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
God’s word wields power. God spoke the cosmos into being. God’s covenant sustained the ancient Israelites in the wilderness. God’s word became flesh and dwelt among us. God’s word sustains the weary. As Christians, we have a profound duty to declare God’s promises of hope and new life to the world. On some days, the path to deliver our message is clear; on other days we feel blocked by those who surround us with insult and spitting. On all days, God is with us, training our tongues, waking our ears, standing with us. We remember the words of St. Patrick: “Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.”
Prayer
Oh God, you have suffered for us, with us, and because of us. Give me the strength to proclaim your word to the weary world. Amen.
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