DCLM Daily Manna 22 September 2026: Does Jesus Care?
KEY VERSE: “I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day…” (Isaiah 27:3).
TEXT: Isaiah 27:1-13
In that day the Lord with His severe sword, great and strong,
Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
Leviathan that twisted serpent;
And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.
2 In that day sing to her,
“A vineyard of red wine!
3 I, the Lord, keep it,
I water it every moment;
Lest any hurt it,
I keep it night and day.
4 Fury is not in Me.
Who would set briers and thorns
Against Me in battle?
I would go through them,
I would burn them together.
5 Or let him take hold of My strength,
That he may make peace with Me;
And he shall make peace with Me.”
6 Those who come He shall cause to take root in Jacob;
Israel shall blossom and bud,
And fill the face of the world with fruit.
7 Has He struck Israel as He struck those who struck him?
Or has He been slain according to the slaughter of those who were slain by Him?
8 In measure, by sending it away,
You contended with it.
He removes it by His rough wind
In the day of the east wind.
9 Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be covered;
And this is all the fruit of taking away his sin:
When he makes all the stones of the altar
Like chalkstones that are beaten to dust,
Wooden images and incense altars shall not stand.
10 Yet the fortified city will be desolate,
The habitation forsaken and left like a wilderness;
There the calf will feed, and there it will lie down
And consume its branches.
11 When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off;
The women come and set them on fire.
For it is a people of no understanding;
Therefore He who made them will not have mercy on them,
And He who formed them will show them no favor.
12 And it shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord will thresh,
From the channel of the River to the Brook of Egypt;
And you will be gathered one by one,
O you children of Israel.
13 So it shall be in that day:
The great trumpet will be blown;
They will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria,
And they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt,
And shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
READ OTHER DCLM DAILY DEVOTIONAL HERE
The hymn that shares the same title as today’s topic was written by a Christian who may be rightly considered a graduate from the school of grief. The writer, Frank E. Graeff, a Methodist minister, experienced significant loss, including the death of his parents and three of his siblings. Consequently, he struggled with grief and doubt. He found solace as he turned to God’s word and realised that God is touched with our grief.
In today’s text, the Lord undertakes to keep, care for and defend His chosen ones. First, He assures that He will punish Leviathan, the piercing and crooked serpent that had terrorised them. And having the great threat out of the way, God’s people would dwell peacefully, secured in His caring arms, night and day. Then the vineyard of God would be engulfed in a responsive song of victory.
The precious promise captured in our key verse, which primarily pertains to Israel, also applies to the church of God. Today, the church is God’s favoured vineyard. She needs not seek the fence of thorns (the energy of the flesh), for the all-powerful Jehovah, her protector, has guaranteed her defence and fruitfulness at all seasons. Neither can she survive without His grace. It, however, takes obedient submission and faith for us to continue to enjoy this blessed peace with God. When He chastises His own, it is not for their destruction but for their good. Ultimate deliverance will, however, come when the rapturous trumpet shall sound and the Lord will draw out His people from all corners of the world unto Himself. Then shall the church of Christ finally rest from the accuser of the brethren and his human cohorts.
If you are part of God’s vineyard, be content to know that the Almighty God is your protector, preserver and provider. He will take care of you in every situation—in the night of affliction as well as in the day of abundance. Only walk humbly and be at peace with Him. If you are yet outside the umbrella of this divine providence, you need to turn to the Lord by repenting of your sins, placing your faith in Christ Jesus and taking Him as your personal Lord and Saviour.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
God loves us more than we can ever love Him.
The Bible in One Year: Numbers 35–36.
DCLM Daily Manna 22 September 2026
