Isaiah 59
The first fourteen verses of Isaiah 59 describe a society saturated with sin. In verse 1, God begins by saying His hand is not shortened that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy that it cannot hear. Then in verse 2, the awful conjunction, “But....your iniquities have separated between you and God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that He will not hear.”
Verses 3-14 give a graphic description of the sins of the nation. What a list! God describes this society as bloodthirsty liars who have perverted their ways. They are deceitful and venomous leaches who run to wickedness like a moth to a flame. They dream of their sin, shed innocent blood, and destroy all in their paths. They have no peace, there is no justice, and they walk in darkness. They are blind to the path they walk, they roar and suffer. They have sinned, rejecting God, living lives of rebellion and disobedience. Verse 14 gives the results of their awful condition, “And judgement is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.”
Then, in verse 15, the subject changes from the wicked to “he that departeth from evil.” Even in such a pervasively wicked society, there were a few righteous. The Lord always has his remnant. But they, too, were paying a price for their decadence and sin. They became the prey of the wicked, and there was no one who would defend them or give them justice. The Lord saw there was no intercessor, and so He became their defender. Verses 16-17 say it this way, “therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.”
Christian, no matter how bad the world becomes, or how much it seems as though God has forgotten, He is aware of His people. He knows those who are His, and He will be their defense in time of trouble. Don’t let being in the minority cause you to falter in your walk with God. You can never be more secure that when you are in His care, though all hell rage around you.
Just a servant,
Bro. Tom
