Isaiah 39 (HCSB)
Hezekiah’s Folly
1 At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah since he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil—and all his armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his palace and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.
3 Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “Where did these men come from and what did they say to you?”
Hezekiah replied, “They came to me from a distant country, from Babylon.”
4 Isaiah asked, “What have they seen in your palace?”
Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything in my palace. There isn’t anything in my treasuries that I didn’t show them.”
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of Hosts: 6 ‘The time will certainly come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. 7 ‘Some of your descendants who come from you will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”
8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good,” for he thought: There will be peace and security during my lifetime.
Isaiah 40 (HCSB)
God’s People Comforted
1 “Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and announce to her that her time of forced labor is over, her iniquity has been pardoned, and she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”
3 A voice of one crying out:
Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.
4 Every valley will be lifted up, and every mountain and hill will be leveled; the uneven ground will become smooth and the rough places, a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord will appear, and all humanity together will see it, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
6 A voice was saying, “Cry out!” Another said, “What should I cry out?” “All humanity is grass, and all its goodness is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flowers fade when the breath of the Lord blows on them; indeed, the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God remains forever.”
9 Zion, herald of good news, go up on a high mountain. Jerusalem, herald of good news, raise your voice loudly. Raise it, do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”
10 See, the Lord God comes with strength, and His power establishes His rule. His reward is with Him, and His gifts accompany Him.
11 He protects His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them in the fold of His garment. He gently leads those that are nursing.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has gathered the dust of the earth in a measure or weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in the scales?
13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or who gave Him His counsel?
14 Who did He consult with? Who gave Him understanding and taught Him the paths of justice? Who taught Him knowledge and showed Him the way of understanding?
15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered as a speck of dust in the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
16 Lebanon is not enough for fuel, or its animals enough for a burnt offering.
17 All the nations are as nothing before Him; they are considered by Him as nothingness and emptiness.
18 Who will you compare God with? What likeness will you compare Him to?
19 To an idol?—something that a smelter casts, and a metalworker plates with gold and makes silver welds for it?
20 To one who shapes a pedestal, choosing wood that does not rot? He looks for a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not fall over.
21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not considered the foundations of the earth?
22 God is enthroned above the circle of the earth; its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like thin cloth and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He reduces princes to nothing and makes judges of the earth irrational.
24 They are barely planted, barely sown, their stem hardly takes root in the ground when He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.
25 “Who will you compare Me to, or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
26 Look up and see: who created these? He brings out the starry host by number; He calls all of them by name. Because of His great power and strength, not one of them is missing.
27 Jacob, why do you say, and Israel, why do you assert: “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my claim is ignored by my God”?
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Yahweh is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never grows faint or weary; there is no limit to His understanding.
29 He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless.
30 Youths may faint and grow weary, and young men stumble and fall,
31 but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 40:27): I often have been inconsistent with my love for and dependence on You, Father, ever since I was born again. Far too often I depended on my own strength, will, and timing for things in my life instead of patiently leaning on You, Father. Please forgive me for this, God, and help me to always remember that Your timing is better than my own.
PROMISE (verses 40:28-31): Father, You give such an amazing promise here that has been so difficult for me to embrace. You promise us that You have no limits and never grow tired of us. You promise that if we trust in You fully, then anything is possible with You as our strength, wisdom, and guide. Thank You for always being there for me, Father, even when I so often have not been even remotely close to a worthy follower. Your grace is amazing.
ATTITUDE (verse 40:31): Help me to change my attitude of trusting in Your way and Your will, Father, that falters so often. Help me to build up this attitude of trust in You always, regardless of how the world or those close to me perceive me. If I trust in Your way and Your will fully, Father, then the opinions and thoughts of others should never matter to me.
COMMAND (verses 40:9-11): This is a command that I often struggle with due to a bit of shyness, but also because of the limitations set on me throughout my military career. Help me to be proud, loud, and frequent in praising and glorifying You as You command us here, Father. Help me to be open, honest, and wise in declaring You as my Lord and Savior to others in hopes to expand Your Kingdom, Father.
EXAMPLE (verse 39:8): Help me to follow Hezekiah’s example here, Father. Isaiah gave him some bad news from You that one day Babylon would take everything from his kingdom. He rejoiced in You and said that Your word is good. WOW! Help me with this, Father, so that I glorify and praise You through the good and the bad of this life.
*DAILY NOTE: Consistency in my faith walk has been such a huge struggle for me, Father. I often start doing great and then regress back into my old ways eventually. Help me with consistency in my relationship with You, Father. Remind me to accept Your wisdom and counsel through all things, Father. Convict me in those moments that I start to regress back to my old ways and start to slip up, so that I can refocus my daily efforts on You, Father. Remind me daily that my relationship with You is the most important thing in this life and forever, Father. Thank You for the grace You’ve given to me consistently, Father, even through my inconsistency.
*GENERAL NOTE: I always "sandwich" my quiet time with God in prayer and do it in a location that I will not have any distractions so that I can be focused on my quiet time with God. Do not worry about how short or long your journal entries are for that day's quiet time. Just focus on the actual quiet time and relational conversation with God through the Holy Spirit and His Word. The journaling is an enhancement to your quiet time conversation with God, but also to allow you to reflect on things later as you can look back on your journal entries later when you do the chapters again in the future to see how you have grown. See the FAQ for more detail on how I do my quiet time.
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