Isaiah 41:20 - Prayer Tents



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Isaiah 41
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Do You Feel Like a Lowly Worm?

41"Quiet down, far-flung ocean islands. Listen! Sit down and rest, everyone. Recover your strength. Gather around me. Say what's on your heart. Together let's decide what's right.H2790H339H3816H2498H3581H5066H1696H7126H3162H4941 2"Who got things rolling here, got this champion from the east on the move? Who recruited him for this job, then rounded up and corralled the nations so he could run roughshod over kings? He's off and running, pulverizing nations into dust, leaving only stubble and chaff in his wake.H5782H6664H4217H7121H7272H5414H1471H6440H7287H4428H5414H6083H2719H5086H7179H7198 3He chases them and comes through unscathed, his feet scarcely touching the path.H7291H5674H7965H734H935H7272 4"Who did this? Who made it happen? Who always gets things started? I did. GOD. I'm first on the scene. I'm also the last to leave.H6466H6213H7121H1755H7218H3068H7223H314 5"Far-flung ocean islands see it and panic. The ends of the earth are shaken. Fearfully they huddle together.H339H7200H3372H7098H776H2729H7126H857 6They try to help each other out, making up stories in the dark.H5826H376H7453H559H251H2388 7The godmakers in the workshops go into overtime production, crafting new models of no-gods, Urging one another on—'Good job!' 'Great design!'— pounding in nails at the base so that the things won't tip over.H2796H2388H6884H2505H6360H1986H6471H559H2896H1694H2388H4548H4131 8"But you, Israel, are my servant. You're Jacob, my first choice, descendants of my good friend Abraham.H3478H5650H3290H977H2233H85H157 9I pulled you in from all over the world, called you in from every dark corner of the earth, Telling you, 'You're my servant, serving on my side. I've picked you. I haven't dropped you.'H2388H7098H776H7121H678H559H5650H977H3988 10Don't panic. I'm with you. There's no need to fear for I'm your God. I'll give you strength. I'll help you. I'll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.H3372H8159H430H553H5826H8551H3225H6664 11"Count on it: Everyone who had it in for you will end up out in the cold— real losers. Those who worked against you will end up empty-handed— nothing to show for their lives.H2734H954H3637H582H7379H6 12When you go out looking for your old adversaries you won't find them— Not a trace of your old enemies, not even a memory.H1245H4672H582H4695H4421H657 13That's right. Because I, your GOD, have a firm grip on you and I'm not letting go. I'm telling you, 'Don't panic. I'm right here to help you.'H3068H430H2388H3225H559H3372H5826 14"Do you feel like a lowly worm, Jacob? Don't be afraid. Feel like a fragile insect, Israel? I'll help you. I, GOD, want to reassure you. The God who buys you back, The Holy of Israel.H3372H8438H3290H4962H3478H5826H5002H3068H1350H6918H3478 15I'm transforming you from worm to harrow, from insect to iron. As a sharp-toothed harrow you'll smooth out the mountains, turn those tough old hills into loamy soil.H7760H2319H2742H4173H1167H6374H1758H2022H1854H7760H1389H4671 16You'll open the rough ground to the weather, to the blasts of sun and wind and rain. But you'll be confident and exuberant, expansive in The Holy of Israel!H2219H7307H5375H5591H6327H1523H3068H1984H6918H3478 17"The poor and homeless are desperate for water, their tongues parched and no water to be found. But I'm there to be found, I'm there for them, and I, God of Israel, will not leave them thirsty.H6041H34H1245H4325H3956H5405H6772H3068H6030H430H3478H5800 18I'll open up rivers for them on the barren hills, spout fountains in the valleys. I'll turn the baked-clay badlands into a cool pond, the waterless waste into splashing creeks.H6605H5104H8205H4599H8432H1237H7760H4057H98H4325H6723H776H4161H4325 19I'll plant the red cedar in that treeless wasteland, also acacia, myrtle, and olive. I'll place the cypress in the desert, with plenty of oaks and pines.H5414H4057H730H7848H1918H8081H6086H7760H6160H1265H8410H8391H3162 20Everyone will see this. No one can miss it— unavoidable, indisputable evidence That I, GOD, personally did this. It's created and signed by The Holy of Israel.H7200H3045H7760H7919H3162H3027H3068H6213H6918H3478H1254 21"Set out your case for your gods," says GOD. "Bring your evidence," says the King of Jacob.H7126H7379H559H3068H5066H6110H559H4428H3290 22"Take the stand on behalf of your idols, offer arguments, assemble reasons. Spread out the facts before us so that we can assess them ourselves. Ask them, 'If you are gods, explain what the past means—H5066H5046H7136H5046H7223H7760H3820H3045H319H8085H935 23or, failing that, tell us what will happen in the future. Can't do that? How about doing something—anything! Good or bad—whatever. Can you hurt us or help us? Do we need to be afraid?'H5046H857H268H3045H430H3190H7489H8159H7200H3162 24They say nothing, because they are nothing— sham gods, no-gods, fool-making gods.H369H6467H659H8441H977 25"I, God, started someone out from the north and he's come. He was called out of the east by name. He'll stomp the rulers into the mud the way a potter works the clay.H5782H6828H857H4217H8121H7121H8034H935H5461H2563H3335H7429H2916 26Let me ask you, Did anyone guess that this might happen? Did anyone tell us earlier so we might confirm it with 'Yes, he's right!'? No one mentioned it, no one announced it, no one heard a peep out of you.H5046H7218H3045H6440H559H6662H5046H8085H8085H561 27But I told Zion all about this beforehand. I gave Jerusalem a preacher of good news.H7223H6726H2009H2009H5414H3389H1319 28But around here there's no one— no one who knows what's going on. I ask, but no one can tell me the score.H7200H376H3289H7592H7725H1697 29Nothing here. It's all smoke and hot air— sham gods, hollow gods, no-gods.H205H4639H657H5262H7307H8414


The Message (MSG). All Scripture quotations are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries. More details.
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