OUR FATHER FOR WHOM WE SING AND SHOUT

Isaiah chapter 54 verses 1 - 5 says this;

“Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the Lord.

“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.

For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.

“Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.

For your Maker is your husband—the Lord Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.

In the narrative of this passage,  the Lord tells His bride that even though she considered herself barren, her time of rejoicing is coming and she will need to prepare by enlarging her tent to fit all her children.

She is advised to stretch the fabric of her tent, to lengthen her tent cords, and to strengthen her tent pegs because those that are her's will overflow her capacity to house them.

Her descendants will be numerous and powerful and they will disperse in all directions. They will displace nations and inhabit their abandoned cities.

The Lord's bride will not be ashamed nor will she be disgraced. She will forget the shame and reproach of her widowhood.

The One to whom she is betrothed is the Lord Almighty who made her and redeemed her from a distant country.

Amen.

40

OUR FATHER TOWARDS WHOM WE SHOULD BE SINCERELY GRATEFUL

Psalm 107 verses 3 - 5, speaking of the redeemed of the Lord, says this;

those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.

Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. 

They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.

This passage speaks of some of those that the Lord had saved who wandered in the wilderness unable to connect to a civilization into which they could settle.

In this wandering state, the redeemed were malnourished and their lives faded as their spirits weakened.

This was when they cried out to God in their trouble and the Lord heard them and relieved their anguish as Psalm 107 verses 6 - 9 says;

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

The Lord, hearing the cries of His redeemed in the wilderness, led them to His civilization where they were revived and sustained and they became a people full of gratitude towards the Lord having seen His lovingkindness intervene in their lives.

This story is mirrored in the story of the ten lepers whom Jesus healed in Luke chapter 17 verses 12 - 19 which reads this way;

 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

The lepers cried out to the Lord and he healed them and told them to go to the priests to show themselves and they were cleansed from leprosy as they went.

One of the ten men, seeing that he was cleansed, returned praising God and fell down before Jesus because he recognized the profound importance of what Jesus had done for him.

Jesus asked, "Where are the other nine?"

This question brings home the point that ingratitude for the Lord's salvation will keep us from finding our way to God and we will miss His call to us to rise and go forward on our journey of faith.

Without that, we may wander in the wilderness till we finally cry out to the Lord to deliver us.

Let us always be sincerely thankful towards our Lord who is our redeemer and who paid so great a price to save us.

Amen.

36

OUR FATHER TO WHOM I CRY

From Psalm 88

I am overwhelmed with troubles Lord

I'm confined and can't escape

My eyes are dim with grief

Why  do you hide Your face   

You are the God who saves me

 I cry to You night and day

Turn Your ear towards me Lord

Hear me when I pray.

1

OUR FATHER WHO LED US OUT OF BONDAGE

From Psalm 77

Your ways are holy

    What god is great as You are?

You are the God of wonders

   You are the God  of power

With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,

You led them out of bondage to be free

Thunder was heard Your lightening lit up the world

As your chosen people crossed the sea

OUR FATHER WHO IS STEADFASTLY GOOD TO US

Psalm 13 says this;

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?  How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?

How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, Lord my God.

 Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.

The Psalmist records a time of anguish as he struggles with God's silence.

He feels abandoned and his mind torments him  with sorrow as he struggles with feelings of rejection.

At the same time, he is losing battles against his enemy and so he asks the Lord to fill him with light lest he succumbs to the sleep of death and his enemy gloats over him and delights when he falls.

In the end, even though he goes through heart-rending trials in his life, he continues to trust in God's steadfast love and he praises the Lord because he is unfailingly good to him.

As written in Romans chapter 8 verse 28;

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Amen.

34

OUR FATHER'S GOOD NEWS OF HIS KINGDOM WAS FIRST PROCLAIMED AMONG THE POOR 

Luke chapter 7 verse 19, speaking of John the baptist who was in prison for challenging King Herod for his immoral behaviour,  says this;

he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

In this verse, we see John is trying to come  to terms with what was happening to him and to the nation of Israel. He had been given the call to be a forerunner for the Messiah and then to baptize him and announce Jesus to His generation as the awaited Saviour. 

He had done these things he was called to do and had the expectation that the Lord he had introduced would ascend to the rulership of Israel displacing king Herod, sit on the throne of David as the scriptures had prophesied and a glorious reign of justice and righteousness would be ushered in

From John's perspective, these things had not happened and this prompted his concern. Herod was still the king over Israel and in fact was the one who had imprisoned him. There was no righteousness because Herod was defiantly acting immorally while he was king of Israel and there was no justice because he, a stringently righteous man of God, was sitting in prison.

