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Daily Devotion: Isaiah 37:33-35

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Isaiah 37:33-35     "Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.  (34)  By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.  (35)  For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake."

The people of Judah are in a time when doubts and fear have taken hold of them.  They surely were outnumbered and the enemy was much better equipped for a battle. Assyria was using every opportunity to intimidate and feed the doubts of the people. Hezekiah called for the Prophet Isaiah to come and pray. He had humbled himself before the Lord to pray and seek God's face. Surely he was thinking of the promises that God had made when the temple was first built. "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14) The people were rooted down into this promise and were waiting for the fruit of their faith to manifest itself.

We come to today's passage where God made the promise of victory to the people. That king will not come into this city. He will not shoot an arrow nor come with shields. He will turn and go back home without coming into the city. Wait! How is this going to happen? Judah is outmanned and not ready to defend itself. What could possibly cause the Assyrian King to change his mind? The better question is: WHO could cause the king to change his mind? God gave the answer. "For I will defend this city to save it." It would be the power of God - AND ONLY the power of God that would defend Jerusalem. Why would He do that? What would be God's motivation for intervening? Were the people that good that God would do that? No. The only motivation God had for defending was His "own sake" and for His "servant David's sake." What were the people to do?  "If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established." (Isaiah 7:9) God promised and none of His promises have ever failed, but the only way for the people to have peace was to believe that God is faithful.  The end of the story is that the king of Assyria went back home where his own sons killed him.

What is the end of our story? How will our situation end? We may not know, but one thing we do know is that our God reigns and has full power and ultimate control. The only way to have peace about that is simply through believing. Using a child-like faith to simply believe that God loves us "for Christ's sake" and for His glory. There is peace to be experienced in every circumstance. That peace comes through the gift of God's love - Jesus the Christ!

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