Isaiah 25:1-9 (NRSV)
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Chapter 25O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you, I will praise your name; for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. Verse 2For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the palace of aliens is a city no more, it will never be rebuilt. Verse 3Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; cities of ruthless nations will fear you. Verse 4For you have been a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in their distress, a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat. When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rainstorm, Verse 5the noise of aliens like heat in a dry place, you subdued the heat with the shade of clouds; the song of the ruthless was stilled.
Verse 6On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. Verse 7And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Verse 8Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.
Verse 9It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Devotion
I can't wait to get there, can you? I can't wait to get to that place and time where ruthless power no longer holds sway. Where the poor and needy are truly sheltered. Where the shroud of death is forever folded and put away-no longer needed. And the place where all people feast in God's presence. Sometimes that time and place seems far off. I hear of acts of violence, ruthlessness and injustice and think, "Lord, we have so far to go." Then I glimpse some act of grace and justice and think, "We're almost there." It is like driving a winding rural road at the foot of the mountains. The road bends away and the mountaintop fades in the rear-view mirror, but then the road turns back and the mountain looms ahead with growing hope and promise. Isaiah's words are filled with hope and the promise that the road leads to that mountaintop.
Prayer
Lord open our eyes to the wonderful things you are doing. Open our eyes to the fulfillment of your plans-old, faithful and sure-as we await the great feast you prepare for all people. Amen.