To clarify the situation for his own peace of mind, John, from his prison cell, sent two followers to ask the Lord Jesus if he had correctly identified Him as the Messiah at the Jordan river when he baptized Him or if he had made a mistake and should wait for the arrival of the correct Messiah.

When John's message reached the Lord, He was performing many miracles of healing and he told the messengers  in Luke chapter 7 verse 22, to report back to John what they had witnessed;

So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 

The Lord was letting John know that he had indeed heralded the Messiah but that his expectations were premature. The sign that the true Messiah had come would be the appearance of miraculous healings, the dead being raised and the good news being preached to the poor.

The glorious kingdom of justice and righteousness would surely follow.

Amen.

42

OUR FATHER WHOSE WORD IS A WEAPON AGAINST TEMPTATION

After the Lord Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, He was led out into the wilderness where he fasted for 40 days and then the devil came to tempt Him.

First, the devil tried to induce the Lord Jesus to turn stones into bread as proof that He was the Son of God. He then tried to pursuade Jesus to worship him in exchange for all the kingdoms in the world. 

Jesus, having parried the first two temptations, faced the temptation described in Luke chapter 4 verses 9 - 10 which reads this way;

The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully;

Here, the devil again tried to make the Lord Jesus explicitly prove that He was the Son of God as was being said of Him.

After taking Jesus to a high point of the temple, the devil  quoted Psalm 91 verse 11;

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;

The devil said to Jesus that because of this promise in the scripture, He could throw himself down from the height and the angels of God would guard Him and thus He would be prevented from striking the ground.

This attempt to get Jesus to prove that He was the Son of God was met with an irrefutable  rebuttal also from scripture found in Deutronomy chapter 8 verse 3 that says;

Do not put the LORD your God to the test as you did at Massah.

To deliberately set up a situation to try to force God's hand to intervene is a test on the Lord and it is forbidden to do so and thus Jesus refused to throw himself down.

The devil, hearing this response, left Jesus to wait for a better time to try again to influence Him.

Amen.

42

OUR FATHER WHO IS MIGHTY IN JUDGEMENT AND REDEMPTION

Isaiah chapter 63 verses 4 - 5 says this;

It was for me the day of vengeance; the year for me to redeem had come. I looked, but there was no one to help,

 I was appalled that no one gave support; so my own arm achieved salvation for me, and my own wrath sustained me.

The day of the Lord's wrath brought judgement upon the nations of the earth as a winepress, crushing grapes, pours out their juice,  so did blood pour out of the nations. The Lord's apparel was stained crimson.

This day of vengeance, bringing judgement as it did, also marked the year of the Lord's redemption of His people.

The Lord, looking for any to Him bring judgement to the nations, was appalled that there was none who could join Him, so He resolved to accomplish His own salvation and to bring the wrath of judgement upon the nations by the power of His own fury.

The Lord is great in judgement against ungodliness and is also mighty to save His redeemed. 

Amen. 

26

OUR FATHER IS THE ONE TRUE GOD

Isaiah chapter 44 verse 13 says this;

The carpenter measures with a line  and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses.

He shapes it in human form, human form in all its glory, that it may dwell in a shrine.

This verse describes the process that a carpenter goes through to create an idol out of wood.

He outlines his design using compasses and markers so that it will look like the human form and then he chisels out the shape he wants.

He plans for it to be gloriously shaped like a human and suitable to be placed in a shrine. The human shape is a shape designed by God and so giving this shape to idols is a usurpation of the form of God after whom men were shaped.

Every aspect of the idol needs a person to plan for it for it can do nothing on its own. Its material, shape and dwelling place are all completed by the carpenter.

In contrast, the God of Israel, the eternal self-existing One, asks any other god to declare himself and proclaim his existence. He calls on such a god to demonstrate that he knows what transpired since He, the God of Israel, established His people and to demonstrate that he knows what is to come. Isaiah chapter 44  verse 7 says it this way;

Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, Aand what is yet to come—yes, let them foretell what will come.

The Lord, in view of these ironsmiths and carpenters making gods by their own hands, declares that there is no other God beside Him because He does not know of any. This is recorded in Isaiah chapter 44 verse 8;

Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?

