40.5 It Is Right To Keep Our Promises

(Psalm 65)

O God, it is right for us to praise you in Zion
and keep our promises to you,
because you answer prayers.
People everywhere will come to you
on account of their sins.
Our faults defeat us, but you forgive them.
Happy are those whom you choose,
whom you bring to live in your sanctuary.
We shall be satisfied with the good things
of your house,
the blessings of your sacred Temple.

You answer us by giving us victory,
and you do wonderful things to save us.
People all over the world
and across the distant seas trust in you.
You set the mountains in place by your strength,
showing your mighty power.
You calm the roar of the seas and the noise of the waves;
you calm the uproar of the peoples.
The whole world stands in awe
of the great things that you have done.
Your deeds bring shouts of joy
from one end of the earth to the other.

You show your care for the land by sending rain;
you make it rich and fertile.
You fill the streams with water;
you provide the earth with crops.
This is how you do it:
you send abundant rain on the plowed fields
and soak them with water;
you soften the soil with showers
and cause the young plants to grow.
What a rich harvest your goodness provides!
Wherever you go there is plenty.
The pastures are filled with flocks;
the hillsides are full of joy.
The fields are covered with sheep;
the valleys are full of wheat.
Everything shouts and sings for joy.

40.4 God Rewards The Faithful, He Is The Way

(Isaiah 30:12-21)

But this is what the holy God of Israel says: “You ignore what I tell you and rely on violence and deceit. You are guilty. You are like a high wall with a crack running down it; suddenly you will collapse. You will be shattered like a clay pot, so badly broken that there is no piece big enough to pick up hot coals with or to dip water from a cistern.”

The Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says to the people, “Come back and quietly trust in me. Then you will be strong and secure.“ But you refuse to do it. Instead, you plan to escape from your enemies by riding fast horses. And you are right- escape is what you will have to do! You think your horses are fast enough, but those who pursue you will be faster! A thousand of you will run away when you see one enemy soldier, and five soldiers will be enough to make you all run away. Nothing will be left of your army except a lonely flagpole on the top of a hill. And yet the Lord is waiting to be merciful to you. He is ready to take pity on you because he always does what is right. Happy are those who put their trust in the Lord.

You people who live in Jerusalem will not weep any more. The Lord is compassionate, and when you cry to him for help, he will answer you. The Lord will make you go through hard times, but he himself will be there to teach you, and you will not have to search for him any more. If you wander off the road to the right or the left, you will hear his voice behind you saying, “Here is the road. Follow it.”

40.3 Lip Service

(Isaiah 29:13-14)

The Lord said, “These people claim to worship me, but their words are meaningless, and their hearts are somewhere else. Their religion is nothing but human rules and traditions, which they have simply memorized. So I will startle them with one unexpected blow after another. Those who are wise will turn out to be fools, and all their cleverness will be useless.

40.2 Punishment For Infidelity

(Deuteronomy 29:21-28)

The Lord will make an example of him before all the tribes of Israel and will bring disaster on him in accordance with all the curses listed in the covenant that is written in this book of the Lord’s teachings.

“In future generations your descendant and foreigners from distant lands will see the disasters and sufferings that the Lord has brought on your land. The fields will be a barren waste, covered with sulfur and salt; nothing will be planted, and not even weeds will grow there. Your land will be like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed when he was furiously angry. Then the whole world will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do this to their land? What was the reason for his fierce anger?’ And the answer will be, ‘It is because the Lord’s people broke the covenant they had made with him, the God of their ancestors, when he brought them out of Egypt. They served other gods that they had never worshiped before, gods that the Lord had forbidden them to worship. And so the Lord became angry with his people and brought on their land all the disasters written in this book. The Lord became furiously angry, and in his great anger he uprooted them from their land and threw them into a foreign land, and there they are today.”

40.1 Idolatry Is an Infidelity To God

(Deuteronomy 29:15-18a)

He is making it with all of us who stand here in his presence today and also with our descendants who are not yet born.

“You remember what life was like in Egypt and what it was like to travel through the territory of our nations. You saw their disgusting idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold. Make sure that no man, woman, family, or tribe standing here today turns from the Lord our God to worship the gods of other nations.