Our scripture lesson tonight comes from the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 56. Hear now the word of our God, Isaiah chapter 56, starting in verse one. Thus says the Lord, keep justice and do righteousness for soon my salvation will come and my deliverance be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil. Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, the Lord will surely separate me from his people. And let not the eunuch say, behold, I am a dry tree. For thus says the Lord to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant. I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. and the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord to minister to him to love the name of the Lord and to be his servants. Everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it and holds fast my covenant. These I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. The Lord God who gathers the outcasts of Israel declares I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered. All you beasts of the field come to devour. All you beasts in the forest. His watchmen are blind. They are all without knowledge. They are all silent dogs. They cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. The dogs have a mighty appetite. They never have enough. But they are shepherds who have no understanding. They have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all. Come, they say, let me get wine. Let us fill ourselves with strong drink and tomorrow will be like this day, great beyond measure. The righteous man perishes and no one lays it to heart. Devout men are taken away while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity. He enters into peace. They rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness. But you, drawn near sons of the sorceress, offspring of the adulterer and the moose woman, whom are you mocking? Against whom do you open your mouth wide and stick out your tongue? Are you not children of transgression, the offspring of deceit, you who burn with lust among the oaks under every green tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks? Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion. They, they are your lot. To them you have poured out a drink offering. You have brought a grain offering. Shall I relent for these things? On a high and lofty mountain you have set your bed, and there you went up to offer sacrifice. Behind the door and the doorpost, you have set up your memorial. For deserting me, you have uncovered your bed. You have gone up to it. You have made it wide, and you have made a covenant for yourself with them. You have loved their bed. You have looked on nakedness. You journeyed to the king with oil and multiplied your perfumes. You sent your envoys far off and sent down even to Sheol. You were wearied with the length of your way, but you did not say, it is hopeless. You found new life for your strength, and so you were not faint. Whom did you dread and fear so that you lied and did not remember me and did not lay it to heart? Have I not held my peace even for a long time and you do not fear me? I will declare your righteousness and your deeds, but they will not profit you. When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you. The wind will carry them off. A breath will take them away. But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain. And it shall be said, build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people's way. For thus says the one who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry. For the spirit would grow faint before me and the breath of life that I made. Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain, I was angry. I struck him. I hid my face and was angry. But he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him. I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace to the far and to the near, says the Lord, and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the tossing sea, for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt. There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked." This is the word of the Lord. Keep justice and do righteousness, Isaiah says. How do you do that? By keeping the Sabbath. Actually, coincidental, I didn't actually plan it this way, that we're going through Isaiah and we hit the Sabbath section of Isaiah precisely as we're hitting the Sabbath section of the Ten Commandments. Sometimes the planning works better than mine. But as we've been seeing in the morning service, Sabbath means more than just resting. It also includes worshipping God and giving rest to others. If your Sabbath-keeping is oriented around worshipping God and giving rest to others, then you will be the sort of person who keeps justice and does righteousness. Chapters 38 to 55, that's the section we've just concluded, it's set up the promise of the new work that God will do after he brings Israel back from exile. We saw in chapters 41 to 48 how Israel was the servant of the Lord who would bring salvation, but Israel was also the servant who was blind and deaf And we saw the need for a servant who would hear what God is saying and see what God is doing. And that's what we saw in chapters 