Isaiah 44:16 - Prayer Tents



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Isaiah 44
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Proud to Be Called Israel

44"But for now, dear servant Jacob, listen— yes, you, Israel, my personal choice.H8085H3290H5650H3478H977 2GOD who made you has something to say to you; the God who formed you in the womb wants to help you. Don't be afraid, dear servant Jacob, Jeshurun, the one I chose.H559H3068H6213H3335H990H5826H3372H3290H5650H3484H977 3For I will pour water on the thirsty ground and send streams coursing through the parched earth. I will pour my Spirit into your descendants and my blessing on your children.H3332H4325H6771H5140H3004H3332H7307H2233H1293H6631 4They shall sprout like grass on the prairie, like willows alongside creeks.H6779H996H2682H6155H4325H2988 5This one will say, 'I am GOD's,' and another will go by the name Jacob; That one will write on his hand 'GOD's property'— and be proud to be called Israel."H559H3068H7121H8034H3290H3789H3027H3068H3655H8034H3478 6GOD, King of Israel, your Redeemer, GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies, says: "I'm first, I'm last, and everything in between. I'm the only God there is.H559H3068H4428H3478H1350H3068H6635H7223H314H1107H430 7Who compares with me? Speak up. See if you measure up. From the beginning, who else has always announced what's coming? So what is coming next? Anybody want to venture a try?H7121H5046H6186H7760H5769H5971H857H935H5046 8Don't be afraid, and don't worry: Haven't I always kept you informed, told you what was going on? You're my eyewitnesses: Have you ever come across a God, a real God, other than me? There's no Rock like me that I know of."H6342H7297H7297H8085H227H5046H5707H3426H433H1107H6697H3045

Lover of Emptiness

9All those who make no-god idols don't amount to a thing, and what they work so hard at making is nothing. Their little puppet-gods see nothing and know nothing—they're total embarrassments!H3335H6459H8414H2530H3276H5707H7200H3045H954 10Who would bother making gods that can't do anything, that can't "god"?H3335H410H5258H6459H3276H1115 11Watch all the no-god worshipers hide their faces in shame. Watch the no-god makers slink off humiliated when their idols fail them. Get them out here in the open. Make them face God-reality.H2270H954H2796H120H6908H5975H6342H954H3162 12The blacksmith makes his no-god, works it over in his forge, hammering it on his anvil—such hard work! He works away, fatigued with hunger and thirst.H1270H2796H4621H6466H6352H3335H4717H6466H3581H2220H7457H3581H369H8354H4325H3286 13The woodworker draws up plans for his no-god, traces it on a block of wood. He shapes it with chisels and planes into human shape—a beautiful woman, a handsome man, ready to be placed in a chapel.H2796H6086H5186H6957H8388H8279H6213H4741H8388H4230H6213H8403H376H8597H120H3427H1004 14He first cuts down a cedar, or maybe picks out a pine or oak, and lets it grow strong in the forest, nourished by the rain.H3772H730H3947H8645H437H553H6086H3293H5193H766H1653H1431 15Then it can serve a double purpose: Part he uses as firewood for keeping warm and baking bread; from the other part he makes a god that he worships—carves it into a god shape and prays before it.H120H1197H3947H2552H5400H644H3899H6466H410H7812H6213H6459H5456 16With half he makes a fire to warm himself and barbecue his supper. He eats his fill and sits back satisfied with his stomach full and his feet warmed by the fire: "Ah, this is the life."H8313H2677H1119H784H2677H398H1320H6740H6748H7646H2552H559H1889H2552H7200H217 17And he still has half left for a god, made to his personal design—a handy, convenient no-god to worship whenever so inclined. Whenever the need strikes him he prays to it, "Save me. You're my god."H7611H6213H410H6459H5456H7812H6419H559H5337H410 18Pretty stupid, wouldn't you say? Don't they have eyes in their heads? Are their brains working at all?H3045H995H2902H5869H7200H3826H7919 19Doesn't it occur to them to say, "Half of this tree I used for firewood: I baked bread, roasted meat, and enjoyed a good meal. And now I've used the rest to make an abominable no-god. Here I am praying to a stick of wood!"H7725H3820H1847H8394H559H8313H2677H1119H784H644H3899H1513H6740H1320H398H6213H3499H8441H5456H944H6086 20This lover of emptiness, of nothing, is so out of touch with reality, so far gone, that he can't even look at what he's doing, can't even look at the no-god stick of wood in his hand and say, "This is crazy."H7462H665H2048H3820H5186H5337H5315H559H8267H3225 21"Remember these things, O Jacob. Take it seriously, Israel, that you're my servant. I made you, shaped you: You're my servant. O Israel, I'll never forget you.H2142H3290H3478H5650H3335H5650H3478H5382 22I've wiped the slate of all your wrongdoings. There's nothing left of your sins. Come back to me, come back. I've redeemed you."H4229H5645H6588H6051H2403H7725H1350 23High heavens, sing! GOD has done it. Deep earth, shout! And you mountains, sing! A forest choir of oaks and pines and cedars! GOD has redeemed Jacob. GOD's glory is on display in Israel.H7442H8064H3068H6213H7321H8482H776H6476H7440H2022H3293H6086H3068H1350H3290H6286H3478 24GOD, your Redeemer, who shaped your life in your mother's womb, says: "I am GOD. I made all that is. With no help from you I spread out the skies and laid out the earth."H559H3068H1350H3335H990H3068H6213H5186H8064H7554H776 25He makes the magicians look ridiculous and turns fortunetellers into jokes. He makes the experts look trivial and their latest knowledge look silly.H6565H226H907H7080H1984H7725H2450H268H1847H5528 26But he backs the word of his servant and confirms the counsel of his messengers. He says to Jerusalem, "Be inhabited," and to the cities of Judah, "Be rebuilt," and to the ruins, "I raise you up."H6965H1697H5650H7999H6098H4397H559H3389H3427H5892H3063H1129H6965H2723 27He says to Ocean, "Dry up. I'm drying up your rivers."H559H6683H2717H3001H5104 28He says to Cyrus, "My shepherd— everything I want, you'll do it." He says to Jerusalem, "Be built," and to the Temple, "Be established."H559H3566H7462H7999H2656H559H3389H1129H1964H3245


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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