You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me?  No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”

Amen.

50

OUR FATHER WHO SEEKS THE FAITHFUL

From Psalm 101

I will sing of your love and your justice to you, Lord

I will praise you and be careful to lead a blameless life

For your eyes will be on the faithful

On the faithful  in the land, 

that they may dwell with you and minister unto you

1

OUR FATHER WHO IS FAITHFUL

From Psalm 100

Enter His gates with thanks

Enter His courts with praise

Shout for joy to the Lord,

Worship His holy name

Know that the Lord is God

He is our maker

Give Him thanks with gladness

For His love endures forever

His faithfulness continues through all generations.

10

New recording

Previous recording

OUR FATHER WHO IS THE ONE WHO TRULY CARES FOR US

A parable given to the prophet Ezekiel by the Lord told of two sisters named Oholah, who was older, and Oholibah.

Ohola represented Samaria which was the central region of Israel which had fallen away from the Lord and into dealings with the Assyrians.

Oholibah represented Jerusalem which later, also fell way from the Lord by entwining herself with the Assyrians first and then with the Babylonians.

Oholah, having angered the Lord by her prostitutions, was given over into the hands of those she lusted after and Ezekiel chapter 23 verses 9 - 10 says this;

“Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, the Assyrians, for whom she lusted. They stripped her naked, took away her sons and daughters and killed her with the sword. She became a byword among women, and punishment was inflicted on her.

This passage details what happened to Oholah which represents how the Assyrians tore Samaria apart, took her peoples away into slavery and left behind a destroyed kingdom.

That which we lust after is often what we are delivered over to as a consequence for our infidelities.

We may look longingly at carefree or loud subcultures and erroneously conclude that we would be satiated and thrive in them but they end up enslaving and destroying us.

Our destinies are in the Lord and straying from Him can lead us into the derailment of our lives. 

Amen.

40

OUR FATHER TO WHOM WE MUST FULLY COMMIT OUR LIVES

Isaiah chapter 66 verse 3 says this;

But whoever sacrifices a bull is like one who kills a person, and whoever offers a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever makes a grain offering is like one who presents pig’s blood, and whoever burns memorial incense is like one who worships an idol. They have chosen their own ways, and they delight in their abominations;

This verse captures the deleterious effect of the people of God choosing to go their own way. They have the knowledge of the things required by the Lord but they only do things on their own terms and they are delighted by things which displease God.

When they do undertake to carry out ceremonial sacrifices out of religious tradition, their actions translate into the spiritual realm in a sinister way and register as insults instead of sacrifices.

For example, if people who live unconstrained by the Lord sacrifice a bull to Him, it resonates the same as murdering a person would.

Or, if they make an offering of grain, it is as though they were presenting pig's blood to Him.

Such is the effect of trying to uphold religious traditions while being beholden to our own agenda and to carnality.

Let us be sincere before the Lord that our offerings to the Lord are always acceptable.

Amen.

 61

OUR FATHER WHOSE PLAN OF SALVATION COULD NOT BE THWARTED

Ezekiel chapter 19 verses 4 - 5 says this;

The nations also heard of him; He was trapped in their pit, And they brought him with chains to the land of Egypt.

‘When she saw that she waited, that her hope was lost, She took another of her cubs and made him a young lion.

This passage reveals a rare window into the super-structure of nations where spiritual powers wrestle for advantage in order to maintain the  dominion of darkness over the entire human race. This is often done by targeting the people who are  potential threats to their rulership over mankind and rendering them helpless.

The person in question here is Joseph the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham whom the council in heaven began to prepare for a destiny related to the formation of a nation that would ultimately play a part in the plan for salvsalvation for mankind.

However, adversarial nations detected a potential in him to play a part in the plan of the salvation of mankind and so to counter it, they orchestrated the sale of Joseph by his brothers to slave traders by spiritually manipulating his brothers through their envy of Joseph.

This resulted in the enslavement and imprisonment of Joseph in Egypt where he remained for many years.

The princes of Israel, seeing that the person they had hoped in was lost to the prisons of Egypt, began to form another plan for the future but in the meantime, the person they thought their enemies had neutralized in Egypt, ended up rising and being a fulcrum in the unfolding story of salvation.

Unwittingly, the spiritual nations, when  acting to block the plan of salvation, laid down conditions that made God's salvation more sure.

