#DailyDevotion With rest in Jesus we are saved. In quietness in trust is our strength.

December 14^th

Read Is 30:15–26

Isa 30:15 For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” But you were unwilling,… 18 Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. (19) For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. (20) And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher.

When the Lord sends the Assyrians and the Babylonians against Israel and Judah it is because they have called down the curses they pronounced before the Lord before they entered into the promised land in Deuteronomy. While in blessing, one Israelite would chase down a thousand of their enemies under the curse it is the reverse.

Yet the Lord is merciful, kind and forgiving to those who humble themselves before Him in repentance. Hence in verse fifteen it is returning to the Lord in rest that saved them, quietness and trust is their strength. Such are the qualities of repentance and humility towards the Lord. But they would not and they were destroyed, exiled and the like.

But the Lord calls out to all nations now to be joined with Abraham’s children and become Abraham’s children through the same. We are called to return to the Lord our God Jesus Christ. We are to repent our of sins by admitting our guilt and rest in the work of Christ Jesus on the cross. We are not to exercise ourselves in trying to win our redemption from God but instead in quietness and trust the faith of Jesus Christ shall be our strength for all our strength and works have failed. They can never quiet our consciences and hearts before the Almighty.

The Lord’s people, Christians, though we may cry out in adversity for the day, while we eat the bread of adversity and drink the water of affliction, we are not abandoned. Jesus hears our cries and answers us. His great mercy and kindness has already delivered us from this vale of tears. We only wait to see it with our own eyes. On the day of his, Jesus’ return God shall be gracious to us. It is his exaltation to be merciful to us. We shall be made whole. Our guilt and shame shall we carried away and seen no more. We will dwell in the presence of the Almighty, under his protection and will sin no more. No more shall sickness, disease or death afflict us. No more shall the powers of the air attack us or tempt us. There shall be no more darkness for the Father and the Lamb shall be our light, our Teacher and guide. But now we shall wait patiently with the gifts He has bestowed upon us, His Word and His sacraments, to strengthen, enlighten us and to preserve us.

Lord God, Heavenly Father, ever grant to us your Holy Spirit, that we may return to you through faith in your Son Jesus Christ, and rest in his works, in quietness, receiving strength to endure all things by the works of the cross and the resurrection until such time as you exalt yourself in graciousness and mercy at the time of the revealing of Christ a second time on the day of his coming. In Jesus’ name. Amen.