Judgement

Continuing the theme of prophetic warning, Isaiah urges his readers to trust in God and not human effort. Pay close attention specially to verses three and four, where even acts of worship are treated as sinful. What is God saying here about worship and the human heart? Allow the Spirit to speak to you and challenge you through this difficult text of warning and judgement.

STUDY THE SCRIPTURE

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REFLECTION

 

A Humble Heart, A Contrite Spirit

by Kelsey Bacon

Today’s passage is tough one. It is confusing and harsh and somewhat difficult to swallow. The judgement of the Lord is not something we often focus our attention on, and if we do we think about God judging other people, not ourselves. But here in this passage God calls out even those who worship him to look inward and reevaluate their true motivations.

Looking at verse 3 we see God describing someone offering up sacrifices of worship that are displeasing to him. But why would God be displeased with our worship? We see in verse 2 that God describes those he looks on with favor as being humble, having a contrite spirit (meaning repentant), and trembling at his word. Those he describes as offering sacrifices in verse 4 seem to be coming to the table on false pretenses, out of selfish ambition. God says that “they have chosen their own ways” and “when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, no one listened.”

Unfortunately, I think it is all too easy to “worship” without really worshipping. To “repent” without really repenting, and outwardly demonstrate our commitment to God without committing our hearts. We go through the motions of confession at church. But do we pick out in our minds that one sin we did this week? That thing we know we need to work on? And then do we bring that to Jesus, and try to do better next week? Maybe you do that every single week, but I know I struggle to.

We can go through the motions in our devotion to God as well. We show up to church on Sunday, we sing the songs, we read our Bibles, but are our hearts humble? Are our eyes open to what God is doing, our ears open to what he is saying? Or are we often too busy to listen, or our heads are too full of our own thoughts and opinions?

This passage seems very harsh, but it is meant to make us look inward. So I ask you to do that very thing today, to look inward and see where you might be going through the motions. Because God says that we should tremble at his word, and it is so easy for the power of his word to get lost. So remind yourself today of that power, take a posture of humility, and worship with all the fullness of your contrite heart.

 

UALC’S CAMPAIGN OF PRAYER

Thursday: LIFE Lord God Almighty, we lament the current distress of our nation and we ask for your intervention. We implore you that every precious life would be protected – lives of minorities, lives of the unborn, lives of the hopeless, lives of the mentally ill, lives with deep roots in this land, lives who have recently arrived -- each and every precious life for whom You gave Your precious life.