Return from Exile: Introduction (4)

Pray Psalm 51.14, 15.
Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.

Sing Psalm 51.14, 15.
(Aughton: He Leadeth Me)
Deliver us, from guilt, O Lord, You Who have saved us by Your Word;
and let our tongues Your mercy bless, and sing of Your great righteousness!
Refrain vv. 15, 18
Lord, open now our lips to raise to You sweet songs of joyous praise!
Thus let Your favor on us fall, and build and strengthen Zion’s wall!

Read Isaiah 44.24-28; meditate on verse 28.

Preparation
1. How did God identify Himself in these verses?

2. What did He promise to do?

Meditation
God told Isaiah at the beginning of his ministry that people would not listen to his message. In fact, God said, the more he preached, the harder their hearts would become (Is. 6.9, 10). And so it turned out. But his mandate was to keep preaching until the Lord devastated His people and carried them away captive to a foreign kingdom (Is. 6.11, 12). Which Isaiah faithfully did. Although he did not live until the days of King Zedekiah and the destruction of Jerusalem, his preaching warned of those days. At the same time, he helped prepare the people to have hope through their season of captivity that God would redeem and deliver them back to their land.

Cyrus would be the key. God promised to raise him as king in Persia and to use him as a “shepherd” (Is. 44.28) for His people, to perform all the Lord’s pleasure in returning the people from their captivity and rebuilding the temple and the city of Jerusalem.

Cyrus, of course, had not even been born yet. But God had already determined to use him to judge the Babylonian empire and free His captive people, that they might return, rebuild, and renew covenant with the Lord. In these verses, God reminded the people of His great power. As Creator and Sovereign, He had the power to do whatever pleased Him, including rebuilding Jerusalem and the cities of Judah (v. 26).

God referred to Cyrus as His “anointed”—His Messiah (Is. 45.1). Cyrus thus was a type of Christ, Who delivers His people from their captivity to sin and the devil and conveys us into the Kingdom of God. And even when His people—like the people of Israel and Judah—neglect or compromise His Word and prefer the ways and values of the world more than His Law, yet they must remember that their Redeemer lives, and He has promised to restore us when we repent and call out to Him (2 Chron. 7.14).

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
In the midst of trials, troubles, and heartaches—some self-inflicted, some enemy-infused, and some brought on by our loving heavenly Father as disciplinary actions—we know that we are known, cared for, and loved by God, the Creator of everything and everyone.

“Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb” (Is. 44.24):
I formed your inward parts and covered you in your mother’s womb.
You were not hidden from Me when I skillfully made you in secret. (Ps. 139.13, 15)
“I know you and love you. I made you.”

“Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer...I am the LORD, who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens all alone, who spreads abroad the earth by Myself…” (Is. 44.1).
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1.1).
“I know how this works and I have a plan. Trust Me.”

This very God is orchestrating all of life and history. Theirs and yours. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last (Rev. 1.8; 22.13). “I am Sovereign, I will prevail.”

He, like His Word, “is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Heb. 4.12, 13). “I will do what is necessary to make you holy (1 Pet. 1.15, 16).”

As Job said: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19.25-27).

Through it all “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms…” (Deut. 33.27).

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8.28).

“That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me.
I AM the LORD, and there is no other…” (Is. 45.6).

“Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in,
to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers” (Deut. 6.23).

“He has promised to restore us when we repent and call out to Him.”

For reflection
1. No matter how captive we may become to our culture and times, revival and renewal are always available. Explain.

2. But revival and renewal don’t “just happen”. Explain.

3. What should we be doing every day to break the Church’s captivity to the world and realize more of the presence, promise, and power of the Kingdom of God?

The particular favors God designed for his people in captivity, were foretold here, long before they went into captivity. Very great difficulties would be in the way of their deliverance; but it is promised that by Divine power they should all be removed. God knew who should be the Deliverer of his people; and let his church know it, that when they heard such a name talked of, they might know their redemption drew nigh. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Isaiah 44.21-28

Pray Psalm 51.16-19.
Pray that God would reveal any sins in your life and lead you to repentance. Pray the same for His captive Church, that we might be broken in our spirits and seek to be pure of heart before Him, and that we might thus get on with the Lord’s work of building His Church and seeking His Kingdom.

Sing Psalm 51.16-19.
(Aughton: He Leadeth Me)
No sacrifice, no offering would You have us, Your people, bring;
but broken spirits, cleansed of lies, and pure hearts You will not despise.

Refrain vv. 15, 18
Lord, open now our lips to raise to You sweet songs of joyous praise!
Thus let Your favor on us fall, and build and strengthen Zion’s wall!

Now build Your Church, raise high the wall of those who on Your mercy call.
And take our lives and let them be sweet sacrifices, Lord, to Thee!
Refrain

T. M. and Susie Moore

You can download all the studies in our Luke series by clicking here.

Our book To Know Him can help you grow closer to Jesus. Order your free copy by clicking here.

If you find Scriptorium helpful in your walk with the Lord, please seek the Lord, asking Him whether you should contribute to the support of this daily ministry with your financial gifts. As the Lord leads, you can use the Contribute button at the website to give with a credit card or through PayPal or Anedot, or you can send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 103 Reynolds Lane, West Grove, PA 19390.

Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.