In the case of Joseph, the powers of this world believed that he was a likely route by which salvation would come and they had him imprisoned in Egypt but they did not understand that salvation would come through all the sons of Jacob and that Joseph, through their own machinations, was actually being sent ahead to Egypt to preserve the family through a coming drought because he would ultimately be elevated to prime minister in charge of preserving families through droughts. 

This then made it possible for the whole family to move to Egypt and grow into a large nation. Over time, the children of Israel were enslaved by the Egyptians and so finally, they had to be saved from bondage in Egypt to return to their homeland in a great metaphoric narrative of the coming salvation of men

Thus the spiritual nations' schemes to thwart the plan of God's salvation for mankind were themselves woven into the great plan of the salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.

How great is our God.

Amen.

65

OUR FATHER WHOSE GLORY FILLED THE TEMPLE

The book of Ezekiel chapter 10 verses 4 - 5 says this;

Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and paused over the threshold of the temple; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord’s glory. And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even in the outer court, like the voice of Almighty God when He speaks.

The prophet Ezekiel saw a vision and beheld an astonishing scene at the temple in Jerusalem.

Ezekiel witnessed the bright glory of God leaving the cherub that was in the most holy place of the temple. As the glory of God departed, it temporarily stopped at the entrance way between the most holy place and the main temple area called the great hall.

The refulgent glory of the Lord and the cloud of the Lord's presence filled the temple building and the light even brilliantly illuminated the inner court.

The cherubim's wings made a sound that could be heard even to the outer court of the temple and it sounded like the voice of the Almighty.

Such was the majesty and glory of the Lord at the temple that the prophet Ezekiel saw in a vision.

Amen.

65

OUR FATHER FROM WHOM WE CAN REQUEST MERCY IN THE MIDST OF JUDGEMENT

Psalm 79 verses 1 - 3 says this;

O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.

They have left the dead bodies of your servants as food for the birds of the sky the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.

They have poured out blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead.

The psalmist starts with a solemn status report to God informing Him of the atrocities the invaders from surrounding nations had done to their country.

The Lord's inheritance had been invaded; The holy temple had been desecrated; Jerusalem, their capital city, had been destroyed; the Lord's own servants had been slain and left for the vultures and wild animals to eat; and so many people had been killed that blood ran like water in the streets of Jerusalem and there was no one left to bury them.

Such were the terrible conditions the people faced and the Psalmist implored the Lord not to be angry with His people forever. He asked the Lord not to hold His people's sins against them and he requested mercy upon them for sake of the name of the Lord.

In Psalm 79 verse 11, he asked the Lord to hear the groans of the prisoners so that He might know the extent of the suffering His people were experiencing.

May the groans of the prisoners come before you;  with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.

The people having sinned against God, incurred the Lord's anger and the judgement of being invaded by hostile nations was released upon them. In the midst of their suffering, they asked the Lord to relent and turn and save them.

At the end of this Psalm in verse 13, the author made a promise to the Lord that if the Lord forgave His people and brought retribution to their enemies, His people would praise Him forever. 

Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,  will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will proclaim your praise.

Amen.

25

OUR FATHER WHOM WE MUST ALWAYS TRUST EVEN WHEN HE DOES NOT SEEM NEAR

Psalm 4 14 44 verse 9 says this;

But now you have rejected and humbled us;  you no longer go out with our armies.

This verse marks a change in the psalm where the the author goes from remembering the good works of the Lord towards his ancestors. He recalled the stories told of how the Lord had helped his people overcome their adversaries and how they had boasted in the Lord.

The verse then changes tone and observes that the Lord had rejected them and left them to fend for themselves.

The author tries to rationalize what had caused  the Lord to retreat from them. He considered that they had not strayed from the Lord as captured in Psalm 44 verses 17  - 18

All this came upon us,  though we had not forgotten you; we had not been false to your covenant.

Our hearts had not turned back; our feet had not strayed from your path.

The psalmist is distressed because the Lord seems to have turned His back on them even though they have been faithful to Him. He cries out to the Lord with this lament in Psalm chapter 44 verses 23 -26;

Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.

Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression?

We are brought down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground. Rise up and help us; rescue us because of your unfailing love.

Amen.

45

OUR FATHER WHO SAVES 

From Psalm 3

You are the One who lifts my head

You are my shield and my glory

I call to You, You answer me

From your mountain so holy

I will not fear though on every side  

Tens of thousands they assail  me

Though I lie down and sleep

I wake again, for You sustain me.

