TEXTS AND APPLICATION: I love reading God’s Word. The truths are rich, and the blessings are many. I wonder, though, if I tremble at His Word.
Today’s reading covers the final three chapters of the book of Isaiah, chapters that reveal God’s restoration of His people and His kingdom after judgment. In particular, God points to the kind of person He blesses:
Isa. 66:2 I will look favorably on this kind of person: one who is humble, submissive in spirit, and trembles at My word.
I understand “humility” and being “contrite (submissive) in spirit.” God wants us to be broken and tender, open to His leading and listening to His pleading. Do I, however, tremble at His Word?
It seems to me that if I tremble at His Word, I will . . .
- be amazed and grateful that I have the Word of God in my hand and in my language
- read the Word with caution, pausing to think deeply on passages that warn of judgment
- read the Word with wonder, learning that a perfectly holy God loves and seeks me
- see life change — particularly, forsaking sin and seeking God — as a result of reading; that is, I ought to fear more if I read but don’t see repentance and faith as a result
- desire to read God’s Word regularly simply because it is His Word
- be both alarmed and longing when I choose not to read the Word
PRAYER: You know the prayer today: “God, let us be a people who tremble at Your Word.”
TOMORROW’S READING: 2 Kings 20-21