Author: PGC Administrator

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+026

 
Chapter 26 (ESV)

¹⁶ O Lord, in distress they sought you;
they poured out a whispered prayer
when your discipline was upon them.
¹⁷ Like a pregnant woman
who writhes and cries out in her pangs
when she is near to giving birth,
so were we because of you, O Lord;
¹⁸  we were pregnant, we writhed,
but we have given birth to wind.
We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,
and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.
¹⁹ Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For your dew is a dew of light,
and the earth will give birth to the dead.

REFLECTION:

1. Read slowly this short passage a few times.
2. The prayer described in these verses is one of pain, the desperate prayer of last resort offered when things have gotten so bad God is the only one left to turn to.
3. Were there times in your life when you found yourself offering this prayer?
4. Reflect on the role of God in your life’s sufferings. Converse with God and listen to his response.

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

HYMN:

When I Cry – youtu.be/m153dXFIHV4

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+025

 
Chapter 25 (ESV)

¹ O Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
² For you have made the city a heap,
the fortified city a ruin;
the foreigners’ palace is a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
³ Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
⁴ For you have been a stronghold to the poor,
a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;
for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
⁵  like heat in a dry place.
You subdue the noise of the foreigners;
as heat by the shade of a cloud,
so the song of the ruthless is put down.

⁶ On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
⁷ And he will swallow up on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
⁸  He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
⁹ It will be said on that day,
“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
¹⁰ For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain,
and Moab shall be trampled down in his place,
as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.
¹¹ And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it
as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim,
but the Lord will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill of his hands.
¹² And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down,
lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.

REFLECTION:

1. This simple song expresses the hope of oppressed, exploited and downtrodden people. Here we read of Israel’s joy at the downfall of God’s enemies, the end of death itself and God’s final victory.
2. Recall an experience you have had in driving rain, a snowstorm or some other tough situations in which you knew that God was present with you.
3. Pray or write your own song of praise to God for the “wonderful things” he has planned (v. 1) for your life.

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

HYMN:

Still – youtu.be/z3wwWFsSlNQ

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+024

 
Chapter 24 (ESV)

⁴ The earth mourns and withers;
the world languishes and withers;
the highest people of the earth languish.
⁵ The earth lies defiled
under its inhabitants;
for they have transgressed the laws,
violated the statutes,
broken the everlasting covenant.
⁶ Therefore a curse devours the earth,
and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt;
therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,
and few men are left.
⁷ The wine mourns,
the vine languishes,
all the merry-hearted sigh.
⁸ The mirth of the tambourines is stilled,
the noise of the jubilant has ceased,
the mirth of the lyre is stilled.
⁹ No more do they drink wine with singing;
strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
¹⁰ The wasted city is broken down;
every house is shut up so that none can enter.
¹¹ There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;
all joy has grown dark;
the gladness of the earth is banished.
¹² Desolation is left in the city;
the gates are battered into ruins.
¹³ For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth
among the nations,
as when an olive tree is beaten,
as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.

REFLECTION:

1. Isaiah announced that the whole world will be punished. No class of people will escape, for earth’s inhabitants have “broken the everlasting covenant”.  These verses presuppose a close connection between the earth itself, the land and its inhabitants.
2. What problems or crises are we facing on the physical world today?
3. As a Christian, a child of God, what do you believe is your responsibility to the earth? Ask God to teach you about your responsibility in caring for His creation.  In your cell group, bring this up and see if you can decide on one specific way to encourage one another to do in caring for the earth.

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

HYMN:

Steward Of His Creation – youtu.be/Os7X0N2iOHU