Isaiah 50:4-9a (NRSV)
Read Isaiah 50:4-9a on biblegateway.com
Verse 4The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens- wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. Verse 5The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. Verse 6I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. Verse 7The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; Verse 8he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. Verse 9It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty? All of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.
Devotion
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God has given us the ability to listen with our hearts, even when our ears may not hear so clearly. The voice of Jesus, speaking to our hearts through the indwelling Holy Spirit, is the voice of a teacher leading us on the path of humility and reassuring us as we prepare for Holy Week. Even as we know this path leads toward death, we can walk it without turning back and without hiding. Whatever God is calling us to do right now, God is here, empowering us to do it. Christ speaks to us with a word to sustain us in our weariness, to let us know that God is with us.
Prayer
Oh God, great Three-in-One, morning by morning, waken the ears of my heart to hear you. In Jesus' name. Amen.