“Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him” (v. 18).
This passage is like the sun shining after a raging storm. The Lord promises to show grace to His people, to those who turn from their sin and exalt His name amid trial. This is a great comfort to us as we face difficulties in the days in which we live. It is impossible for any discerning person to read the past few passages of Isaiah that we’ve studied without remarking on how similar our nation is to the nations of that day. We live in a time when people are blind to the truth, when they prefer to honor perverse men instead of righteous men. They find greater comfort in the smooth, deceitful promises of corrupt politicians than in the truth proclaimed by Christians. They don’t want to think about God, and they certainly don’t want to submit to His laws. They accuse Christians of being the enemy instead of realizing that the liars they have placed as leaders are the true enemy. These are the disturbing and tumultuous days in which we live, and we can’t help but wonder what kind of judgment God is going to bring on such a rebellious and corrupt generation. He has done it to prideful, godless nations in the past, and there is little reason to believe that our nation will be any different.
The Lord has promised to bind up our wounds and heal our bruises. We will give Him the glory for His redemption in Christ. So let us not fear, but trust in Him, repent of our sins, and exalt His name in the midst of troubled times.
Are you anxious about what God is going to do to your nation and how He is going to discipline His people? Are you alarmed by circumstances around you that seem to be swirling out of control? Trust in the Lord and decide to act as if you are trusting Him. Memorize one of the verses below.