Saturday after the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on August 28, 2021 by under
Scripture: Isaiah 62:6-12 (NKJV)
62:6 I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent,
7 and give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
8 The Lord has sworn by His right hand and by the arm of His strength:
“Surely I will no longer give your grain as food for your enemies; And the sons of the foreigner shall not drink your new wine, for which you have labored.
9 But those who have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the Lord; Those who have brought it together shall drink it in My holy courts.”
10 Go through, go through the gates! Prepare the way for the people; Build up, build up the highway! Take out the stones, lift up a banner for the peoples!
11 Indeed the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the world:
“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Surely your salvation is coming; Behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.’”
12 And they shall call them The Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; And you shall be called Sought Out, a City Not Forsaken.
Devotion
As Isaiah pens these first-person words of God, note what is not said: “I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent…” God does not say, “I am your watchman,” rather, “I have set watchmen.” God can perform His will however He chooses. He can, and has, worked directly by His own hand (parting the Red Sea, or healing the blind as He did in yesterday’s reading). But normally God works through means. Even the precious message of His Gospel and the shepherding of His Church He entrusts to the care of man.
This does not mean that God stands aloof and allows whatever outcome may be. Rather, He provides the tools for His faithful shepherds to do His work and will. This precedent is seen with the prophets, continued with the Apostles, and now lies with the humble hands of today’s pastors. Note that verse 6 says they are always on the job, never ceasing to keep watch over the flock, never ceasing to proclaim the truth of God’s message. Let us be supportive of our watchmen–our pastors–that they may be effective and joyful in their calling, as they in turn serve God’s people.
Prayer: Almighty and Merciful God, of Whose only gift it cometh that Thy faithful people do unto Thee true and laudable service: Grant, we beseech Thee, that we may so faithfully serve Thee in this life, that we fail not finally to attain Thy heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
