Isaiah 53 (HCSB)
1 Who has believed what we have heard? And who has the arm of the Lord been revealed to?
2 He grew up before Him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at Him, no appearance that we should desire Him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; He was despised, and we didn’t value Him.
4 Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains; but we in turn regarded Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds.
6 We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, He did not open His mouth.
8 He was taken away because of oppression and judgment; and who considered His fate? For He was cut off from the land of the living; He was struck because of my people’s rebellion.
9 They made His grave with the wicked and with a rich man at His death, although He had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully.
10 Yet the Lord was pleased to crush Him severely. When You make Him a restitution offering, He will see His seed, He will prolong His days, and by His hand, the Lord’s pleasure will be accomplished.
11 He will see it out of His anguish, and He will be satisfied with His knowledge. My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will carry their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give Him the many as a portion, and He will receive the mighty as spoil, because He submitted Himself to death, and was counted among the rebels; yet He bore the sin of many and interceded for the rebels.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 6): For most of my faith walk over the last 9 years, I have not been faithful to You, Father. I have gone astray many times and turned to my own ways. Please forgive me of this inconsistency, Father. Forgive me of going astray so often. Help me to stay on the path You have made for me, so that I will no longer go astray; so that I will no longer do things my own way in this life, Father.
PROMISE (verses 4-5): You give us such a powerful promise here, Father. Foretelling the sacrifice of Jesus for us. You promise us that He will carry our sickness, pain, and transgressions away. That He will be the ultimate sacrificial lamb for us all. This was such a huge burden for Him to carry. I thank You and praise You for making this sacrifice for us.
ATTITUDE (verse 7): Help me to change my prideful attitude of having to say something back at people and/or defending myself always, Father. Like You say in this Scripture, Jesus was oppressed, afflicted, tortured, and sacrificed, yet “He did not open His mouth.” Help me to lean on You, Father, in times that I struggle with this so that I may have a more humble attitude towards others when I do speak. Help me to listen more and speak FAR less.
COMMAND (verse 1): You offer us a simple question to start this Scripture that I feel is also a command. You simply ask us “who has believed what we have heard?” I take this as You are telling us to believe in the words You are speaking to us through Your truth and Your word. Help me to never stray again, Father, so that I may always embrace, internalize, and believe the Truth You speak to me.
EXAMPLE (verses 2-9): Jesus is such an amazing example for us to follow. You tell us He was born normal, without any “impressive” features that would stand Him out from others. Being “normal” He still bore it all as a sacrifice for this world of sin. Even through all of the pain and affliction He endured for us, He never did any unrighteous violence and never spoke deceitfully. Help me to truly understand this example You provide, Father, so that I may never speak deceitfully again and so I may never default to violence or anger again. Thank You for this sacrifice.
*DAILY NOTE: Why do I struggle so much with faithfulness and consistency, Father? Why do I continue to fail by making the same mistakes over and over again? Remind me, Father, when I fail at consistency in my faith journey to get back on the path You’ve developed for me. Continue to work in me, Father, to build up resiliency and habits in me to give me the consistency in my life and faith journey I need to be always faithful and to live a righteous life based on Jesus’ example in this Scripture. Thank You for such a powerful and perfect example for me to live my life based on, Father.
*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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