"When you hid your face, I was dismayed.”

Isaiah 57:16-21

Many followers of Christ spend time in the Bible, this writer has chosen to read a Psalm and the Proverb of the day most mornings, and that is a good thing.  But this writer does not always apply the morning reading to his life, and there is the missing cog in the wheel.  King David wrote this song for the dedication of the Temple in Psalm 30, it is titled “Joy Comes in the Morning.” It is clear to even the most casual reader that David got off the path of righteousness a few times, he was a lot like you and I, with this exception I fear, when confronted by God David always agreed with God, we call that confession; David’s heart was tender to God’s ways.

Isaiah was speaking from his own personality but telling the people what he was hearing from God; he is telling them how God must deal with a sinful people, a people who are called by His name.  He is sharing that judgment has come because of sin, and yet God who loves them has a limit to His anger and wrath and will not totally destroy them.  Now they were not like king David, they did not agree with the message God had sent by Isaiah and they kept on sinning.

Take a moment and ponder on Psalm 30 verses 6-7, “When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.”   Lord, when you favored me, you made my royal mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.”  What just happened to David can happen to anyone, Christian or non-Christian, it can happen to a person, a family, a nation, and to a church.  David took inventory of his stuff, he had a lot of stuff, and he moved from trusting in God, to trusting in stuff, good stuff, but just stuff.  David goes on to explain that it was God who favored him, but David like so many of us moved from faith in a big God to faith in stuff.  Now David was wiser than many of us, and was much wiser than the people of Isaiah’s time, for God had stopped all conversation with David, and David’s word should be our words, “but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.” 

Isaiah tells us they did not turn back to God, and yet God in His grace still promises to heal them.  We the forgiven, we who God has extended His grace to should hold fast to these words from king David; “Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name.   For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”

Do not think in your heart that God is going to give the wicked a pass, for verses 20-21 tell us, “But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt.  There is no peace, says my God, “for the wicked.”  I believe it is a foolish person who tries to draw the line between those to whom God grants His grace and the wicked, but if you have no hunger for the things of God it is time to search your heart and do as king David in Psalm 30.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice