Isaiah 52:12
The Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. Isaiah 52:12
Israel was in a miserable state in a country far off from the temple in Jerusalem, far from salvation, far from their God. They yearned for their home land; they yearned to be close again with the Lord.
How to draw nearer to God, how to get into feeling at one with him – when we feel far from him, when the Lord seems to be distant from us?
Israel was in a miserable state in a country far off from the temple in Jerusalem, far from salvation, far from their God. They yearned for their home land; they yearned to be close again with the Lord.
How to draw nearer to God, how to get into feeling at one with him – when we feel far from him, when the Lord seems to be distant from us?
The messengers on the mountains had brought good news and glad tidings of good things (Isaiah 52:7): The Lord would bring back Zion to its former glory, restore Jerusalem.
We do not have to remain far from the Lord, we are called: Come to me you who labour and are heavy laden (Matthew 11:28). For tomorrow, on Maundy Thursday, we will be called to commune with our God – Holy Communion. Come, ye sinners, poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore (Hymnbook 168,1)
The Israelites in Babylon now had to set off starting the tough, toilsome and tiring way through the desert.
We too have to get ready for meeting our Lord (tomorrow at Holy Communion). It might be challenging. We have to go into our souls, facing what we might not want to see. We need to clear anything that might be between us and the Lord so that we become clean.
For their Way through the vast and wild land God gave the assurance to Israel that they would be safe. He Himself would guide them and protect them: The Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard (Isaiah 52:12).
For our Way through the inner thicket of guilt and shame, the Lord will go with us too, opening our eyes that we may see, and whispering into our ears words of forgiveness.
Prayer:
I confess to you, O God, that I have sinned in thought, word, and deed, through my own fault; wherefore I pray you to have mercy upon me. O Lord, forgive me all my sin, and deliver me from evil; confirm in me all goodness; and bring me to life everlasting, through Jesus Christ. Amen.
(Litany: The LordÂ’s Supper)
We do not have to remain far from the Lord, we are called: Come to me you who labour and are heavy laden (Matthew 11:28). For tomorrow, on Maundy Thursday, we will be called to commune with our God – Holy Communion. Come, ye sinners, poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore (Hymnbook 168,1)
The Israelites in Babylon now had to set off starting the tough, toilsome and tiring way through the desert.
We too have to get ready for meeting our Lord (tomorrow at Holy Communion). It might be challenging. We have to go into our souls, facing what we might not want to see. We need to clear anything that might be between us and the Lord so that we become clean.
For their Way through the vast and wild land God gave the assurance to Israel that they would be safe. He Himself would guide them and protect them: The Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard (Isaiah 52:12).
For our Way through the inner thicket of guilt and shame, the Lord will go with us too, opening our eyes that we may see, and whispering into our ears words of forgiveness.
Prayer:
I confess to you, O God, that I have sinned in thought, word, and deed, through my own fault; wherefore I pray you to have mercy upon me. O Lord, forgive me all my sin, and deliver me from evil; confirm in me all goodness; and bring me to life everlasting, through Jesus Christ. Amen.
(Litany: The LordÂ’s Supper)
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