All Things New: Isaiah 65(1)

Pray Psalm 106.1-3.
Praise the LORD!
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD?
Who can declare all His praise?
Blessed are those who keep justice,
And he who does righteousness at all times!

Read Isaiah 65.1.

Reflect.
1. Does this verse seem strange to you? To whom does God make Himself known?

2. What do we learn about people from this verse? About God?

Meditate.
This verse goes against the overall attitude in many churches today, which seem to think that a large population of “seekers” is out there, hoping someone will show them the way to the Lord. Paul denies that this is the case: “There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God” (Rom. 3.10, 11). In doing so, he was quoting Psalm 14.1 (53.1), which would have been familiar to everyone in Isaiah’s day.

We are mistaken if we think that people are seeking God. They are not. As God Himself testifies in Isaiah 65.1, people are not asking for Him, they are not seeking Him, and they have no previous identity with Him. We misconstrue the mission God has assigned to us if we set up our churches to accommodate “seekers”, for no such beings exist.

Yet, God points out, people who did not previously ask about Him, seek Him, or have any identity with Him end up finding Him and resorting in Him (the Hebrew, דָּרַשׁ‎, darash, in verse 1 – sought – is better translated here, resorted to). How does that happen?

Because God is the true Seeker. He comes to those who are not seeking Him. He calls to them and says, “Here I am! Here I am!!” Like Jesus, God seeks the lost to save them (Lk. 19.11), which is why Jesus has sent us to the world as seekers of the lost, just as He was sent (Jn. 20.21).

God will be active in our churches as our churches commit to His mission, that of saying to the lost world, “Here He is! Look to Him! See His glory and suffering! Hear His call to repentance and faith!”

God does not command the lost world to go to church. He commands the Church, His Body and Bride, to go to the world.

Reflect.
1. Reflect on your own experience of coming to the Lord. How can you see that the Lord was seeking you and calling to you, even before you knew Him?

2. What does it mean to be “called” by the Name of God? What does it mean to be a Christian? 

3. How should this verse, which shows God as the only true Seeker, affect your work in your Personal Mission Field?

But what is said in Hebrew, namely, that “they will seek me who previously did not inquire about me,” means that those who once had no knowledge of God later sought the Lord and came to know him by means of revelation. Jerome (347-420 AD), Commentary on Isaiah 18.2

Lord, I understand You intend to seek the lost through me. Help me today to be more…

Pray Psalm 106.
This is a longer psalm, but it is full of grace and mercy. This psalm provides an overview of God’s history with Israel, but it also shows the nature of grace, even as that grace was shown to us. Give thanks to God for all the times He didn’t give up on you, though you turned your back on Him.

Sing to the Lord.
Psalm 106 (Trust in Jesus: ‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus”)
Praise the Lord!  Give thanks and praise Him!  He is good, His love endures!
More His works than can be spoken; let His praise be ever sure!
Refrain v. 48
Blessèd be our God and Savior, evermore His praise proclaim!
Let all those who know Your favor praise Your holy, glorious Name!

Lord, when You Your people favor, help me, O, remember me,
That I may Your blessings savor and in joy and glory be!
Refrain

We have sinned, just like our fathers; we have done iniquity.
Just like them, our hearts have wandered; we have acted wickedly.
Refrain

For Your love we have forgotten; we rebelled against Your grace.
Yet You save us by Your power, make us stand before Your face.
Refrain

Though Your works we’re oft forgetting, and Your counsels we despise,
though we often try and test You, yet You hear our plaintive cries!
Refrain

Look upon us, Lord, with favor, see us in our sore distress!
Hear our cries, with love surround us – turn again to heal and bless!
Refrain

Save us, Lord, from every nation; gather us from all our ways.
And we to Your Name will offer glorious thanks and endless praise!
Refrain

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).