Isaiah 30:18-19 says this:
Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! Oh people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you.
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What a WONDERFUL passage. It speaks to me fresh.
The Lord longs to be gracious to you…
I still wonder why I wouldn’t just drop my head and come to Him. He LONGS to be gracious to me. He waits…why would I keep Him waiting? The word “gracious” means to show favor. Yet I put off coming to Him….go figure!
“…he rises to show you compassion.”
The word “rises” means exalted. I find that fascinating. He is exalted when I come to Him and allow Him to show me His compassion. Again, why do I put Him off? Why do I wait? Why not surrender? Yield? Submit?
“Compassion” is also translated “mercy.” The actual definition from Strongs is “to love, love deeply, have mercy, be compassionate, have tender affection, have compassion.” All of this amazing “stuff” is ready to be poured out on me when I come to the Lord. I can come to Him ANY time. I don’t need to wait. There is no need for me to put it off. His kindness is waiting to be poured out.
For the Lord is a God of justice…
Wow. He calls all of that “justice?” It reminds me of the line from a song. “The beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair.” It really is true. Justice would seem to require that I pay for my OWN sin, but because Christ paid for all of my sin–past, present, future–God considers justice, giving me mercy, compassion, grace. If this doesn’t blow the mind, I don’t know what does!
Blessed are all who wait for him!
“Blessed” is also translated “happy.” Isn’t it funny to think that God wants to give me “happiness?” John Piper does a great discussion of this in Pleasures of God,
“Wait.” This is fascinating. This word is the same exact word used in verse 18 where it says the Lord LONGS to be gracious to me. It is almost like this passage says, “I long for you, won’t you long for me, too?” Once again, God’s precious heart is displayed…so tender.
Thank you, Lord, for your Word.
