Sunday Scripture

Delightful graphic by Abby at Little Birdie Blessings

 
It's time for another Sunday Scripture!  This is part of an ongoing series on my simple study of Rachel Wojo's Everything Beautiful.  You can read about the plan here if you are interested in it for yourself: Everything Beautiful Bible reading plan. My answers and input on this series are a combination of what I learned back in 2018, and what I found in looking over the Scriptures now, six years later.  I'm attempting to SOAP the passages too, though some of them are longer. [Quick reminder that S stands for Scripture; O stands for observation; A stands for application, and P stands for prayer.]  Today's study is from Isaiah 25:1-9.  

S= "O LORD, Thou art my God; I will exalt Thee, I will praise Thy name; for Thou hast done wonderful things; Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
"For Thou hast made of a city an heap; of a fortified city a ruin; a palace of foreigners to be no city; it shall never be built.
"Therefore shall the strong people glorify Thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear Thee.
"For Thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress; a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is like a storm against the wall."
"Thou shalt bring down the noise of aliens as the heat in a dry place, even the heat with the shadow of a cloud; the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.
"And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
"And He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations.
"He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from all the earth; for the LORD hath spoken it.
"And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is the LORD; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation."  (Isaiah 25:1-9)

O= Isaiah chapter 25 is titled by Scofield, "Triumphs of the Kingdom age."  Believer's Bible Commentary titles this chapter "Israel's Song of Praise for Kingdom Blessings."

This commentary explains, "Here [along with chapters 26-27] the restored Jewish remnant praises the LORD for its deliverance through the Great Tribulation.  Enemy cities (not necessarily any particular city) have been pulverized, causing Gentiles to acknowledge Jehovah's power.  God has been to His people all that they needed."

Warren Wiersbe notes, "The 'city' (verse 2) ultimately refers to Babylon, but it applies to anything man makes and uses to defy God.  It does not take God long to wipe out a nation or destroy a city."

Cross-reference for "glorify Thee" (v.3) -- "Wherefore, glorify the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the coastlands of the sea."  (Isaiah 24:15) 

Notes for "on the lees"  (v. 6)-- "Lees = "fermenting and aging."

"Lees are the dregs composing the sediment at the bottom of a container of wine". -- Scofield

"On Mount Zion the Lord spreads a feast of the finest spiritual delights." -- Believer's Bible Commentary

Cross-reference for "covering cast over all people" (v.7) -- "But their minds were blinded; for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament, which veil is done away in Christ.
"But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart.
"Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be done away."  (2 Corinthians 3:14-16)

"[The Lord] removes the covering of ignorance, the veil of satanic blindness that has shrouded all nations." -- Believer's Bible Commentary

Cross-references for "swallow up death in victory" (v.8) -- "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death.  O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction; repentance shall be hidden from mine eyes."  (Hosea 13:14)

"So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."  (1 Corinthians 15:54)

"And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.  This is the second death."  (Revelation 20:14)

Cross-references for "wipe away tears from all faces" (v.8) -- "For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them into living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."  (Revelation 7:17)

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away."  (Revelation 21:4)

Cross-references for "we have waited for Him" (v.9) -- "I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord."  (Genesis 49:18)

"And I will wait upon the LORD, who hideth His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him."  ((Isaiah 8:17)

"Yea, in the way of Thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for Thee; the desire of our soul is to Thy name; and to the remembrance of Thee."  (Isaiah 26:8)

"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ."  (Titus 2:13)

A= For this Scripture, there were also a number of ways to apply it as prompted in the journal.  

"God is my shelter from the storm." -- Rachel Wojo

This thought of course echoes verse 3, where the prophet notes that God has been "a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress; a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat."

 
Rachel also shares a "focus word" in each of the devotional pages.  For this lesson the focus word is "stronghold". 

Warren Wiersbe  says, "Tribulation is like a storm, but He is the Refuge; it is like desert heat, but He is the Cloud that blots out the hot rays.  God silences the noise of the enemy and brings peace."

 
I like that picture!  He has been my Refuge in the storm often, but I had not really thought of tribulation and trouble as being like desert heat.  I have been in desert heat, and found it nearly unbearable.  I love thinking of God as the Cloud that blocks out the hot rays.

Willow Beach, Arizona.  Sounds cool and refreshing, but was 117º and barely tolerable.

The Colorado River was our option for cooling off.  Huge rocks on the bottom and not particularly clean.  However.  It was God's provision and we all took advantage of it.  I think excessive heat is actually a great metaphor for trouble.

The question was asked: What season or circumstance in life challenges me to see God's gifts of beauty ?

My response in 2018: Mud season always challenges me to see God's gifts of beauty.  It's so ugly!  But God's beauty is always there.

Answering this same question in 2024:  Any ugly season of life, especially family or church difficulties.  And then I added these thoughts about mud season; In mud season, we see God's order and regularity.  It always comes.  We also see God transforming this ugliness into beauty.

This prompt was given, along with a list: Today I will keep my eyes open for God's beauty in one or more of these places.

These are the places I circled: The words I read; the places I go; the music I hear; the people I encounter; the food I eat;  the air I breathe; the weather I experience; the rest I receive.

In 2024 I can note that for the music I hear,  I had the most amazing blessing on Saturday night.  I was standing in the kitchen of our little camp, brushing my teeth at the kitchen sink.  All of the windows were open.  Suddenly I became aware of piano music wafting through the night air.  It was coming from our daughter's house next door, as she practiced music for Sunday morning.  Just the most beautiful sound, and it came through clearly enough  for me to identify the songs she was playing.  

For the words I read, I mentioned that Isaiah 25 contains several verses that are incredibly beautiful and meaningful.

For the food I eat, and the people I encounter, I noted that our longtime friends Mark and Dianna visited church on Sunday and treated us to an amazing lunch.  The fellowship was even better than the food.

For the places I go, I mentioned a tram trip up Cannon Mountain.  Being in the mountains always brings perspective.

For the air I breathe, I mentioned the fresh mountain air, scented with balsam fir.

A journaling prompt was this:  List one or more ideas to remind myself to intentionally look for God's beauty throughout the day.

My response in 2018: Bask in any sunshine that is available.  Enjoy the blessing of having piano accompaniment to singing at church.  [At that time we had no pastor, and no regular pianist.]  Notice the fresh effect of an unexpected skim of snow overnight.

For my response in 2024, I added: Notice the varied songs of birds and make a point of trying to identify them.  Try and identify the tree frogs and insects we hear at night.

P= "Lord,  You know that ugly seasons of all sorts challenge me to see Your gifts of beauty.  Help me to remember that Your beauty is always there.  I just need to look beyond the circumstances.  I praise You that You have done wonderful things, and that your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.  You are still working in the same ways, regardless of how ugly things may look.  I thank and praise You for all of this, in Jesus' name, Amen."

 And there is this week's Sunday Scripture!  I pray it's a blessing to someone.