49 to 33. The servant of the Lord, the singular suffering servant who would come and suffer and die for our sins. And so chapters 54 and 55, which we looked at last time, the last couple of times, concluded the book of the servant with the call to everyone to come to the feast that God has prepared. And that's really what chapters 56 to 66 will now focus on. This is now building on the foundation that was laid in chapters 38 to 55. And again, we see the problem. Isaiah starts off by showing us, okay, having returned from exile, Isaiah deals with the problem that follows from the restoration. Because Israel, even the righteous remnant, does not have the strength to overcome their enemies. The restoration doesn't change the basic character of the exiles. There's a way in which the fundamental change that's promised is the singular suffering servant. He is the one who will enter God's kingdom and will bring about this age to come. And so Isaiah promises in the section 3 in chapters 56 to 66 that an anointed one will come, a Messiah, Mashiach, through whom God will establish his kingdom. Someone suggested that really chapters 1 to 37 is the book of the king, chapters 38 to 55 is the book of the servant, and now the final 11 chapters, the book of the Messiah, the anointed conqueror who will bring salvation to his people and vengeance to his enemies. And the Sabbath functions as one of the central themes in this section. Isaiah 56 opens with a blessing upon Sabbath keepers. Chapter 58 will conclude with a call to delight in the Sabbath. for that matter, chapter 61, the center of this section proclaims the Jubilee, the year of the Lord's favor, which was the 50th year, that ultimate Sabbath year according to Leviticus 25. And chapter 63 speaks again of the year of redemption before the whole section concludes in chapter 66 with the glory of the eschatological Sabbath. So there's a very real way in which We live in Isaiah 56-66. The suffering servant has come. The Gentiles are included in the covenant people. And we look back to the decisive once-for-all work of God's holy servant Jesus. But we are still looking forward to the eschatological Sabbath, the final consummation of the kingdom of God. 56 to 59 actually are one big section. I'm not going to try to deal with this all in one sermon. But chapter 56, one through eight, opens with these three declarations from the Lord. Two, thus says the Lord, and one declares the Lord Yahweh. And then there's the word of the blind watchman in verses nine to 12. And then in chapter 57, verses one to 13, you have the, it's what, It's what you say, the mockers, the sons of sorcerers, the moving from the present perishing of the righteous in the face of persecution from the wicked to a future inheritance of those who take refuge in the Lord. Then you have the words of the true prophet in chapter 57 verse 14, and then three more statements from the Lord. So that means we're at six statements from the Lord. Chapter 58 will give a seventh word from the Lord, the promise of the future inheritance to those who trust in Him for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. And then Chapter 59 contains the eighth word from the Lord. It's curious because the seventh word in Chapter 58 is all about the Sabbath rest and the eighth word in Chapter 59 contains the fulfillment of that promise. Some might accuse me of seeing eights all over the place, but it's really interesting how often they pop up, and especially when the seventh is promising rest and the eighth is promising the fulfillment of that. It's like, hmm, this is precisely what Hebrews is seeing in Hebrews 4 when it's talking about the day, there must be another day beyond the seventh. The seventh day Sabbath points to the fact that man must enter God's rest But the seventh day Sabbath lacks the power to bring man into God's rest. We need a new creation. We need another day. The new creation that God must sovereignly establish by his powerful word. And then in chapter 60, there's the call for the people of God to respond to God's word. So there's a completeness in those eight statements that then call for the response of the people of God because the resurrection light has dawned. Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. So that's sort of the very quick overview of where we're going in the next few weeks. But for tonight, we'll be focusing here on 56 and 57 at this opening statement from the Lord. In verses 1 through 8 of chapter 56, we hear the first three of God's declarations. Verses 1 and 2 contain the, thus says the Lord. And Isaiah is speaking to those who live in between the times. Those who have participated in the deliverance of the servant, but who are still awaiting the final deliverance. Sure, in one sense he's speaking to those who have been restored from exile and who are awaiting the coming of the Messiah. But there's another sense in which he's speaking to us who have seen the fulfillment of the suffering servant in Jesus, but still await the full inheritance that is promised. Because in a very real way, Isaiah is speaking to those who live in between the already and the not yet. And God's people have always lived in between the already and