Isaiah 25 (HCSB)
Salvation and Judgment on That Day
1 Yahweh, You are my God; I will exalt You. I will praise Your name, for You have accomplished wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.
2 For You have turned the city into a pile of rocks, a fortified city, into ruins; the fortress of barbarians is no longer a city; it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore, a strong people will honor You. The cities of violent nations will fear You.
4 For You have been a stronghold for the poor, a stronghold for the needy person in his distress, a refuge from the rain, a shade from the heat. When the breath of the violent is like rain against a wall,
5 like heat in a dry land, You subdue the uproar of barbarians. As the shade of a cloud cools the heat of the day, so He silences the song of the violent.
6 The Lord of Hosts will prepare a feast for all the peoples on this mountain—a feast of aged wine, choice meat, finely aged wine.
7 On this mountain He will destroy the burial shroud, the shroud over all the peoples, the sheet covering all the nations;
8 He will destroy death forever. The Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face and remove His people’s disgrace from the whole earth, for the Lord has spoken.
9 On that day it will be said, “Look, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”
10 For the Lord’s power will rest on this mountain.
But Moab will be trampled in his place as straw is trampled in a dung pile.
11 He will spread out his arms in the middle of it, as a swimmer spreads out his arms to swim. His pride will be brought low, along with the trickery of his hands.
12 The high-walled fortress will be brought down, thrown to the ground, to the dust.
Isaiah 26 (HCSB)
The Song of Judah
1 On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city. Salvation is established as walls and ramparts.
2 Open the gates so a righteous nation can come in—one that remains faithful.
3 You will keep the mind that is dependent on You in perfect peace, for it is trusting in You.
4 Trust in the Lord forever, because in Yah, the Lord, is an everlasting rock!
5 For He has humbled those who live in lofty places—an inaccessible city. He brings it down; He brings it down to the ground; He throws it to the dust.
6 Feet trample it, the feet of the humble, the steps of the poor.
God’s People Vindicated
7 The path of the righteous is level; You clear a straight path for the righteous.
8 Yes, Yahweh, we wait for You in the path of Your judgments. Our desire is for Your name and renown.
9 I long for You in the night; yes, my spirit within me diligently seeks You, for when Your judgments are in the land, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
10 But if the wicked man is shown favor, he does not learn righteousness. In a righteous land he acts unjustly and does not see the majesty of the Lord.
11 Lord, Your hand is lifted up to take action, but they do not see it. They will see Your zeal for Your people, and they will be put to shame. The fire for Your adversaries will consume them!
12 Lord, You will establish peace for us, for You have also done all our work for us.
13 Yahweh our God, lords other than You have ruled over us, but we remember Your name alone.
14 The dead do not live; departed spirits do not rise up. Indeed, You have visited and destroyed them; You have wiped out all memory of them.
15 You have added to the nation, Lord. You have added to the nation; You are honored. You have expanded all the borders of the land.
16 Lord, they went to You in their distress; they poured out whispered prayers because Your discipline fell on them.
17 As a pregnant woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pains, so we were before You, Lord.
18 We became pregnant, we writhed in pain; we gave birth to wind. We have won no victories on earth, and the earth’s inhabitants have not fallen.
19 Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For you will be covered with the morning dew, and the earth will bring out the departed spirits.
20 Go, my people, enter your rooms and close your doors behind you. Hide for a little while until the wrath has passed.
21 For look, the Lord is coming from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal the blood shed on it and will no longer conceal her slain.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 26:4): I often neglect to lean on You as my rock and trust You fully, Father. Please forgive me for this. From experience, I know that I am a better person and can handle much more when I trust You completely and lean on You as my rock. Help me to be more consistent with this, Father.
PROMISE (verses 25:8-9): God, You make us a promise here of Your return, at which point death will be removed forever, our disgrace wiped from the earth, and we will rejoice in the salvation You provide! WOW! Thank You SO much, Father, and Amen to the blessings to come!
ATTITUDE (verse 26:3): Father, I often struggle to remain in a peaceful attitude because I often stray from Your ways. Please forgive me for this. Help me to change my trusting attitude to always be focused on You, Lord, so that I will live in the attitude of perfect peace that only You can provide.
COMMAND (verse 26:4): You give us a command here that I far too often have failed at, Father. You command us to trust in You forever. Help me to live out this command so that I may grow to fully understand and trust Your will.
EXAMPLE (verse 25:9): Through all the turmoil, destruction, and heartache, Your people recognize Your actions and Your will. They rejoice and praise You through it all. Help me to follow this example so that I may always praise and rejoice in Your name through all things, Father.
*DAILY NOTE: Why do I have trust issues so much in my life not only with the people of this world, but also in trusting You and Your will for me, Father? It seems that I always default back to my own strength and my own ways when I get worried or see that something difficult is incoming. Help me to change this default, Father. Help me to trust You in ALL things and not default to trusting only myself. Help me to lean on You more, Father, so that it becomes a habit and my "go to" default no matter what is going on around me.
*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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