Do you struggle with the sort of low feeling that sticks like a heavy mood. As we look to Psalm 77 for the answer, we also want to consider, what might prayer look like, if the very idea of God deepens our sadness? What sorts of questions does God invite us to ask? What sort of people are God’s people?
John Calvin has described the book of the Psalms as one that is the “anatomy of the soul”, “for there is not an emotion of which anyone can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror. Or rather, the Holy Spirit has here drawn to the life all the griefs, sorrows, fears, doubts, hopes, cares, perplexities, in short, all the distracting emotions with which the minds of men are wont to be agitated.”
In this passage, through Psalm 69, we learn how in pain, we are not to remain emotionally detached, but to cry out to God. The psalmist also shows us how not to sink in despair, but to hope in God; not to be self-reliant, but to make desperate lament to God; and, not to be self-absorbed but to delight in God’s salvation.
This is the last of the oracles in this series from Isaiah 13-23, on lessons from the nations. This series has included ten oracles to the nations, that all revolve around the ongoing rise of Assyria in this part of the world: from chapter 13 to 20 in which, Isaiah speaks oracles of how God rules decisively over the nations including the big boys in the region, Babylon, Assyria, and over Philistia, Moab, Samaria, Cush and Egypt.
Overall, Tyre, Egypt and Babylon all struggled against Assyria, making it appropriate that Isaiah addresses Tyre at the end of this section. God has already addressed Egypt and Babylon in this section. Tyre too, is no safe haven for God’s people to look to for security.
We’re in a study in section of Isaiah where God pronounces judgment on the nations around Israel — reminding us that God is a great sovereign God over the nations, not just Israel and Judah. In our previous study, we were led through the first half of the oracle and prophecy to Judah, the southern Kingdom of Israel (which is also the seat of the David’s throne, to which God had promised an eternal dynasty).
Where is our security found today? Maybe we don’t feel the direct threat of a physical invasion, but a good place to start is where is our comfort found? What do we do to protect that comfort? What is our heart condition as we try to protect or maintain our comforts?
Today, we will see how God is sovereign and is our greatest security. In Christ, God redeems us from our own efforts to secure eternal security. We only need to repent and trust in his salvation. Apart from God, only death ensues.
We think that the work of our hands amount to something and something of the work of our hands remain. But when all is said and done, what remains?
In today’s study, we will look at three oracles, to Babylon, Edom and Arabia.
Before we make a start into the questions, let’s consider the geopolitical context. Geographically, we have Assyria to the North, several nations and cities, including Ashdod, Israel, Assyria, in the sort of middle, and Egypt and Cush to the South. Historically, these events occur from 714 to 711.
The context for this passage can be set along the lines of geography and history. Geographically, we find Egypt to the south, Assyria to the north, and Judah in between. History tells us that Judah had previously fled from the attacking arms of Israel and Syria into the arms of Assyria – like “running from two mice to take refuge with the cat” (Oswalt). But in the context of this chapter, the cat has snacked on the two mice and it remains hungry. And there’s only 1 mouse left. So we have Assyria (the great cat) to the North, and Egypt the new cat (and the old slavemaster from the time of Joseph and Moses) to the South. Which cat will Judah take refuge in this time?
Today’s text takes us to the oracle to Cush. In this passage, the prophet turns away from the other nations that were addressed earlier. Cush turns to diplomacy in a time of crisis and yet, God says that He is working in world events. Isaiah 18:6-7 tells us the result, first in verse 6, and the other in verse 7.
Today’s study is titled, what has your attention? When you wake up in the morning what do you think of first? For me, it is often what needs to be done at work. Emails that need to be replied, meetings to attend and fires to put out. Maybe it’s your finances, your hobbies or your relationships. In the crisis that COVID-19 and other geopolitical conflicts have brought, we have more and more things and people vying for our attention. Whatever has our attention frames our days and our lives. What had Israel’s attention in a time of crisis? We will see that this was not God. The passage today will invite us to examine what we are focused on and how God might view that.
The Bible is full of lessons for God’s people on how He calls us to be, and examples of what we are not supposed to be. This section of Isaiah is particularly rich, because God addresses different nations.
This study talks about pride, and it is going to be uncomfortable for us as we consider how we have been prideful. It talks about how God hates pride, how He deals with pride, how He metes out judgement for pride. So if we walk away from tonight with anything — it’s the two lessons that we see in the headers — and these will form the scaffold for our study tonight.
To understand this set of verses, we need to read other parts of the Old Testament and understand the history and context of the passage. It will shed light on what Philistia is, and also how it was treated by the nations.
As we spend time thinking about these verses, we want to reflect not he character of God as He has revealed Himself in Scripture, about what God says about what God does. What is God doing in the world and how does God work in the world? What does it mean that God speaks and acts according to His word? These are some helpful questions for us to keep in mind as we read this section of Isaiah.
Telos, is a Greek word that means “the end”. It is also a philosophical idea the refers to the final end. This final end point is what everything is heading towards, and without it, nothing makes sense.
This is an important idea in our reading and understanding of Isaiah 14. If we don’t understand where this arc is going to end, this chapter will sound strange. Thus, as we read this, we need to fit this within the larger development of world events and what God is doing through it all.
This portion of Scripture is typical of what we will see in the series “Lessons from the Nations”. The prophetic imagery is heavy and the text relies on historic context and information. As we read this section which some consider the most difficult part of Isaiah, there are treasures here to be mined. There are spiritual truths here we would be foolish not to give attention to. It is a further reminder that every part of God’s Word is true and useful (2 Tim 3:16).
There are certain types of tragedy so overwhelming that your mind shuts off. You are disconnected from your thoughts, feelings, memories or even your sense of identity. In severe cases, that’s what psychiatrists diagnose as “dissociation.” And numbness is the terrible norm simply because reality is too traumatising. While some of us might grapple with this condition, or struggle with moments of deep fatigue and disconnect from caring for a broken world, or experiencing brokenness in this world, it is thankfully not the normative experience for most of us.
Our psalm today speaks to such intense experiences, and it helpfully begins by addressing more commonplace experiences of numbness. It speaks to both categories - the intense and the inane - because it identifies that there is a common problem: We have idols. Our idols hold great power over our hearts. And there is a common solution: Sing!
This series has been titled “Psalms: Anatomy of the Soul” and this particular description of the psalms was coined by John Calvin, who said that “there is not an emotion of which anyone can be conscious that is not here [that is, in the psalms] represented as a mirror”.
Why do we need a mirror for our own emotions? Emotions are a tricky business. Have you ever just felt off? Or even if you know you feel a certain emotion, have you ever struggled to know how to pray about it? Strangely, even though what we feel is inside us, we may not understand it. And even when do know what we feel, we often don’t know how to pray about it.
So the psalms reveal to us our own emotions and give us the framework and vocabulary to understand, makes sense of, and express them. Psalm 88 will teach us about about despair.
How are you feeling today? In this psalm, we see a worried king David, a man gripped by uncertainty. The phrase “my heart is faint”, is a passing line, but it describes how he is feeling.
Have you ever made decisions because you were afraid of what might happen to you? As Christians we often hear the encouragement to live boldly, or to trust God instead of fearing man. Prov 29:25 tells us that “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” The right fear of God inspires confidence and worship and combats the fear of man. This study will help us in looking at the fear of man, and how to combat it.
This psalm helps us to see how we can confess our sins to God and the freedom that comes from doing that. With sin comes feelings of guilt, and that can only be addressed when we take our sins to God, confess and seek His forgiveness.
