Friday, July 03, 2009, 7:33 a.m. – I woke to this song in my head:
I Need Thee Every Hour / Annie S. Hawks / Robert Lowry
I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.
I need Thee every hour; stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh.
I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is vain.
I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.
I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;
O make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son.
Refrain:
I need Thee, O I need Thee; every hour I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Isaiah 48:
My Understanding: The first thing that happens in this passage of scripture is that God states his case against Israel. Translated to today, we, the church are Israel, because we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and God dwells within us, the true church, his bride. In this prophecy, God is speaking specifically against Israel, i.e. the Jews, who lived in Babylon. So, he is not speaking universally, but rather to a specific location. I believe the Lord is speaking today specifically to the church in the USA (our Babylon). So, the application here will be specific to the church in the USA, though it may also apply to the church universally.
God’s case against Israel was that she was:
That is quite a testament against her, which I believe is against the church in the USA today. Then, when God presented his case against her, he reminded her of the things he had told her in the past. He said he told them to her “long ago,” so she was without excuse. God reminded her that before he does anything, he announces it first through his servants, and then he acts. This has been true throughout Biblical history. And, it is true today as God is speaking through many of his servants with messages of impending judgment, warnings, and calls to repentance.
Israel could not say that she had not been told or that she did not know. She was not lacking in knowledge, only in understanding and in the application of the truths that she already knew. And, that is true of the church in the USA today. We, more than perhaps any other nation on the earth, have been so blessed with the truth of the gospel. It is everywhere. It is broadcast on TV, the radio, in the newspaper, magazines, via music, etc. Many people have not just one Bible in their homes, but several. Churches abound everywhere and we have complete freedom of religion. So, we are definitely without excuse. We can not plead ignorance. We know right from wrong. We, the church, know what God’s word teaches.
Next, God told Israel how he delays his wrath for the sake of His own name. I believe this is speaking of his reputation as a God of love, mercy and compassion who watches over and who protects those who are His own. He also delays his wrath so as to not cut us off entirely – for the sake of His praise, for we are for the sake of His praise. Yet, he will not delay forever. He will refine us and he will test us in the “furnace of affliction” for his own sake. He can not continue to allow His name to be defamed or to yield his glory to any other gods in our lives.
Then, he told Israel – those who live in Babylon – that he is going to come against Babylon. And, he called the people together to listen to him. I believe he is doing this again. He reminded them that He is their God; that He is their Redeemer. He told the people that it is He alone who teaches them what is best for them; who directs them in the way they should go. Then, he chastised them – if only they had listened to him instead of closing their stubborn ears to his voice, then they would have peace and would know His righteousness in their lives. They would have experienced his blessings on them and on their descendants, and they would not have had to go through this judgment – if only they had listened to Him.
Lastly, He called them to “leave Babylon.” Was he calling them only or merely to physically leave the city, or is there something greater here? In the NT, we are told to “Come out from them and be separate,” (II Co. 6:14-18) referring here to the world of unbelievers. Yet, we are also told that we are to live in the world but not of it (see John 17:15-16). It is clear in the NT that we are not being asked to leave the world physically, though certainly there are some physical locations where the world gathers that would not be appropriate for followers of Christ, but rather we are being asked to come out from underneath the world’s influence and teachings that affect our thoughts, words, actions and attitudes. We are not to become one with the world in thought, word and deed.
So, if we are to “come out from the world” and “be separate,” we need to understand what that means. So, I looked up Babylon and several Biblical descriptions of Babylon and what it was that God did not like about her and I learned that she was worldly, adulterous, a home for demons, excessive in the luxuries she gives herself, her sins are piled up to heaven, she is boastful, proud, arrogant, she thinks she is invincible, she has great wealth and power, she is idolatrous, she lounges in her security, complacent, trusts in wickedness, and she does things in secret thinking that no one sees – doesn’t this sound like America? And, then compare this list to the one in which God was accusing Israel. Doesn’t she sound like she is becoming one with the world, just like God warned her against? No wonder he tells us to “Leave Babylon” and to “Come out from her and be separate.” There ought to be something so drastically different about the church to where we stand out from the world. We should not be so much like her. This is the accusation standing against us.
So, the call here is to “Leave Babylon,” i.e. to no longer take on the pattern of the world in our lives, but instead to be found in Christ Jesus as those having been washed in the blood of the Lamb, having our hearts cleansed from sin, thus walking in newness of life, allowing the Lord Jesus to direct our steps and to teach us what is best for us and for Him to show us the way we should go - and, then for us to walk in the way of holiness and righteousness. Amen! May it be so!!
I Need Thee Every Hour / Annie S. Hawks / Robert Lowry
I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.
I need Thee every hour; stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh.
I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is vain.
I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.
I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;
O make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son.
