, lasting peace to those who turn to Him.

 

What is currently acting as a "stumbling block" in your life that is keeping you from drawing closer to God, and how can you remove it?

 

When you look at your internal life right now, does it feel more like the "revived and quiet spirit" of the humble, or the "tossing, restless sea" of the wicked?

 

How does it comfort or challenge you to know that the same God who rules over eternity also chooses to intimately dwell with the broken and lowly?

 

Robin Adams