ESOCS Devotional 26 November 2023 – God, Our Refuge and Present Help
MEMORY VERSE: “Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.” Isaiah 30:11 KJV
TEXT: ISAIAH 30:8-21 (KJV)
Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord:
10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.
15 For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
16 But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
17 One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.
18 And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:
21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
When Judah refused to be directed by God, they sought to devise their own means of deliverance. They had long forsaken their trust in God to deliver them as in the days of the Judges. They refused to hear from the prophets and wanted only the messages that appealed to them. So, some of them sought refuge, and trusted in foreign alliance, e.g., with Egypt, they even relocated and settled there. They were rebellious and refused to take warnings from Isaiah. However, God warned Judah that turning to Egypt and other nations for military might would not save them, it would break down.
We have so much to learn from here. First, often, the truth makes us uncomfortable. We prefer lies and illusions- we feel more secured in that. But only the truth will save us (John 8:32). Also, only God can save, He is our help in trouble (Psalm 46: 1), but vain is the help of man (Psalm 60:11). Another lesson is that magical or mystical power and occultism will can never give satisfaction- the satisfaction they give is temporal and comes with basket of repercussions.
It is much better to face reality than to live a lie. Being comfortable with something that is ephemeral is disastrous. Salvation comes from God alone (Acts 4:12).
God is our ONLY Refuge and our Present Help at all times. Be wise now!
FURTHER READING: Psalm 20:7-8; Isaiah 30:1-17
ESOCS Devotional 26 November 2023
