Tuesday after the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on November 8, 2022 by under
Scripture: Isaiah 49:12-17 (NKJV)
49:12 “Surely these shall come from afar; Look! Those from the north and the west, And these from the land of Sinim.”
13 Sing, O heavens! Be joyful, O earth! And break out in singing, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people, and will have mercy on His afflicted.
14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you.
16 “See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.
17 “Your sons shall make haste; Your destroyers and those who laid you waste shall go away from you.”
Devotion
The Prophet Isaiah prophesies for us today concerning all those who will come from afar to cling to the Lord Jesus in faith. This prophecy of Isaiah is a picture of the true Church. It is a picture of all the saints: all those who cling in faith solely to the works and merits of the Christ. It is a picture of all those who have endured the pains and sorrows of this life and have obtained an eternal crown in Heaven. The streets of Heaven will be filled with the joyful singing and rejoicing of the saints who have come out of the afflictions of this life!
These afflictions could lead us to say with Zion, in the reading from Isaiah, that the Lord has forgotten us. But the Lord Jesus can never forget us poor sinners: He has us inscribed on the palms of His hands! He bears the marks of His crucifixion as a reminder to us of His great love for us. As a mother would not forget the child she carried in her womb, and nursed at her breast, the Lord Jesus can never forget us. For in the waters of Holy Baptism we have been buried with Him in His death, and having been born of the Spirit, wear the white robes of His righteousness through faith.
Prayer: Almighty God, we beseech Thee, show Thy mercy unto Thy humble servants, that we who put no trust in our own merits may not be dealt with after the severity of Thy judgment, but according to Thy mercy; 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.
