Isaiah 50:4-9a (NRSV)
Read Isaiah 50:4-9a on biblegateway.com
Verse 4The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens- wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. Verse 5The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. Verse 6I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. Verse 7The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; Verse 8he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. Verse 9It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty? All of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.
Devotion
Isaiah's concern about disgrace and shame resonate strongly with me, and in the lives of the people I serve: churchgoers, wrestlers and those serving in our U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. It's one thing when we do something that's profane; it's another thing when we think ourselves to be profane. When we're shamed and disgraced, I often wonder what good news is to those people. "What exactly is gospel?" For the shamed, the disgraced, it has to be a word more than, "Be a good person." It has to be a word that says, "I am with you; you are mine." To think that God would stand and be present with us—disgraced, shamed, ugly—then maybe we're not so ugly and profane after all. Maybe we are worthy. We stand forgiven, and we can stand with confidence alongside the almighty God.
Prayer
God our helper, you stand with us when no one would stand with us—profane to the world. Thank you for reminding us who we are and who we belong to. Amen.