Arise, Lord! My God!

 How many turn against me 

Arise, Lord! My God!

 Save me from my enemies.

10

OUR FATHER WHO RESPONDS TO US WHEN WE PREOCCUPY OURSELVES WITH THE PLIGHT OF THE POOR AND OPPRESSED

Isaiah chapter 58 verses 3 - 4, which records the Lord's response to the people of Israel's inquiry, says this;

‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,  ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please  and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.

You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.

The people of Israel were asking why they were fasting and the Lord had not seen it and why the Lord did not notice when they humbled themselves.

The Lord, through His prophet Isaiah, answered the people of Israel telling them that even though they were carrying out the actions of seeking God by fasting and inquiring of Him, they were following their own desires as well as exploiting their workers. Further to that, they were given to strife and violence.

The Lord informed them that fasting while conducting themselves in such ways negated the chance of their concerns being heard in heaven.

Giving them guidance on what conduct needed to accompany fasting, the Lord gave the people these instructions in Isaiah chapter 58 verses  6 - 7;   

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

If the people did these things as the backdrop to their fasting, the Lord said to them in Isaiah chapter 58 verses 8 - 10;

Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness,  and your night will become like the noonday.

Amen.

24

OUR FATHER WHO RESTORES HIS PEOPLE TO HIMSELF

Isaiah chapter 57 verses 9 - 10 says this;

You went to Molek with olive oil and increased your perfumes. You sent your ambassadors far away; you descended to the very realm of the dead!

You wearied yourself by such going about, but you would not say, ‘It is hopeless.’You found renewal of your strength, and so you did not faint.

This passage is an indictment of the people of God who had forsaken Him and pursued their fleshly desires and sought foreign gods.

They preoccupied themselves with lusts and even sacrificed their own children to demons and in doing so, delved into darkness; even down to the abode of the dead.

Though they were fatigued by their fanatical engagement with evil, they renewed their strength and pressed on.

Such was the unremitting drive of the people of God to evade their God of righteousness.

The Lord warns His people in Isaiah chapter 57 verse 13 that when they need Him, they will try to call Him but He will leave them to their idols to save them;

When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you! The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away.

But whoever takes refuge in me will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.”

The hope that the Lord provides for those who take refuge in Him is that they who are contrite and lowly in spirit will have the obstacles to their access to their God removed.

Isaiah chapter 57 verses 17 - 19 records the Lord  relenting from His anger against His people and restoring them to Himself. 

I was enraged by their sinful greed; I punished them, and hid my face in anger, yet they kept on in their willful ways. 

I have seen their ways, but I will heal them;  I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners, creating praise on their lips.

Peace, peace, to those far and near,”  says the Lord. “And I will heal them.”

Amen.

30

OUR FATHER WHO SEPARATES THE WHEAT FROM THE TARES

Isaiah chapter 56 verse 10 says this;

Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep.

This verse reads like a rebuke against the watchmen who slept while enemies came into the territory and sowed tares on the land that had been sown with wheat in a parable told by the Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter 13 verses 24 - 25;

Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 

Of the people who were given the responsibility of watching but slept and left the fields  vulnerable, Isaiah chapter 56 verse 11 says this;

They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough. They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way,  they seek their own gain.

They are distracted by the pursuits of their own benefit and abandon their charge and great harm is done to the kingdom of God by the implanting of evil seeds among the harvest of righteousness.

However, the Lord is able to redeem his field from the work of the enemy as described in Matthew chapter 13 verses 28 - 30;

He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

Amen.

30

OUR FATHER WHOSE RENOWN IS EVERLASTING

Isaiah chapter 55 verse 13 says this;

Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.

This will be for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.”

This verse describes the conditions in the world that will be a reversal of the curse that had befallen the earth when thorns and briers grew to vex men by making their survival a struggle.

The earth, under the rulership of the Lord, is portrayed as becoming hospitable again to men as it was in the garden of Eden with junipers and myrtle trees replacing the thornbushes and briers.

These permanent markers are the signs that will point to the Lord's renown that will endure forever.

Amen. 

30

OUR FATHER WHO FEELS DISTRESS WHEN WE ARE IN DISTRESS

The kindness of the Lord was upon His people and when they were in distress in Egypt, He too was in distress.

He showed them love and mercy and became their saviour. 

