Tuesday, July 6, 2021

Day 10 - Intense Treatment - Strong God encourages the weary

 Strong God,

To whom can we compare our God?  Who is your equal?  You created the heavens, the starry host, and call for the each of them by name.  Because of your great power and mighty strength, no one is missing. Only you have measured waters, marked off heavens, held dust of earth, weighted mountains on scales, and weighed hills in a balance.  Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord or instruct the Lord as his counselor?  You need not consult anyone for enlightenment or to learn the right way.  No one has taught you knowledge or understanding.  

Do we not know?  Have we not heard?  Since the beginning of the earth's creation You have sat enthroned above the circle of the earth.  You stretched the heavens like a canopy - like a tent to live in.  We - the nations - are like a drop in the bucket, dust on scales, nothing - regarded by you as worthless and less than nothing.  With whom will we compare our God?  With an idol? You reduce rulers of this world to nothing.  No sooner are they established before your wind blows on them, they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

You, our Lord, are the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  You do not grow tired or weary.  No one can fathom your understanding.  You give strength to the weary and increase the power of the weak. Even the young will grow tired and weary, will stumble and fall.  But those who hope in our Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles, run and not grow weary, walk and not be faint.

We who bring good news, must go up on a high mountain and lift up our voices with a shout.  We must not be afraid!  We say to the people, "Here is your God!  The Sovereign Lord comes with power and rules with a mighty arm.  His reward is with him and he compensates us for our loss.  He tends his flock like a shepherd, gathering his lambs in his arms and carrying them close to his heart.  He gently leads those who have young."

Your voice reassures us: "All people are like grass. Their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.  The grass withers and the flowers fade because the breath of the Lord blows on them. The people are like grass which withers (weakens) and flowers that fall.  BUT the Word of the Lord our God endures (is strong!) forever. Be comforted, my children.  This hard, messy, confusing, frustrating time is complete.  The sin is paid for.  In your wilderness, prepare a way for the Lord.  Make straighten the desert a highway for our God.  Every valley will be raised up.  Every mountain and hill made low.  The rough ground will become level.  The rough places will be a plain.  The glory of GOD will be revealed.  And all the people will see it together.  I, the Lord, have spoken!"  Amen and Amen!

 

1Comfort, comfort my people,

    says your God.

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

    and proclaim to her

that her hard service has been completed,

    that her sin has been paid for,

that she has received from the Lord’s hand

    double for all her sins.

A voice of one calling:

“In the wilderness prepare

    the way for the Lord[a];

make straight in the desert

    a highway for our God.[b]

Every valley shall be raised up,

    every mountain and hill made low;

the rough ground shall become level,

    the rugged places a plain.

And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,

    and all people will see it together.

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

A voice says, “Cry out.”

    And I said, “What shall I cry?”

“All people are like grass,

    and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.

The grass withers and the flowers fall,

    because the breath of the Lord blows on them.

    Surely the people are grass.

The grass withers and the flowers fall,

    but the word of our God endures forever.”

You who bring good news to Zion,

    go up on a high mountain.

You who bring good news to Jerusalem,[c]

    lift up your voice with a shout,

lift it up, do not be afraid;

    say to the towns of Judah,

    “Here is your God!”

10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,

    and he rules with a mighty arm.

See, his reward is with him,

    and his recompense accompanies him.

11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:

    He gathers the lambs in his arms

and carries them close to his heart;

    he gently leads those that have young.

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,

    or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?

Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,

    or weighed the mountains on the scales

    and the hills in a balance?

13 Who can fathom the Spirit[d] of the Lord,

    or instruct the Lord as his counselor?

14 Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,

    and who taught him the right way?

Who was it that taught him knowledge,

    or showed him the path of understanding?

15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;

    they are regarded as dust on the scales;

    he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.

16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,

    nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.

17 Before him all the nations are as nothing;

    they are regarded by him as worthless

    and less than nothing.

18 With whom, then, will you compare God?

    To what image will you liken him?

19 As for an idol, a metalworker casts it,

    and a goldsmith overlays it with gold

    and fashions silver chains for it.

20 A person too poor to present such an offering

    selects wood that will not rot;

they look for a skilled worker

    to set up an idol that will not topple.

21 Do you not know?

    Have you not heard?

Has it not been told you from the beginning?

    Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,

    and its people are like grasshoppers.

He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,

    and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

23 He brings princes to naught

    and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.

24 No sooner are they planted,

    no sooner are they sown,

    no sooner do they take root in the ground,

than he blows on them and they wither,

    and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

25 “To whom will you compare me?

    Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:

    Who created all these?

He who brings out the starry host one by one

    and calls forth each of them by name.

Because of his great power and mighty strength,

    not one of them is missing.

27 Why do you complain, Jacob?

    Why do you say, Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord;

    my cause is disregarded by my God”?

28 Do you not know?

    Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

    the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

    and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary

    and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,

    and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the Lord

    will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

    they will run and not grow weary,

    they will walk and not be faint.  (Isaiah 40 NIV)



Idea from:  https://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word_pf.html?ID=25704 


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