the not yet. In the Old Testament, they had already been delivered from Egypt. They had not yet. Christ had not yet come. Now we live in a much better already because we live in the already where Christ has come. And, you know, as we saw this morning, their Pentecost was that the Spirit was revealed on Mount Sinai and they received the law. Now, our Pentecost is a whole lot better because our Lord Jesus Christ, it wasn't just Moses went up the mountain to see it, the Lord Jesus Christ has ascended the hill of the Lord and has entered the heavenly holy of holies and has poured out his Holy Spirit upon the church so that we might be indwelt by the living God. So you might say, our already is a whole lot better than their already. Now, our not yet is the same as theirs because we still await the final fulfillment of all of God's promises. And so, chapters 56 to 66 open with God's call to keep justice and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come and my deliverance will be revealed. The singular suffering servant, our Lord Jesus, has died for the sins of his people. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, and with his stripes we are healed. and by his knowledge shall the righteous one my servant make the many to be accounted righteous and he shall bear their iniquities." And now those who hope in that servant are called to live righteous lives because the final deliverance is near. Now it might surprise us that God should choose Sabbath-keeping as the example, but Sabbath-keeping is quite fitting because the Sabbath is all about living in between the times. in between the already and the not yet. As we saw this morning, Exodus 20 reminds us that the Sabbath is a creation ordinance. As God created all things in six days and entered his rest on the seventh, so also we are to work and rest in that same six-in-one pattern. And Deuteronomy 5 showed us that the Sabbath is also a redemptive ordinance. Because you were slaves in Egypt, therefore you are to give rest to those under your care, because God brought you out of Egypt with an outstretched arm. So the Sabbath is a day of justice, a day of righteousness. On the Sabbath, we bring rest to those under our care, even as God did for Israel out of Egypt, even as God has now done in his righteous servant, our Lord Jesus. And therefore, Isaiah says, blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil. So in that sense, Sabbath-keeping is a way of participating in the eschatological Sabbath that God has promised through his righteous servant. But also, part of why this speaks to us more directly is because of the people that Isaiah is talking to. In verses 3 and following, Isaiah speaks to the eunuchs and to the foreigners, people who typically would have been understood to be excluded from the assembly. And Isaiah says, let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, the Lord will surely separate me from his people. And let not the eunuch say, behold, I am a dry tree. And then he answers them in reverse order. The eunuch may believe that he is a dry tree. He's incapable of bearing fruit in one sense. But Isaiah says the eunuch has a purpose in God's plan. And thus says the Lord, verse 4, to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. This is spoken not just to eunuchs in general, but to, you might say, covenant-keeping eunuchs. those who delight in the Sabbath now in anticipation of entering that final glorious rest. Now, I wouldn't go so far as to say that this is a warrant for monasticism per se, but it certainly suggests that in the kingdom of Christ, celibacy has a higher place than it did under the Mosaic Code. From Adam to Christ, the whole focus was on the land and the seed, and it was through the coming of the seed that the blessing would come to the nations. But as the seed has come in Jesus Christ, you can see very clearly that in the New Testament, there is an increasing value placed upon the role of the celibate, the role of those who remain single and devoted to Christ's kingdom. Sure, in one sense, covenant evangelism, I'm not sure if you've heard of that phrase before, but covenant evangelism, that's about having lots of kids and raising them in the way of Christ, that's still a wonderful thing. But Isaiah's point is that God is doing something through the eunuch. The eunuch was not allowed to enter the assembly of the Lord in the law of Moses. But Jesus, when his disciples ask him, if you recall, Jesus at one point says that marriage is supposed to be permanent, one man, one woman for life. And his disciples' response is like, oh, if this is the case, then it's better not to marry. In the Jewish world, as well as in the Roman world, divorce was really easy to come by. And so, if you're saying, oh, we're supposed to stay married? Maybe it would be better to stay single. And Jesus' response is not to say, oh, you misunderstood me. No, his response is to say, no, there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it. There are some people who may choose to remain single. And Jesus says, and do so for the sake of the kingdom. And that's a good thing. Our day has become so preoccupied with sex that it's viewed as a sort of a natural right. It's