Isaiah 58-66 - Outline

[Jim Watt]

“*TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE” MINISTRIES*

*Jim & Marie Watt*

*Tel: 253-517-9195 - Email: jmbetter at gmail.com*

*Web: www.2rbetter.org*

December 13, 2012


 *JUL 23 - ISAIAH 58-66 - THE CHALLENGE OF JEHOVAH*


 *1. 59:1-2 (58:1-59:15, ESV) ISRAEL: APOSTASY. “Behold, the LORD’s hand is
not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but
your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your
sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” *Would we
know the principles of Your Kingdom, Father? Then must we acknowledge the
righteousness of Your ways and pronouncements? You are *not* a God who
answers the prayers of the unrighteous. *Hallowed be your :name.*


 *2. 59:16 (59:16-60:22) ISRAEL: RESTORATION BY MESSIAH. “He saw that there
was no man, and wondered that there was not one to intercede; then his own
arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him.” *Even when we
fail You Father, You still plan our welfare! You send send one like us, *
Jesus*, to help us. Through identification of God with man, You *lift*
us! *Your
:kingdom come!*


 *3. 61:1-2 (61-62) MESSIAH’S FIRST AND SECOND ADVENT. “The Spirit of the
Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to
the poor; he has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty
to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 to
proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our
God;” *Father, You are the God of provision; You are *Jehovah-jireh*. You
met our need in Jesus - when there was no other help. *Your :will be done,
As in heaven, so on earth.*


 *4. 63:5 (63:1-6) MESSIAH’S SECOND ADVENT. “I looked, but there was no one
to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm
brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me.” *Twice You come Father, in
Your Son: once in *reconciliation*, and then in *judgment*. Now is the
accepted time of salvation. To fail to receive could leave us having sinned
away our day of grace. * Our :daily :bread Give us this day.*


 *5. 63:9 (63:7-14) PRAISE FOR PAST BLESSINGS. “In all their affliction he
was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in
his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days
of old.” *Your Covenant love Father, has saved us, preserved us, and now
sustains us. In Christ You identified Yourself with us. Now we put You on
as our armor. *And forgive us our :debts, As we also have forgiven our
:debtors.*


 *6. 64:1 (63:15-64:12) ISRAEL’S PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE. “Oh that you would
rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your
presence -” *Father, We acknowledge You as the *only* One Who can bring
full deliverance. Our eyes are *only* upon You for the hope of salvation! *
You* form us into the image of Your Son! *And bring us not into temptation.*


 *7. 66:2 (65-66) GOD’S PROPHETIC ANSWER. “All these things my hand has
made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is
the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and
trembles at my word.” *Yes Father, You will answer, but in accordance with *
Your* conditions. Contrition, Humility, Tremblers at Your Word: *these* are
the conditions You desire in lives that You meet for good. *But deliver us
from the evil one!*


 *NOTE**: 59:19b, 21 (59:16-60:22) **JEHOVAH’S OUTSTANDING PROMISE! “For he
will come like a rushing stream, which the wind of the LORD drives. 21 And
as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit that
is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart
out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the
mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from this time forth
and forevermore.”*


 *Our Psalm for the day: 23:6 (23) THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD. “Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall
dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” *Yes Father, *faithfulness* is
Your Name; *goodness* and *loving kindness* Your high attributes. Therefore
will we praise You! *Hallowed be your :name!*


 C.H. Spurgeon Quotes, December 13, 2012 - Whether You Are A Child of God.
“Now, mark this: by this shall you know whether you are a child of God, or
not; by the respect that you have to Your Father’s Word. If you have small
respect for that Word, the evidences of a bastard are upon you.”


