My chapter for today is Isaiah 57.
On occasion the thought has run through my mind that when good people die perhaps God is sparing them from something far worse…and today I found that truth in Isaiah 57:1-2.
"The righteous man perishes and no one takes it to heart; devout men are taken away while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity; he enters into peace; they rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness."
What these two verses say to me, literally, is that some people are taken from this world prematurely because of their righteousness. They are protected from calamity. They get to enter peace. It is only a slight silver lining in the clouds for those who are left behind – but their joy in being with the Lord is to be celebrated.
Meanwhile, we mourn.
God sees impeccably with an eternal view. We have a hard time grasping his view, and see as though through an opaque, dirty window.
This chapter has very clear indictments for those who worship idols, with a concluding promise of their destruction: The wind will carry them off, a breath will take them away.
And then the following promise for those who place their faith in God: (13) But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain.
Then, further promise, in verse 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….”
I love that. I want to just stop there and enjoy the promise. Right here, in the Old Testament, long before Jesus even came to earth, God declares through the prophet Isaiah, that He dwells with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit. Throughout the Old Testament we see glimpses of that. Samuel and David come quickly to mind. God has always wanted to have a relationship with His created.
There is more to be gleaned – but my grandkids just got here, and I have to go….
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