Week 37, September 8–14: Isaiah 19–37

• Sun      9/8       Isa 19–21
• Mon     9/9       Isa 22–23
• Tue      9/10     Isa 24–26
• Wed     9/11     Isa 27–29
• Thu      9/12     Isa 30–32
• Fri        9/13     Isa 33–35
• Sat       9/14     Isa 36–37

Isaiah is a long book, and it can be daunting to read. Maybe this would be a good time to remind us that reading God’s word is a discipline worth cultivating. Reading each day is not something we are doing just out of a sense of duty, to check a box or to fulfill an obligation or earn favor with others or with God. We are making a wise investment of time and prayerful effort to build the habit of spending time in Scripture to hear what God has said through the prophets, apostles, and others biblical writers. We can trust what the Lord has said about the value of this spiritual discipline, and over time that value will become increasingly clear as our thoughts, affections, and behavior are shaped by the worldview of the Bible, by a view of the world that aligns with how things really are, how God made them.

The beauty of God’s word is that it is rooted in real history, and it communicates truth that transcends history, eliciting responses from faithful readers throughout history. God’s word was relevant in the time of the original audience, and it continues to speak powerfully and effectively to readers in every era after that.

In this week’s reading we read this: “For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, ‘In returning [or repenting] and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.’” (Isa 30:15) This is what Isaiah said to the rebellious people of Israel, pleading with them not to turn to Egypt for their protection from their enemies but to seek the Lord and trust him instead for their salvation and strength. This plea was directly meaningful to those who heard it in Isaiah’s time, even though they would ignore it and turn to Egypt for help instead of to God.

The generations of Israelites and Judahites that came after them could also read what God said through Isaiah. This would serve as a reminder and encouragement to them to turn from the rebellious ways of those who came before them and be renewed in their faith in the God who calls his people to repent and trust him.

And today, we can be encouraged in the same way too. We are not facing threats of Assyrian invasion, but God’s people have always had enemies, and the greatest threat we all face is the threat of sin, our own and the evil that has wreaked havoc on our lives and continues to wreck the world around us. The God who called Israel to turn to him in faith calls us to do the same. For he “waits to be gracious to you and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” (30:18).

Through the habit of daily Bible reading, we meditate on these ancient words that spoke to God’s people then and speak just as powerfully to us today. And as we do we come to know God more deeply; our hearts become more fully convinced of his trustworthy, merciful, kind, and mighty character; and we respond with thanksgiving and lives that are increasingly shaped by behavior that is fulfilling for us and honoring to him.