Saturday after the Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on November 23, 2019 by under
Scripture: Isaiah 62:1-12 (NKJV)
62:1 For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns.
2 The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will name.
3 You shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
4 You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate; But you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; For the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married.
5 For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you; And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
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
The prophet teaches us many precious promises about the future of the saints in the heavenly Jerusalem. Her glory will shine for all the world to see, for she is the Bride of Christ, in whom He rejoices. Because these are promises to be fulfilled, we have them now by faith, not sight. Living mundane lives in the world, it’s easy to forget or neglect His promises about the eternal glory of the saints, especially when the Church looks small, forsaken, and desolate by worldly standards.
Today’s reading teaches us how to be faithful lest we grow to neglect and forget His promises. First, He commands His watchmen on Jerusalem’s walls, His called servants, to continually speak of the Lord. They’re not to hold their peace. God’s people are to give the Lord no rest till He fulfills His promises. They’re to be constant in prayer that God’s kingdom come among us and that Christ would come quickly and fulfill His promises. Second, the Lord commands us to go through the gates of Jerusalem and build up the highway. He wants us to walk on the highway that leads to everlasting life by remaining in the Church, daily confessing our sins, and receiving mercy. In the Church God doesn’t rest, but works for our sake, declaring us righteous for Christ’s sake and keeping us in the true faith.
We pray: O God, so rule and govern our hearts and minds by Thy Holy Spirit that, being ever mindful of the end of all things and the day of Thy just judgment, we may be stirred up to holiness of living here and dwell with Thee forever hereafter; 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.
