Isaiah 44:6-8 (NRSV)
Read Isaiah 44:6-8 on biblegateway.com
Verse 6Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Verse 7Who is like me? Let them proclaim it, let them declare and set it forth before me. Who has announced from of old the things to come? Let them tell us what is yet to be. Verse 8Do not fear, or be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? You are my witnesses! Is there any god besides me? There is no other rock; I know not one.
Devotion
“Trust the rock, Bri!” became my dad’s clarion call in the summer of 1980. The shoreline of our little lake cabin was being eaten away by record rainfalls and high winds. Every day, dad ordered us kids to throw rocks from the lake against the shore to protect this precious soil. Dear old dad was right. The rock saved the shoreline that summer of 1980. “Rock” is a divine metaphor often seen in scripture to symbolize stability, safety, and security. In this week’s Old Testament lesson from Isaiah, there is only one such stable, safe, and secure Rock that we can trust in this life. We live in a world that has many things demanding our worship and devotion. And yet, the LORD directs our attention away from these empty things to trust the true Rock of Ages. Heeding that, we have no reason to “fear, or be afraid.”
Prayer
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee. Amen.