But the people rebelled against Him and grieved His Holy Spirit and in doing so, caused the Lord to turn against them and become their enemy.

Finding themselves without the covering of their Lord and their holy places trampled by their enemies, the children of Israel returned to their senses and they finally stopped to remember their history and how their God, in days of old, had redeemed them from bondage and guided them through the Red Sea. The passage in Isaiah 63 verses 11 - 14 says it this way;

Then his people recalled the days of old, the days of Moses and his people—where is he who brought them through the sea, with the shepherd of his flock?

Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them, who sent his glorious arm of power to be at Moses’ right hand, who divided the waters before them, to gain for himself everlasting renown, who led them through the depths?

Like a horse in open country, they did not stumble; like cattle that go down to the plain, they were given rest by the Spirit of the Lord.

This is how you guided your people to make for yourself a glorious name.

The people assessed their condition and realised they had spurned their God who had loved them and protected them. 

They came before the Lord with repentance and asked Him, in Isaiah chapter 63 verse 17b;

Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes that are your inheritance.

Amen.

30

OUR FATHER WHO GIVES US ASSURANCE OF SALVATION

When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah based in Jerusalem, king Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, formed an alliance so that they could march against the kingdom of Judah and divide it among themselves

King Ahaz and the people of Judah was shaken to the core when they learned of the alliance that had been formed against them. 

It was then that the Lord instructed Isaiah to take a message of encouragement to King Ahaz as recorded in Isaiah chapter 7 verses 4 - 5;

Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood—because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah. Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s son have plotted your ruin-,

The Lord said to king Ahaz that if he stood firm in faith, the  combined power of king Rezin and king Pekah would add up to nothing.

Isaiah chapter 7 verses 7 - 9 said it this way;

“‘It will not take place,  it will not happen, for the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is only Rezin.

Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people. The head of Ephraim is Samaria,  and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son.

If you do not stand firm in your faith,you will not stand at all.’”

Through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord gave this reassurance to King Ahaz and the Lord offered to show King Ahaz a sign to confirm His word of salvation from destruction if he asked for it.

King Ahaz declined to ask the Lord for a sign because he said he did not want to put the Lord his God to the test even though it was the Lord Himself who told him to ask for a sign.

Isaiah was irritated by King Ahaz for this response saying to him in Isaiah chapter 7 verse 13;

 Hear now, house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? 

Isaiah then went on to prophecy one of the most profound and consequential signs of the salvation of mankind ever recorded which is found in Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14;

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Amen.

30

 OUR FATHER WHO IS CLOTHED IN MAJESTY

From Psalm 45

Let's go forth in gladness to the palace of the King, He is our Lord, we honor Him alone

Your kingdom, O God, will last forever, Justice will be the scepter of your throne.

In humility ride forth victoriously, In  truth and justice and Majesty

Therefore God, your God, has set you high above anointing you with the oil of Joy

Therefore the nations will praise your name, for ever and ever and ever amen

5

OUR FATHER WHOSE POWER CAN THWART THE ASPIRATION OF NATIONS

PlPsalm 33 verse 10 says this;

The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples

The Lord, in His great wisdom and power, brings the schemes of the nations to nothing.

Whatever intentions and goals the people formulate contrary to His,  He dissipates and renders them worthless.

As for the Lord's own designs and thoughts, they are eternal and are for all generations as Psalm chapter 33 verse 11 says;

But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through abll generations.

The Lord's own purposes override the ambitions of any nation and displace the plots birthed in the hearts of men.

Whatever the nations undertake on the earth to usurp the place of the living God, He will foil and bring to nothing. 

Amen.

30

OUR FATHER WHO PROVIDES A WAY TO SAFETY FOR THOSE WHO HEED HIS VOICE

Two angel's arrived at the town of Sodom and a citizen of the town named Lot, Abraham's nephew, happened to be sitting at the gate to the town.

Lot implored the two men to stay at his house for the night knowing that it would not be safe for them to spend the night in the town square.

They finally agreed to stay with him and he served them a meal and just as they were about to.turn in for the night, all the men of the city descended on Lot's house and demanded that Lot surrender the two foreign men over to them and even threatened to break his door down to take them.

Lot stepped out of his house and urged the crowd to abandon their wicked plan to sexually assault his visitors and even offered his own daughters to the mob to pacify them but they would not relent.

As their pressure on Lot increased, the two men opened the door and grabbed Lot and pulled him back into the house. They then struck the men outside blind so that they could not find the door to lot's house.