 There is no inspired title to this Psalm, and none is needed, for it
records no special event and needs no other key than that which every
Christian may find in his own bosom. It is David’s “Heavenly Pastoral”; a
surpassing ode, which none of the daughters of music can excel. The clarion
of war here gives place to the pipe of peace, and he who so lately bewailed
the woes of the Shepherd tunefully rehearses the joys of the flock.
*This*is the pearl of Psalms, whose soft and pure radiance delights
every eye; a
pearl of which Helicon need not be ashamed, though Jordan claims it. Of
this delightful song, it may be affirmed that its piety and poetry are
equal, its sweetness and its spirituality are unsurpassed. The position of
this Psalm is worthy of notice. It follows the Twenty-Second, which is
peculiarly the “Psalm of the Cross.” There are no green pastures, no still
waters on the other side of the Twenty-Second Psalm. It is only after we
have read, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” that we come to “The
Lord is my Shepherd.” We must by experience know the value of the
Blood-shedding and see the sword awakened against the Shepherd before we
shall be able truly to know the sweetness of the good Shepherd’s care. It
has been said that what the nightingale is among birds, that is this Divine
ode among the Psalms, for it has sung sweetly in the ear of many a mourner
in his night of weeping and has bidden him hope for a morning of joy. I
will venture to compare it also to the lark, which sings as it mounts, and
mounts as it sings, until it is out of sight, and even then is not out of
hearing.


 23:1. *The Lord is my shepherd. *It is well to know, as certainly as David
did, that we belong to the Lord. There is a noble note of confidence about
this sentence. There is not “if” nor “but,” nor even “I hope so”; but he
says, “The Lord is my shepherd.” We must cultivate the spirit of assured
dependence upon our heavenly Father. The sweetest word of the whole is that
monosyllable, *My*. He does not say, “The Lord is the shepherd of the world
at large, and leads forth the multitude as His flock,” but “The Lord
is *my*shepherd”; if He be a shepherd to no one else, He is a shepherd
to me. He
cares for me, watches over me, and preserves me. The words are in the
present tense. Whatever be the believer’s position, he is even now under
the pastoral care of Jehovah.


 23:2. *He makes me to lie down in green pastures: He leads me beside the
still waters. * The Christian life has two elements in it, the
contemplative and the active, and both of these are richly provided for.
First, the contemplative, *He makes me to lie down in green pastures.* What
are* green pastures* but the *Scriptures of truth* - always fresh, always
rich, and never exhausted? There is no fear of biting the bare ground where
the grass is long enough for the flock to lie down in it. Sweet and full
are the doctrines of the Gospel; fit food for souls, as tender grass as
nature nutriment for sheep. The second part of a vigorous Christians’ life
consists in gracious activity. We not only think, but we act. We are not
always lying down to feed but are journeying onward toward perfection;
hence we read, *He leads me beside the still waters.* What are these *still
waters *but the influences and graces of His blessed Spirit? His Spirit
attends us in various operations, like waters - in the plural - to cleanse,
to refresh, to fertilize, to cherish.


 23:3. *He restores my soul*. When the soul grows sorrowful, He revives it;
when it is sinful, He sanctifies it. *He* does it. His ministers could not
do it if He did not. His Word would not avail by itself. “He restores my sou
l.” Are any of us low in grace? Do we feel that our spirituality is at its
lowest ebb? He who turns the ebb into the flood can soon restore our soul.
Pray to Him, then, for the blessing - “*You* restore me, You Shepherd of my
soul!”


 23:5. *You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. *The
good man has his enemies. He would not be like his Lord if he had not. If
we were without enemies we might fear that we were not the friends of God,
for the friendship of the world is enmity to God. Yet see the quietude of
the godly man in spite of, and in the sight of, his enemies. How refreshing
is his calm bravery! “You prepare a table before me.” When a soldier is in
the presence of his enemies, if he eats at all he snatches a hasty meal and
away he hastens to the fight. But observe, “You *prepare* a table,” just as
a servant does when she unfolds the damask cloth and displays the ornaments
of the feast on an ordinary peaceful occasion. Nothing is hurried, there is
no confusion, no disturbance, the enemy is at the door, and yet God
prepares a table, and the Christian sits down and eats as if everything
were in perfect peace. Oh! the peace which Jehovah gives to His people,
even in the midst of the most trying circumstances. *(From “The Treasury of
David” by C.H. Spurgeon, abridged by D.O. Fuller.)*



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