May 25th

Numbers 34     Isaiah 26     Psalms 78: 40-72     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

Psalm 78 v40-72 and Isaiah 26

What a hard time the people of Israel had as they wavered in their trust of God. We often hear, or perhaps even ask, ‘How can there be a God when all this happens?’, and in the same way, when bad things happened they concluded God wasn’t with them and wandered off to other gods. The series of miracles surrounding the Exodus, and God’s astonishing protection of his people had been allowed to fade in their memories and in spite of painful reminders they still rebelled again and again. Yet even at the end of this series of disasters there is hope in the provision of David, a man of God, to lead them. In spite of all their wrong choices God was still planning for their good. It may not always seem so, but he also has planned for our good. Isaiah reminds us (v3) that even in the hard times we can trust the God who is our eternal Rock. Not that He will make our troubles disappear overnight – that’s obvious even from today’s passages, but is consistently written throughout the Bible – but we can trust Him for the long term. As a modern song says, “If it all just happened overnight, you wouldn’t know how much it means. If it all just happened overnight you would never learn to believe in what you cannot see.” Through the scriptures and through life, God is teaching us to trust Him, so that our minds can be kept in perfect peace.

(member of a homegroup)
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May 24th

Numbers 33     Isaiah 25     Psalms 78: 1-39     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

Psalm 78 v1-39  and Isaiah 25

It’s thanks to the Old Testament people of Israel that we have such accurate versions of so many ancient scriptures. Their children were faithfully taught and learned such huge sections by heart that it would put to shame the modest demands our schools make on our children’s memories. Most importantly they needed to remember what God had done for them throughout their people’s history, because it taught them above all things to trust and obey Him (v7). Isaiah 25 continues the theme of the wonderful things God has done and although our ‘New Covenant’ minds could not rejoice in the same way at the destruction of our enemies, we can share his rejoicing in the swallowing up of death itself. Isn’t it amazing, by the way, that Isaiah could write this the best part of a millennium before Jesus actually conquered death? It’s thrilling to read this and actually witness the prophet being ‘let into the secret’ of the eternal plan. And what will we say when He wipes away our tears? ‘Surely this is our God. We trusted Him and He saved us.’ Let’s trust Him now.

(member of a homegroup)