Isaiah 43:12-21 (NRSV)
Read Isaiah 43:12-21 on biblegateway.com
Verse 12I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses, says the Lord. Verse 13I am God, and also henceforth I am He; there is no one who can deliver from my hand; I work and who can hinder it?
Verse 14Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I will send to Babylon and break down all the bars, and the shouting of the Chaldeans will be turned to lamentation. Verse 15I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. Verse 16Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, Verse 17who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: Verse 18Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. Verse 19I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Verse 20The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, Verse 21the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.
Devotion
“What more could I have done?” Isaiah tells us of the Lord, who has power we cannot fully imagine. Yet this amazingly powerful God, who can make a way through the sea itself, cannot coerce love and respect from Israel. It’s almost as if both God and God’s people stand on a cosmic stage and sing, “Do you love me?” right past each other. God created, protected and redeemed the people, including us. God has provided all that is: water of life in the wilderness and a way home through it. Even so, God’s people neither claim nor witness to that “legacy of grace.” God promises anew that they will be given new life and in that renewal declare God’s praise. What a profound legacy for us.
Prayer
Lord God of power and might, you have formed us to love you. You have called us home through our wilderness. Help us stop wandering and find ourselves on the path of life and praise that you have provided. Amen.