Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America

Friday after Sexagesima Sunday

Posted on February 12, 2021 by Pastor Dulas under Devotions
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Scripture: Isaiah 45:11-19 (NKJV)
 
45:11 Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:
 
“Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; And concerning the work of My hands, you command Me.
 
12 “I have made the earth, and created man on it. I—My hands—stretched out the heavens, and all their host I have commanded.
 
13 “I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways; He shall build My city and let My exiles go free, not for price nor reward,” says the Lord of hosts. The Lord, the Only Savior
 
14 Thus says the Lord:
 
“The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you, and they shall be yours; They shall walk behind you, they shall come over in chains; And they shall bow down to you. They will make supplication to you, saying, ‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other; There is no other God.’”
 
15 Truly You are God, who hide Yourself, O God of Israel, the Savior!
 
16 They shall be ashamed and also disgraced, all of them; They shall go in confusion together, who are makers of idols.
 
17 But Israel shall be saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation; You shall not be ashamed or disgraced forever and ever.
 
18 For thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited:
 
“I am the Lord, and there is no other.
 
19 “I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in vain’; I, the Lord, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.”
 
Devotion
 
“I am the LORD and there is no other.” Isaiah lists the evidence that He alone is truly God: that He is the One who created, that He has not hidden His Word but forthrightly said what He would do and then did it, and that when it was in the best interest of His people He subdued those mightier than them and had those nations come in service to them. Now, the Holy Spirit has Isaiah leave the word “God” out so that the sentence quoted makes a play on God’s name. It reminds us of His nature and, thus, of why we can be confident in His promise to save.
 
When we see “LORD” in capital letters the Hebrew Bible has God’s consonantal name, “YHWH,” to which Jewish scribes added the vowels for the title “Lord,” which led to the traditional English pronunciation, “Jehovah.” While more recent scholarship suggests a pronunciation of “Yahweh” instead (your pastor can tell you why), what is more important is what this name means.
 
As we see from His self-description to Moses at the burning bush (Ex. 3:14-15), “YHWH” indicates a completely self-dependent existence. That is, unlike us or any other created being, the true God depends on no one else for His existence: no one created Him and no one can end Him, so no one can take anyone from His hand, neither to save them from His wrath, nor to rob them of His mercy (Deut. 32:39, John 10:28-30). Trusting in Him for salvation, then, “you shall never be ashamed or disgraced—forever and ever”!
 
Prayer: O God, who seest that we put not our trust in anything that we do, mercifully grant that by Thy power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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