Monday, October 19, 2026

Opening Scripture

“I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, ‘My images brought them about; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’ You have neither heard nor understood; from of old your ears have not been open. Well do I know how treacherous you are; you were called a rebel from birth. For my own name’s sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you, so as not to destroy you completely. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.” Isaiah 48 (selected)

Opening Prayer

Gracious Heavenly Father, you are holy and exalted! May your kingdom come and your will be done in my life, home, and community just as it is in Heaven. Help me to trust you today to meet all of my needs. Help me to forgive others just as you have forgiven me. Help me to resist temptation and overcome the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Daily Bible Reading

Isaiah 48:17-19

This is what the LORD says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like its numberless grains; their name would never be blotted out nor destroyed from before me.”

Reflection  

We continue our reading today in the Book of Comfort. Chapter 47 is a poem about the destruction of Babylon. The Word of the LORD came to Isaiah to prophecy the fall of Babylon long before it happened to demonstrate God’s sovereignty as He protects the faithful remnant of His people and defends the honor of His Name.

In Chapter 47, mighty Babylon – so haughty and arrogant, so secure and self-sufficient – is pictured as a defiled daughter, a widowed mother, a queen without a throne, sitting in the dust in silence and darkness. Mighty Babylon – so proud of her wisdom and knowledge – watches as her worthless magic, sorcery, and astrology are burned up. “Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away.”

Then, in Chapter 48, the focus shifts to God’s people. “Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the LORD and invoke the God of Israel – but not in truth or righteousness – you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and claim to rely on the God of Israel – the LORD Almighty is his name.”

These verses introduce a key theme of Chapter 48: Listening! God repeatedly rebukes His children for their unwillingness to listen to Him. Generation after generation has ignored the One “who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” God had given them His Law and His prophets, yet they would not listen. He had warned and encouraged them repeatedly, but to no avail. Today’s Opening Scripture and Daily Reading emphasize this point: “If only you had paid attention to my commands.”

The Hebrew word for “listen” or “hear” is “shama.” It moves beyond the physical act of audibly hearing something or detecting sound. Shama includes attentive consideration and responsive obedience. There is a sense of “giving ear” and grasping the message with understanding. “Listen!” involves the moral responsibility to submit and comply with the instruction. To “hear” the word of the LORD means to respond promptly and accordingly. To do otherwise is proof that you did not “hear” what God said.

Though the Israelites were quick to take oaths in the name of the LORD, invoke the God of Israel, and claim to be citizens of the holy city, they were stubborn and stiff-necked, they were treacherous and rebellious from birth. They “rely on the God of Israel, but not in truth or righteousness.” The LORD had to explain future events to the Israelites to prevent them from giving credit to an idol.

Their God-talk was cheap and there was no substance to it. As the LORD said previously, “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught” (Isaiah 29:13).

That is the essence of today’s passage. God always knows what is best and God always wants what is best for His children. God is faithful to communicate His will to His people, yet they must choose to listen to Him, choose to understand His message, and choose to obey. God longs for His people to trust Him and choose wisely, but the choice is ours.

Flourishing Habit

Flourishing Christians

REGRET: to be sorry for or to feel sad or disappointed about, especially related to a bad decision or missed opportunity. Regret can arise from action or inaction. Regret often involves remorse, which includes a sense of guilt and shame.

Regret is that aching sense that you could have or should have done something differently and, if you had, things would have turned out much better.

Regret is a natural by-product of free will. God has given everyone the ability and agency to make countless choices, and those choices all have consequences. After the fact – in hindsight – we often realize “what could have been” and then sadly sit in the painful presence of “if only.” That is regret.

That is the “woe” Almighty God speaks over His rebellious children in today’s passage. “If only you had paid attention to my commands.” The regret among the people should be enormous as they ponder what could have been.

God’s desire was to bless His chosen people – just as He had promised to do – but that blessing was contingent on their faithfulness. The Heavenly Father’s heart was saddened by the waywardness of His children. “Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!” (Deuteronomy 5:29).

King David gave this instruction to Solomon as the throne was passed from father to son, “Be strong, show yourself a man, and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go.”

Unfortunately, Solomon was unfaithful, as were the kings who followed him. God’s people were unfaithful and rebelled against the LORD. The nation was divided and both Israel and Judah were conquered. Instead of death, destruction, and exile, they could have continued to experience God’s peace, prosperity, and blessing, just as He intended.

God had tested His people in “the furnace of affliction” but they had not been purified. As such, the Israelites needed more than freedom from captivity in Babylon. They needed a change of heart and freedom from bondage to sin. Without confession and repentance, they would simply take their rebellion and unfaithfulness to the next location. Moving from one place to another does not change the heart. Different circumstances do not change the person.

Ask God to help you truly LISTEN to what He is saying to you.

This week’s collective prayer: God, deepen my understanding of the Gospel. Amen.

Remember: Nothing changes until something changes!