[Anglican Devotional 23 December 2023] Topic: God Resists The Proud

Posted by: Nnenna || Categories: Devotional

TOPIC: God Resists The Proud

READ: Isaiah 47:1-15(NKJV)

1. “Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; Sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no more be called Tender and delicate.
2. Take the millstones and grind meal. Remove your veil, Take off the skirt, Uncover the thigh, Pass through the rivers.
3. Your nakedness shall be uncovered, Yes, your shame will be seen; I will take vengeance, And I will not arbitrate with a man.”
4. [As for] our Redeemer, the LORD of hosts [is] His name, The Holy One of Israel.
5. ” Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; For you shall no longer be called The Lady of Kingdoms.
6. I was angry with My people; I have profaned My inheritance, And given them into your hand. You showed them no mercy; On the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily.
7. And you said, ‘I shall be a lady forever,’ [So] that you did not take these [things] to heart, Nor remember the latter end of them.
8. ” Therefore hear this now, [you who are] given to pleasures, Who dwell securely, Who say in your heart, ‘I [am,] and [there is] no one else besides me; I shall not sit [as] a widow, Nor shall I know the loss of children’;
9. But these two [things] shall come to you In a moment, in one day: The loss of children, and widowhood. They shall come upon you in their fullness Because of the multitude of your sorceries, For the great abundance of your enchantments.
10. “For you have trusted in your wickedness; You have said, ‘No one sees me’; Your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you; And you have said in your heart, ‘I [am,] and [there is] no one else besides me.’
11. Therefore evil shall come upon you; You shall not know from where it arises. And trouble shall fall upon you; You will not be able to put it off. And desolation shall come upon you suddenly, [Which] you shall not know.
12. ” Stand now with your enchantments And the multitude of your sorceries, In which you have labored from your youth — Perhaps you will be able to profit, Perhaps you will prevail.
13. You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, [And] the monthly prognosticators Stand up and save you From what shall come upon you.
14. Behold, they shall be as stubble, The fire shall burn them; They shall not deliver themselves From the power of the flame; [It shall] not [be] a coal to be warmed by, [Nor] a fire to sit before!
15. Thus shall they be to you With whom you have labored, Your merchants from your youth; They shall wander each one to his quarter. No one shall save you.

THE MESSAGE:

Babylon has always stood as a symbol of wickedness, pride and arrogance. The Babylonian Empire had, at the time of Prophet Isaiah, attended an enviable height in many forms of human achievements. The people had become so successful that they began to feel they were “untouchable” and “unmovable.” They said to themselves: “I am, and there is no one besides me; I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children”. They were a people full of themselves. They had no regard for God. They felt secured in their wickedness and in their much sorcery, and they felt on top of the world (v.10). Such people put their whole trust in themselves, their positions and possessions. They forgot that “… God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble”(James 4:6).

God rewarded the proud, arrogant and wicked Babylon. God is able to strip the wicked of their false confidence and security. God said to the wicked, proud and arrogant Babylon, “These two things shall come upon you in a moment, in one day; the loss of children and widowhood… in spite of your many sorceries and the great power of your enchantments” (v.9). You need to trust in the Lord alone, with all your heart (Proverbs 3:5-6), and God’s security will be yours.

PRAYER: Lord, establish me in your humility and righteousness.

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