Refrain:
I need Thee, O I need Thee; every hour I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Isaiah 48:
My Understanding: The first thing that happens in this passage of scripture is that God states his case against Israel. Translated to today, we, the church are Israel, because we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and God dwells within us, the true church, his bride. In this prophecy, God is speaking specifically against Israel, i.e. the Jews, who lived in Babylon. So, he is not speaking universally, but rather to a specific location. I believe the Lord is speaking today specifically to the church in the USA (our Babylon). So, the application here will be specific to the church in the USA, though it may also apply to the church universally.
God’s case against Israel was that she was:
- Stubborn
- Untrue to her profession of faith
- Proud of her religious and national heritage
- Hypocritical
- Superficial in her worship of God
- Stiff-necked
- Idolatrous
- Adulterous (spiritually)
- Rebellious and treacherous (unfaithful; deceitful; false; two-faced - Encarta)
- Ears shut to God’s words; not listening to God
- Unteachable
- Honors God with her lips but not with her heart
- Bull-headed
That is quite a testament against her, which I believe is against the church in the USA today. Then, when God presented his case against her, he reminded her of the things he had told her in the past. He said he told them to her “long ago,” so she was without excuse. God reminded her that before he does anything, he announces it first through his servants, and then he acts. This has been true throughout Biblical history. And, it is true today as God is speaking through many of his servants with messages of impending judgment, warnings, and calls to repentance.
Israel could not say that she had not been told or that she did not know. She was not lacking in knowledge, only in understanding and in the application of the truths that she already knew. And, that is true of the church in the USA today. We, more than perhaps any other nation on the earth, have been so blessed with the truth of the gospel. It is everywhere. It is broadcast on TV, the radio, in the newspaper, magazines, via music, etc. Many people have not just one Bible in their homes, but several. Churches abound everywhere and we have complete freedom of religion. So, we are definitely without excuse. We can not plead ignorance. We know right from wrong. We, the church, know what God’s word teaches.
Next, God told Israel how he delays his wrath for the sake of His own name. I believe this is speaking of his reputation as a God of love, mercy and compassion who watches over and who protects those who are His own. He also delays his wrath so as to not cut us off entirely – for the sake of His praise, for we are for the sake of His praise. Yet, he will not delay forever. He will refine us and he will test us in the “furnace of affliction” for his own sake. He can not continue to allow His name to be defamed or to yield his glory to any other gods in our lives.
Then, he told Israel – those who live in Babylon – that he is going to come against Babylon. And, he called the people together to listen to him. I believe he is doing this again. He reminded them that He is their God; that He is their Redeemer. He told the people that it is He alone who teaches them what is best for them; who directs them in the way they should go. Then, he chastised them – if only they had listened to him instead of closing their stubborn ears to his voice, then they would have peace and would know His righteousness in their lives. They would have experienced his blessings on them and on their descendants, and they would not have had to go through this judgment – if only they had listened to Him.
Lastly, He called them to “leave Babylon.” Was he calling them only or merely to physically leave the city, or is there something greater here? In the NT, we are told to “Come out from them and be separate,” (II Co. 6:14-18) referring here to the world of unbelievers. Yet, we are also told that we are to live in the world but not of it (see John 17:15-16). It is clear in the NT that we are not being asked to leave the world physically, though certainly there are some physical locations where the world gathers that would not be appropriate for followers of Christ, but rather we are being asked to come out from underneath the world’s influence and teachings that affect our thoughts, words, actions and attitudes. We are not to become one with the world in thought, word and deed.
So, if we are to “come out from the world” and “be separate,” we need to understand what that means. So, I looked up Babylon and several Biblical descriptions of Babylon and what it was that God did not like about her and I learned that she was worldly, adulterous, a home for demons, excessive in the luxuries she gives herself, her sins are piled up to heaven, she is boastful, proud, arrogant, she thinks she is invincible, she has great wealth and power, she is idolatrous, she lounges in her security, complacent, trusts in wickedness, and she does things in secret thinking that no one sees – doesn’t this sound like America? And, then compare this list to the one in which God was accusing Israel. Doesn’t she sound like she is becoming one with the world, just like God warned her against? No wonder he tells us to “Leave Babylon” and to “Come out from her and be separate.” There ought to be something so drastically different about the church to where we stand out from the world. We should not be so much like her. This is the accusation standing against us.
So, the call here is to “Leave Babylon,” i.e. to no longer take on the pattern of the world in our lives, but instead to be found in Christ Jesus as those having been washed in the blood of the Lamb, having our hearts cleansed from sin, thus walking in newness of life, allowing the Lord Jesus to direct our steps and to teach us what is best for us and for Him to show us the way we should go - and, then for us to walk in the way of holiness and righteousness. Amen! May it be so!!
