Responding to Holy God
Isaiah’s national call for repentance
is so urgent that even his personal
call & commission to the prophetic
office must wait until chapter six.
Isaiah’s “Woe” I am sinful (v5)
is met by God’s “Lo” I am holy (v7)
resulting in Isaiah’s “Here am I;
send me” (v8) and God’s “Go” (v9).
The task set before Isaiah is an
unenviable one, for God promises
from the start that the people will
be spiritually deaf and nearsighted.
But armed with confidence in his
Immanuel, Isaiah begins to declare
harsh words from on high in the
courts and places of Judah.
Lord, realise Isaiah had to come to
grips with his own sinful condition
and spiritual lukewarmness before
he could confront an entire nation
suffering from the same conditions.
After his vision of God, Isaiah had
a rekindled sense of God’s awesome
holiness and grandeur, and had no
trouble volunteering for His service.
Lord, we will Seek Your Presence;
Lord, we will Seek Your Holiness &
Lord, we will Seek Your Help. Amen.
- Lord, we will Seek Your Presence:
My beloved had a vineyard on a rich
and fertile hill. He plowed the land,
cleared its stones and planted it
with the best vines. In the middle
he built a watchtower and carved
a winepress in the nearby rocks.
Then he waited for a harvest of
sweet grapes, but the grapes
that grew were bitter (Isa 5:1-2).
Lord, what Your people in our cell
groups need most is to abide in
the vine that is Christ. For a branch
cannot produce fruit if it is severed
from the vine. So Lord, graft the
people in disciple groups into
Your vine in a way that they can
never be severed. And help us
to trust You Lord for the harvest
in our corporate & individual lives.
In Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
Lord, we will Seek Your Holiness:
In the year that King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord sitting on a throne…
Above it stood seraphim… And
one cried to another and said:
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of His glory!..
So I said: Woe to me! I am ruined!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
and I live among a people of
unclean lips and my eyes have seen
the King,the Lord Almighty (Isa 6:5)
Lord, whenever I sense Your holy
presence, like Isaiah, I am greatly
aware of my own unworthiness.
And that makes me even more
grateful for how much You did
so that I can come before your
throne and find grace and mercy.
Purify me and help me to separate
myself from all that is unholy. Amen
Lord, we will Seek Your Help:
The Lord sent this message to
King Ahaz: Ask me for a sign
to prove that I will crush your
enemies as I have promised…
But the king refused. Then Isaiah
said: The Lord Himself will give
you a sign: Behold the virgin shall
conceive and bear a Son and call
His name Immanuel (Isa 7:10-14).
Lord, lead us not to be like Ahaz
who rejected Your help thinking
he got the situation under control.
Forgive us for seeking outward
signs rather than being drawn
into closer communion with You.
May You take pleasure in us as
we purpose to rely on You and to
trust You and not test You. Amen.