Passage: Isaiah 32A King Will Reign in Righteousness.
1 Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice.
2 Each will be like a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
3 Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed, and the ears of those who hear will give attention.
4 The heart of the hasty will understand and know, and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly.
5 The fool will no more be called noble, nor the scoundrel said to be honorable.
6 For the fool speaks folly, and his heart is busy with iniquity, to practice ungodliness, to utter error concerning the LORD, to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied, and to deprive the thirsty of drink.
7 As for the scoundrel— his devices are evil; he plans wicked schemes to ruin the poor with lying words, even when the plea of the needy is right.
8 But he who is noble plans noble things, and on noble things he stands.
Journal:
Who is this king? It does not appear to be King Hezekiah, for verse 1 declares that the "king will reign in righteousness." This descriptor would seem to point to Christ and a messianic rule. God, through His prophet Isaiah, is drawing a bright line between righteousness and revelry; between light and darkness; between a regenerated heart and a heart bound in its own folly.
The fool has eyes that are closed, ears that do not hear, and a tongue that stammers non-sense. Yet, the fools of the day [our day] call each other noble and honorable, for it is their own folly they wish to further. The fool fills himself with more and more, and cares for the deprived and lonely less and less. The fool is bound in his own advancement, tucked into the shell of pride and self-worth. ["As for the scoundrel— his devices are evil; he plans wicked schemes to ruin the poor with lying words, even when the plea of the needy is right."]
Yet, when the king comes, it is His righteousness that will be furthered for He will "rule in justice." Christ shines upon the darkness, and the darkness is revealed for what it is -- "the fool will no more be called noble, nor the scoundrel said to be honorable." I picture insects scurrying for darkness as a rock is lifted to reveal their hiding place. Verse 8 spoke to me this morning, and is a plea that I need to make throughout this day -- "But he who is noble plans noble things, and on noble things he stands." I must cry out to God in the morning darkness to "plan noble things," and then to stand on such things in the light of the day.
Heard 'Round the House:
We had not been to church together as a family for about a month due to our prolonged battle with the flu [striking different ones on different weeks] and due to Jill and I being out of town. As we were walking up the sidewalk to enter the church yesterday, Alex [age 12] looked up at me and and said, "It sure does feel good for us to be walking up here as a family. I've missed it." He was spot on . . .
Note:
The latest update from Alan Smith on Tiffany Grace [born prematurely about two weeks ago] is below:
UPDATE 03/02/08
Another good day. They removed the nasal canula today which means that she is breathing room air with no help which is great progress. Her heart and lungs seem to be tolerating this quite well. The next step is to get her feedings to begin to go well. We are making progress in this area, but she is not tolerating the feeds as well as they would like as of today. They say this is normal and expect it to continue to improve over the next couple of days. This will be important as this provides the nutrition she needs to continue to develop, enhance her immune system and gain weight. So, overall things are stable and she is doing well. Please continue to pray that the digestion of her feedings would improve and that they would be able to increase her feedings to what they call "full feedings". We have to get there before she can begin to take mommy's milk in the natural way (breast or bottle). Also, please give praise to the Lord that her heart and lungs are functioning well and continued prayer that they continue to get stronger. Thanks so much!