gotten, you know how bizarre it's gotten. But our Lord Jesus Christ remained single and celibate for his whole life. Likewise, the Apostle Paul and many of the great Christians throughout the ages. You think about how God says that he will give in his house and within his walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters? Think about Augustine or Chrysostom or, for that matter, Macrina, the sister of Basil and Gregory or Hildegard of Bingen or, for that matter, in our own day, Grace Mullen, the godly librarian at Westminster Seminary who spent 40, 50 years, sort of shepherding generations of students through the library and helping them. This is where the way in which God establishes monuments in his kingdom to those who never had children, but who were devoted to the spread of the kingdom of Christ. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7, the unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. Notice that Paul is not objecting to that. He's not saying that the married man really should be focused on Christ more. No, actually, the married man, his interests are divided. And that's what God calls him to, because the married man is partly devoted to serving Christ, but he also has to take care of his family. is able to focus in that single-minded way on serving Christ. And so Paul encourages Christians to pursue that and says it's a good and honorable pursuit. And that's part of why Paul says this. It's because he was taught by Isaiah to think that this is more important than perhaps we had thought. And the single Christian shares in the full inheritance of the children of God, an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. It was often, sort of, the fear in the Old Testament was, oh, if you don't have kids, then your name will be cut off. Your line will end. And God says, not in my kingdom you won't. In my kingdom, you follow me, you don't have to have kids. I mean, think about it. I mean, this is where Grace Mullen never had a child in her life. And yet, her name and her line, as it were, will continue through all the generations, even though, sure, there will undoubtedly come a day when people will have forgotten the name of Grace Mullen. But yet, her influence will continue. And, what's more, in God's kingdom, her name will never be forgotten. Perhaps you've read in C.S. Lewis, whichever one of his books this is, but there's this picture of of this, in glory, there's this, the way they count fame has nothing to do with earthly fame. And there's this one woman who's holding court with sort of all these saints and angels gathered around her, and the tourist in heaven is sort of like, who is she? One of the great saints or martyrs? And like, oh, on earth, nobody knew who she was. She was a nobody, but the way that she cared for those around her, in heaven, she has the greatest of names. Because heaven does not operate by earthly standards when it comes to what gives you a great name. Well, verses 6 and 7 then respond to the fear of the foreigner who has joined himself to the board, wondering, will I be cut off in the day of judgment? and the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him, to love the name of the Lord and to be His servants. Everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it and holds fast by covenant. Again, notice these are covenant keeping foreigners. These covenant keepers are Sabbath keepers. Those who come Sabbath by Sabbath to worship God, to rest, to give rest to others. These I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." So you have foreigners bringing sacrifices to the temple. And it's like, that wasn't supposed to happen. But yet, Isaiah is reminding us, remember what God's promise to Abraham was, that all nations would be blessed through Abraham's seed. That is what Israel's task is, even if Israel has failed. But the singular suffering servant will succeed where Israel has failed. And God says the day is coming when the Gentiles will be included. The true worshippers of God will worship in spirit and in truth at the heavenly Zion, not merely the earthly Jerusalem. Jesus quotes this verse in Mark 11 when he cleanses the temple. He says, is it not written, my house will be called the house of prayer for all nations? The purpose and plan for Zion is not just for Israel, but for all peoples. This is why we need to be diligent in welcoming the stranger and the foreigner. Hospitality is primarily about love for strangers, because that is what God has done for us. The Lord God, verse 8, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, I will gather yet others to Him besides those already gathered. God is in the business of gathering the strangers, the foreigners, those outcasts, not just the outcasts of Israel, but I will gather others so that the nations will be restored. If you think about it, the Sabbath is a creation ordinance, yes, and therefore it points to the universality of humanity, that all human beings were created in the image of God. And if you think about how the exile symbolized the casting out of Eden, as Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden, so also Israel was cast out of the land. Well, now the restoration symbolizes the ingathering