The two angels asked Lot if he had any other family members in the town and if he did, he was to go warn them to get out of the city before it was destroyed.

With the crazed mob outside stumbling around blind, Lot left his house and here, our passage in Genesis chapter 19 verse 14 - 15 continues;

 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”

Both of Lot's sons-in-law thought that Lot was pranking them when he suddenly showed up in the night at their homes telling them to escape the destruction that was coming to their town.

He could not persuade his sons-in-law to heed the word of warning and because the dawn was approaching, the angels urgently pressed Lot to take his wife and two daughters out of the city because if they stayed any longer, they would be engulfed in the judgement aimed at the town.

At the last minute, Lot left town with his wife and daughters and judgement from heaven fell on Sodom and destroyed it.

This passage adds to the imperative given in Hebrews chapter 13 verse 2 which says;

Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

Amen.

50

OUR FATHER WHOM WE MUST ALWAYS TRUST

Jeremiah chapter 41 verse 9 says this;

Now the cistern where he threw all the bodies of the men he had killed along with Gedaliah was the one King Asa had made as part of his defense against Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead.

The Babylonians, having over-run Jerusalem and conquered Judah,  took the elite and able-bodied Israelites back to Babylon and left behind the poor and needy people  under the rulership of a Israelite vassal king named Gedaliah.

Ishmael son of Nethaniah, having decided to take matters into his own hands rather than trust the Lord, entered  the town of Mizpah with a cadre of ten men and  assassinated Gedaliah along with the men of Judah who were with him. They also killed the babylonian soldiers who were stationed there.

This verse includes a detail that when Ishmael killed Gedaliah and the men of Judah and the babylonian soldiers, he threw their bodies into a well. 

The well had been dug by a former king of Judah named Asa as part of the defense infrastructure  against king Baasha of Israel.

Now King Asa, at the beginning of his reign, was dedicated to the Lord and he was favored with many years of peace because, as 2 Chronicles chapter 14 verse 2 said of King Asa,

And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 

He had used this time of peace to build defences to protect Judah from her neighbors and among these defences was the well that Ishmael used to conceal the bodies of those he and his men killed at Mizpah.

King Asa, dug the well to protect Israel by providing water along her defensive lines. This action may have been a faltering in the trust that King Asa had in the Lord.

Ishmael, also failing to trust in the Lord and operating as a maverick, filled the well with the dead and exposed Israel to the fearsome wrath of Babylon.

The remnant in Judah became terrified of the retribution that would surely come from Babylon because of the crimes commited by Ishmael. 

As they tried to decide what to do, they approached the prophet Jeremiah and asked him to petition the Lord for guidance and the Lord responded by promising them that He would protect them from Babylon on condition that they remained in the land of Judah.

If they trusted the Lord and stayed in Judah, He would shield them but, if they panicked and escaped to Egypt, the things they feared from Babylon would visit them in Egypt.

Thus the lack of trust in the Lord was judged in Judah and the only remedy to alleviate the judgment was to regain absolute trust in the Lord.

Amen.

50

 OUR FATHER WHO HAS MERCY

From Psalm 41

May You have mercy on me Lord

Raise me up, have mercy,  have mercy on me

I know You are pleased with me oh Lord

for my foes do not triumph, not over me

Because you love me, you hold me Your hands

You  set me in Your presence for all eternity

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel

From everlasting to everlasting

Amen and Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE

Isaiah chapter 66 verse 3 says this;

But whoever sacrifices a bull is like one who kills a person, and whoever offers a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever makes a grain offering is like one who presents pig’s blood, and whoever burns memorial incense is like one who worships an idol.

They have chosen their own ways, and they delight in their abominations;

This verse describes the status of those who choose their own path and take pleasure in the darkness they consort with.

Because they arrogantly decide for themselves what constitutes acceptable conduct, their attempts to fulfil ceremonial obligations become distorted such that even sacrificing a bull becomes equivalent to murdering a person.

The effect of arrogance on the tone that ascends to heaven is dramatically explained. Those who approach heaven steeped in arrogance radiate  abominations generated by their pride.

This is contrasted with those described in the preceding verse;

“These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.

In this verse, those who submit to the Lord humbly and fear Him, He looks upon with favour. Their interlocutions with heaven are received and favorably responded to.

As James chapter 4 verse 6 says;

But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

Amen.

20