The names of God in the Old Testament reveals His Sufficiency as our all an all—the Great I AM! Jehovah Shammah means “The Lord Is There.” He is longing to be gracious to us and direct us into His path. In Isaiah 30 we get a picture of God as He seeks to draw His people to Himself in trust that we would walk with Him.
God addresses His children with a warning in verses 1-2: “Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin. That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!” God warns us in Psalms 118:8 which is the center verse of the Bible: “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” That was a strong message then and strong message for us today. We must ask our self—“What or who are we placing our confidence in today?” God sounds another warning in verses 9-10: “This is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD; Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits.” Again, we see parallels with where we are today as lies are exchanged for truth, we have turned a deaf ear to God and His prophets. Yes, God does still speak through prophets according to Amos 3: 7 “Surely the LORD God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” Prophecy is still a gift as God’s gifts are irrevocable and He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Beginning in verse 15 we see Judah exhorted to trust the LORD. “For thus saith the LORD GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength; and ye would not.” It was in 2020 that God brought this verse alive for me as my daughter gave me a picture with the verse and I continue to revisit it often to encourage and refresh me in these perilous times. He lays out the pattern for trusting Him and receiving His grace and salvation. The first step is repentance—being willing to turn from all that separates us from God. Anything that separates us from Him is a sin. According to 1 John 1:9 if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us and restore us into fellowship with Him. The second step is learning how to rest in Him—to stop opposing Him—to be still in His presence and in His Word. Isa. 32:17 says “And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever.” When we seek God and lean not on our own understanding, we experience confidence and strength that comes only from Him. God, make us willing to be willing to rest in You. Isa. 28: 12-13 sheds more light on this passage. “To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing.”
Verse 18 gives us more nuggets of truth: “And therefore will the LORD wait, that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you; for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for Him.” Waiting is not a trait of the society we live in as we have become accustomed to fast food, microwave ovens, texting and the list goes on and on. We have lost the art of waiting but that is when God does His best work in our lives as we learn to wait upon Him for answers, direction and guidance. We race forward with our plans and solutions and expect God to bless them. He is our Father and He wants us to come to Him so that He gets the glory and is exalted. God is a God of mercy—not giving us the punishment we deserve and grace—granting us unmerited favor. God is waiting on us to cry out to Him for help. Ps. 34: 4 says: “I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Verse 17 says: “The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.” Ps. 40: 1-2 says: “I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.” Surely, we as a nation are in a miry pit and only God can deliver us and set our feet upon the Rock—Jesus. Verse 18 also confirms that the LORD is a God of justice who will move in powerful ways to perform His work in us and for us in His perfect time so that He gets the glory and is exalted! We glean further encouragement in verse 19 as He promises to wipe away our tears as He holds them in the palm of His hand. He is a loving Father who hears our prayers and will answer.
God gives us the assurance of His presence in verses 20-21. “And though the LORD give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see they teachers: And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.” God has given us His Spirit as our teacher and guide and seeks to work all things—even the bread of adversity and water of oppression to train us in His ways. His truth and Spirit will direct us in the way we should go saying “This is the way, walk in it.” We do not need to give up on God because He has not given up on us! He is the Great I AM—the Rock and everything is going to be okay. He is still the God of miracles and the enemies will come down! He is aligning the Body of Christ under the authority of Christ the Head and preparing a Bride for His Son. It is time for us to stop kicking against the pricks and humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways for He has promised to hear us and heal our land. (2 Chron. 7:14)
In Luke 18:1 we hear the command to pray always and not to faint. Jesus said in verses 7-8: “And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” We are to fix our eyes on Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith who according to Col 2: 15 has disarmed powers and principalities and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in the cross! 1 Peter 5:6 commands us to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God that He will lift us up and He be exalted! May the words of verses 10-11 encourage us as we wait upon the LORD as He is longing to be gracious to us: “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. AMEN”