of all nations. As Abraham had been promised that all nations would be blessed through his seed, so now that promise is coming true. Now there's a sort of a second triad of speakers. The first three was the three statements of the Lord. Now there's the blind watchman and the righteous watchman. And then sandwiching in between this is the mockery of the wicked in the beginning of chapter 57. But God has called the foreigner and the eunuch to come to Zion and worship him. But now in verse 9, God speaks to the beasts of the field. Come to devour. Come to destroy the wicked. The watchmen of Israel are blind because they lack knowledge. They do not understand what God is doing. They are silent dogs. They cannot bark. Dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. They eat. They sleep. I mean, if you think about it, a watchdog that spends all its time eating and sleeping is not a very good watchdog. These are shepherds who have no understanding. They have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain. Come, they say, let me get wine, let us fill ourselves with strong drink, and tomorrow will be like this day, great beyond measure. Sounds exactly the way a drunkard would prophesy. Too often, this is the way that the ministers of Christ Church act. A shepherd should not be caring for his own gain. The watchman must see what God is doing and call the people to respond with faith and obedience. This is why it's important for the watchman to proclaim the whole counsel of God, that it's not just whatever parts might happen to be sort of most interesting to people or most suitable to what they want to hear about. It's partly why I preach through the whole Bible, because you need to hear the whole Word of God. Actually, as I was reading through this passage again, I was struck by parallels to Ezekiel 16. You can see how Ezekiel undoubtedly... Ezekiel basically takes what Isaiah did here and says, you weren't really paying attention when Isaiah said it, so I'm going to say it a little louder. have your ears blown apart, read Ezekiel 16. But the warning is given at the end of chapter 56 about these watchmen who aren't seeing, these shepherds who have no understanding, these drunken shepherds who just say, tomorrow will be like this day, great beyond measure. Right. How often do you hear preachers? It's miserable. And that's why Isaiah says in verse 1 of chapter 57, the righteous man perishes. And no one lays it to heart. Devout men are taken away. No one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity. He enters into peace. They rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness. Does that turn upside down the way we often think about death? Oftentimes we think of the death of our loved ones and we think of how unfair it is that they died so soon. Isaiah points to the foolishness of that way of thinking. The reality is that the death of the righteous is a blessing to them. They enter into peace. What we would refer to as that poor child who died in a car accident, cut off early in life. For the one who believes in Jesus, that's one child who has no more misery to worry about, has no more pain and agony and suffering and affliction. The righteous man is taken away from calamity. It's not a calamity that he died. He was removed from calamity by death. Now, I know how hard it is for us to lose our loved ones. But remember that for them, For those who belong to Jesus, death is their entrance into peace. Now beware, because as our passage ends, there is no peace for the wicked. So if you turn away from the Lord, you are turning away from peace. And that's why God turns to you in verse 3. But you draw near, sons of the sorceress, offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman. Whom are you mocking? Against whom do you open your mouth wide and stick out your tongue? In the Middle East, this is a really good way of insulting somebody. And the language he's using. To call somebody sons of a sorceress. Remember who he's talking to? He's talking to the Jewish elites, the quote-unquote faithful in Jerusalem. They think of themselves as faithful. Obviously, they're not so much. And he says, are you not children of transgression, the offspring of deceit, you who burn with lust among the oaks under every green tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys under the clefts of the rock? Think about the contrast to the foreigners who will be brought to my holy mountain. The wicked have set up their bed on a high and lofty mountain. Rather than keep the Sabbath and keep covenant with God, they have deserted the Lord. They have made a covenant with idols and with foreign kings. Idolatry is compared to adultery. Turning away from the Lord to pursue illicit relationships with other gods. There are echoes here from Isaiah 28 where Isaiah told us that Judah had made a covenant with death, an agreement with Sheol, and even so now. In verses 8 through 10, this is described in similar language. Behind the door, in the door post, you have set up your memorial for deserting me. You have uncovered your bed. You have gone up to it. You have made it wide. You have made a covenant for yourself with them. You have loved their bed. You have looked