Day 16 March 14

Day 16 March 14

Passage: Isaiah 43:22-28

When God’s people were living in captivity, God spoke to them through His prophet, “Why did you not call upon me?”

“Seeking God” is vastly different from our idea of “searching frantically” for someone in our days. Since the dawn of the Kingdom until the dusk of its fall in Israel’s history, God had not distanced Himself from His people such that seeking Him became inconvenient and troublesome.

The root of the problem laid with the Israelites – they did not turn to the LORD, when they were able to.

In this passage the LORD said that He had never burdened His people with sacrifices. On the contrary, it was the people who had burdened and wearied Him (verse 24).

When the people were left stranded in a foreign land, they thought that the LORD had broken all ties with them. Contrary to their thought, the LORD remained caring towards the people and even questioned them, “Why have you not approached me for help? Have you made me grown weary of you?” (v.22).

In what ways had the Israelites wearied the LORD? Verse 24 tells us, “with their sins”. These words make us ashamed of ourselves.

We were created to walk right with our Creator, but we have turned away from Him and grieved Him with our sins. We have given the Creator undue stress and caused Him to be weary. “I, yes I, am the one who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; I will not remember your sins.” We are astonished at the phrase, “for my own sake.”

In their moral history, the people were neither commendable in their ethics, nor single-minded in and wholeheartedly committed to their religion, to a point that it was not justifiable for the LORD to regard them as His people. As a matter of fact, the Israelites were extremely weak in moral conduct and sloppy in their worship. However, all these factors did not lead God to terminate His covenantal-relationship with the people. It was “for His own sake” that the LORD refused to give up on the people.

However, even when the LORD had not chosen to break-up with His people, did He continue the covenantal-relationship with a heart of bitterness and resentment?

On second thought, does the LORD not have the right to be angry and resentful towards His own people?

What is recorded in verse 25 will shatter our wrong impression of God, “I… (will) blot out your transgressions …; I will not remember your sins.”

Normally, such an expression of forgiveness would cause us to feel guilty and ashamed all the more, but it indeed conveys a delightful piece of good news.

Prayer: O, LORD, I am just like the Israelites who have failed to seek you. However, You are willing to forgive my sins and wrongdoings for Your own sake. Thank you, LORD!

第十六天 Mar 14

经文：以赛亚书 43:22-28

当百姓被掳，寄居在外邦的时候，上帝透过先知对他们说，“为什么你们不求告我？”

与现代人的“寻求”相比，上帝的概念截然不同的是，从王国到失去家园，上帝并不是远在天边，不方便寻求的。问题症结在于以色列人没有转向耶和华!在这段经文里，耶和华说祂未曾麻烦他们献祭，可是他们倒是麻烦耶和华为他们“操劳”（43:24）了。以色列人流离在外邦，以为耶和华不管他们了。谁知耶和华竟然如此在乎他们，甚至说出口“为什么你们不求告我？为什么厌烦我？”（43:22）那么究竟以色列人在什么事情上让耶和华操劳了？  24节“因你的罪”，这话真是要让人感到羞愧。人本来应当归向造物主，可是因着自己的过犯，加上不肯转向祂，结果让造物主来操心、操劳了!

“我，惟有我为自己的缘故涂去你的过犯，我也不再记得你的罪恶。” 让人惊讶的是这几个字“为我自己的缘故”。在过去的日子里，不是因为以色列道德高尚、在宗教上热切而且专一，以至于耶和华认他们为百姓，因此事到如今，当以色列人道德上极其软弱、宗教上也不专一，这一切也不会终止上帝与他们的关系。是耶和华为自己的缘故不肯放弃关系!

可是，就算不终止关系，但是耶和华是否会心怀气愤，因而唠叨不已？回头想，就算上帝唠叨、怀怨，难道不可以吗 ？  25节所写，却打破我们的成见—“我。。。涂去你的过犯。。。不再记得你的罪恶”，这样的话让人羞愧，心情沉重，可是对我们无疑是好消息。

祷告：主啊，我也常好像以色列人一样，不求告祢。可是祢却愿意为祢自己的缘故来赦罪，主，感谢祢。