The situation described in these verses in Isaiah 56-57 could well be that of the reign of the evil Manasseh, king of Judah. Isaiah sees the ‘spiritual stock’ of the nation of Judah plummeting into a great depression, but no one seems to care. Idolatry and injustice are rampant, but no one seems concerned. God’s grief is not being recognised or shared by his people. But there were those who would allow the grief of God to break through into their own hearts. These would therefore also be the people who would experience the joy of his salvation. It is a great injustice that we should ever seek to be happy when God’s grief over us remains unconsoled. If God is grieved over something in your life, then that is the most urgent reality that faces you. Our reticence to face the harsher realities of life accounts for why we often feel so removed from the truth of God. God wants you to know him, but to know him is also to face certain realities about yourself. Because we resist this, we therefore resist knowing God. The experience of contrition that comes upon us when we face our sin is not a negative thing. On the contrary it is a liberating experience and one that we should seek to live in. That God should so want us to share his concern is an expression of his love for us and when we receive this concern in our hearts, we receive his love. Always seek to stay in touch with how God sees you.
Ask God to reveal his concerns to you.
Read Isaiah 56:9-57:21.