on nakedness. You journeyed to the king with oil and multiplied your perfumes. You sent your envoys far off. You sent down even to Sheol. You were weary with the length of your way, but you did not say it is hopeless. You found new life for your strength, and so you were not faint. Isaiah is saying, why are you chasing after these paths that only lead to death? His point, he doesn't identify a particular time. He uses very general language here This is a problem that continues to afflict the people of God. We have this long-standing tendency to say, well, okay, yeah, I know God says this, but I think if I do this, I'll be happy, or it'll lead to some sort of satisfaction. It's craziness. It's utter craziness to think that this could possibly lead to happiness. is that Israel hasn't changed. You continue to make a covenant with death. You continue to seek Sheol. And so the grave will be your portion. Israel has forgotten God. They are living as though God will not judge them. How often does this characterize us as well? That we forget that God will judge the living and the dead. We live as though there's no judgment coming. So what I do when nobody's watching, what I do doesn't matter. We have all sorts of energy and strength for our follies, but when it comes to our devotion to God, well, notice what God says, verse 11. Whom did you dread and fear so that you lied and did not remember me, did not lay it to heart? Have I not held my peace even for a long time and you do not fear me? Do you fear God? Too often God is portrayed as something like a cosmic Santa Claus who just gives good stuff to everyone. And God says, I've been patient and I didn't give you what your sins deserved and so you became convinced that I was never going to actually judge. The irony is that when God is patient and when he holds his peace and refrains from dealing with us as our sins deserve, the result is that we think that God will never judge us. And so we lie. We don't tell the truth. We do not remember the Lord our God. We wander down our own paths and figure, oh, you know, I'll have time to deal with this later if maybe... And so God says with a touch of sarcasm in verse 12, I will declare your righteousness and your deeds, but they will not profit you. All your good deeds will fall short because you don't fear the Lord. Who's going to save you? When you cry out, verse 13, let your collection of idols deliver you. Which of your idols will rise up and save you when you're in trouble? Which of the Pleasures that you run after and seek after will be there for you when you need them. The wind will carry them all away. A breath will take them away. But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain. This is why Isaiah has been using the Sabbath as his focal point. Because we are weak and frail. We need physical reminders. We are bodily creatures, so we need bodily reminders. Every week when you rest from your labors and you worship at God's holy mountain, you're called to remember who you are. It's so easy to forget. But that's why God has given us the Sabbath as a place where we take refuge in the Lord. And then the righteous watchman cries out in verse 14. He said, build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people's way. Echoing Isaiah 40, prepare the way of the Lord. And like Isaiah 40, it prepares us for the voice of the Lord in verse 15. For thus says the one who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place. Notice the emphasis on the Holy One of Israel. This has been one of Isaiah's favorite themes, understandably so, from his call in Isaiah 6 when he sees the Lord and he hears the cry, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. Isaiah is the one of all the prophets who understands the holiness of God. So thus says the one who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy, I dwell in the high and holy place and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. The exalted one who is high and lifted up yet deigns to dwell with those who are lowly Isaiah draws our attention away from our earthly experience to the true reality that shapes all earthly experience. Because our God is holy. He is separated. He is exalted. He is above all things. And yet that same holiness that is what makes Him distinct from us is also what impels Him to draw near to us. This is precisely one of the ways in which he is not like us. How do you tend to respond to sort of foul, slimy things? We tend to respond, or for that matter, how do you respond to people who just sort of constantly sort of annoy you and do things that you don't like? We tend to get annoyed at things and people and keep our distance. But God's holiness, whereby he is not like us, is precisely that which impels him to draw near to us, because his ways are higher than our ways, his thoughts are higher than our thoughts. If they weren't, he wouldn't have anything to do with us. But he loves that which he has made. And so, humility is also a divine attribute. He is not only holy, he is also humble. And he cares for those who have no other refuge. And he says, I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry. His anger is entirely justified and understandable because we sinned against him and we keep thumbing our nose at him. But he says, I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry, for the spirit would grow faint before me and the breath of life that I made. Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain, I was angry. God says, remember, I'm right for being angry with you. What you did was wrong. I struck him, I hid my face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart. who's the first he is God, who's the other he? This is Israel. This is his people. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him. I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, creating the fruit of the lips. God says, I am the one. This is where the declaration of pardon today, I took it from Isaiah 59. That's where it was, which is where this story is going. Because where this story is going is sort of, oh, how is God going to do this? Where's that righteous man who will arise and succeed where all of the others have failed? And God looked and there was no one. And so his own arm worked salvation for him. Because it was only when the word became flesh I don't know if any of you had that initial sort of thought this morning. Wait, Pastor Peter stayed up in the pulpit. Why is he staying up in the pulpit for giving the declaration of pardon? Well, it was because it started off with the Lord looked and there was no one. But then his own arm worked salvation for him. He came in the flesh because he alone is the one who could save his people. Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain, I was angry. I struck him. I hid my face and was angry. I will heal him." And so God speaks again, peace, peace to the far and to the near, says the Lord, and I will heal him. God's peace, God's shalom will bring healing to Israel and indeed, as we've already been seeing, to the foreigners, to the strangers, to the nations. But to the wicked, who continue to rebel against God, the wicked are like the tossing sea, for it cannot be quiet. and its waters toss up mire and dirt. There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked." Isaiah here is quoting from himself. Isaiah 48. Israel is no different after the restoration from exile than they were before. Israel is no different, but there is a difference. In Isaiah 48, God said, your peace would have been like a river. Israel returns from exile no different than before. But something has changed. By Isaiah 57, we have heard of the singular suffering servant. We have heard of how God's arm will work salvation for him in the coming of the suffering servant. And so now God does not merely say that peace would have come. No. Peace has come. All those who take refuge in Him, both far and near, both Jew and Gentile, will alike be healed. Isaiah calls upon Israel and you, all nations, to hope in the coming of the righteous servant. We look back to that holy servant, Jesus, and rejoice that Jesus has preached peace to you who are far off and peace to those who are near. For through Him, we both have access in one spirit to the Father, because we come in Jesus' name. Oh Lord our God have mercy on us and strengthen us we pray by your spirit because we are weak and frail and left to ourselves we are just like Israel. We are just like our fathers in the wilderness who turn aside and did not enter your rest. Oh Lord have mercy on us. Have mercy and grant that we might hear your voice. Grant that we might be healed by your peace. Help, help us, because apart from your grace and apart from your Spirit, we have nothing. Lord, strengthen us as we walk before you and renew us by your Word and Spirit that we might keep your Sabbaths and rejoice in your salvation, that we might give rest to others, that we might worship you, that we might find our rest in Jesus Christ, your Son, our Savior. Lord, have mercy upon us and help us as we begin the coming week that we might be devoted to your service as we seek to love you and love one another in our labors through these six days. Grant that we might keep our eyes fixed upon Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, that as you have met with us, as you have spoken to us, as you have granted your fellowship to us, grant that we might live in the strength and the life that is ours in Christ Jesus. Lord, have mercy upon all those who are suffering and afflicted and grant to them mercy and grace to cling to our Savior. Grant to those who are laboring in difficult situations and who are suffering under grievous afflictions that they might find their peace in Jesus. And Lord, grant your comfort to those who mourn the loss of loved ones and be gracious to them that they might take comfort in knowing that the righteous man is taken away from calamity and enters into peace. So Lord, help us to have that same confidence that since we do not know the hour of our death, grant that we might live in such a way that we might never be afraid to die, knowing that we could meet you at any time. Help us, Lord, to be diligent in the work that you've given us to do, to love you and to love all those around us. And as we go to our rest now this night, we pray that you would strengthen us and grant to us your peace. For we pray in Jesus' name, amen.