Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah chapter 31.

“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help
And rely on horses,
And trust in chariots because they are many
And in horsemen because they are very strong,
But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord!
2 Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster
And does not retract His words,
But will arise against the house of evildoers
And against the help of the workers of iniquity.
3 Now the Egyptians are men and not God,
And their horses are flesh and not spirit;
So the Lord will stretch out His hand,
And he who helps will stumble
And he who is helped will fall,
And all of them will come to an end together.

4 For thus says the Lord to me,

“As the lion or the young lion growls over his prey,
Against which a band of shepherds is called out,
And he will not be terrified at their voice nor disturbed at their noise,
So will the Lord of hosts come down to wage war on Mount Zion and on its hill.”
5 Like flying birds so the Lord of hosts will protect Jerusalem.
He will protect and deliver it;
He will pass over and rescue it.

6 Return to Him from whom you have deeply defected, O sons of Israel.  7 For in that day every man will cast away his silver idols and his gold idols, which your sinful hands have made for you as a sin.

8 And the Assyrian will fall by a sword not of man,
And a sword not of man will devour him.
So he will not escape the sword,
And his young men will become forced laborers.
9 “His rock will pass away because of panic,
And his princes will be terrified at the standard,”
Declares the Lord, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.”  Isaiah chapter 31.

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“6 Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
With the saving strength of His right hand.
7 Some boast in chariots and some in horses,
But we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God.”  Psalm 20:6-7.

“6 For I will not trust in my bow,
Nor will my sword save me.
7 But You have saved us from our adversaries,
And You have put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we have boasted all day long,
And we will give thanks to Your name forever.  Selah.”  Psalm 44:6-8.

“13 The Lord looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men;
14 From His dwelling place He looks out
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 He who fashions the hearts of them all,
He who understands all their works.
16 The king is not saved by a mighty army;
A warrior is not delivered by great strength.
17 A horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.

18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope for His lovingkindness,
19 To deliver their soul from death
And to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in You.”  Psalm 34:13-22.

“11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
How blessed is the man who trusts in You!”  Psalm 84:11-12.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 30:18-33.  Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+30&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“18 Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
How blessed are all those who long for Him.

19 O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry;  when He hears it, He will answer you.  20 Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher.  21 Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.  22 And you will defile your graven images overlaid with silver, and your molten images plated with gold.  You will scatter them as an impure thing, and say to them, “Be gone!”

23 Then He will give you rain for the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the yield of the ground, and it will be rich and plenteous;  on that day your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture.”  Isaiah 30:18-23.

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“Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.  …”  Verse 18.

Other doctrine uses this quote and other Scripture to portray a reactionary god who only wants to show grace.  This god “longs” with hands folded just waiting to see which people will exercise their alleged free-will and repent so that he can be gracious to those people.

But, Reformed Doctrine understands that the context of this quote above is “For the Lord is a God of justice” which is in the same verse 18.  This context shows that the meaning of the first quote is that the LORD must complete punishment as an exercise of His justice before He shows grace.

Likewise, God completed His justice before showing grace when He sent His precious only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die on the cross.  If ever there was a time for God to refrain from justice, it was this time.  But, God perfectly demonstrated and completed His justice by even sending Christ to the cross, because justice required satisfaction, that is punishment for the sins of God’s Elect, before God could extend grace to them.

God does not refrain from justice.  God is not reluctant to exercise justice.  God delights in both justice and lovingkindness and exercises both.

“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
Lovingkindness and truth go before You.”  Psalm 89:14.

“Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches;  but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth;  for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.”  Jeremiah 9:23-24.

The meaning of the statement “Good and upright is the LORD” is that God is both “Good” in the sense of being gracious and “upright” in the sense of being just.

“8 Good and upright is the Lord;
Therefore He instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in justice,
And He teaches the humble His way.”  Psalm 25:8-9.

“4 For the word of the Lord is upright,
And all His work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.”  Psalm 33:4-5.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 30:1-17.  Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+30&version=NASB

““Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the Lord,
“Who execute a plan, but not Mine,
And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit,
In order to add sin to sin;
2 Who proceed down to Egypt
Without consulting Me,
To take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh
And to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
3 “Therefore the safety of Pharaoh will be your shame
And the shelter in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation.
4 “For their princes are at Zoan
And their ambassadors arrive at Hanes.
5 “Everyone will be ashamed because of a people who cannot profit them,
Who are not for help or profit, but for shame and also for reproach.”

…

15 For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said,

“In repentance and rest you will be saved,
In quietness and trust is your strength.”
But you were not willing,
16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses,”
Therefore you shall flee!
“And we will ride on swift horses,”
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.
17 One thousand will flee at the threat of one man;
You will flee at the threat of five,
Until you are left as a flag on a mountain top
And as a signal on a hill.”  Isaiah 30:1-5 and 15-17.

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Israel trusted Egypt rather than the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel.

And, Israel fled to Egypt for help.

Whom do we trust?

To whom do we flee for help?

Today’s Scripture calls us to trust in God.

Today’s Scripture calls us to repent of the times when our eyes look nervously down and around to man instead of looking up and focused on God.

Today’s Scripture calls us to be quiet and rest in the LORD like a child quietly trusts his mother and rests on her.

“For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said,

“In repentance and rest you will be saved,
In quietness and trust is your strength.”  …”  Verse 15.

“O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
2 Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.”  Psalm chapter 131.

“11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
How blessed is the man who trusts in You!”  Psalm 84:11-12.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 29:17-24.

“17 Is it not yet just a little while
Before Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field,
And the fertile field will be considered as a forest?
18 On that day the deaf will hear words of a book,
And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
19 The afflicted also will increase their gladness in the Lord,
And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless will come to an end and the scorner will be finished,
Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be cut off;
21 Who cause a person to be indicted by a word,
And ensnare him who adjudicates at the gate,
And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.

22 Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

“Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now turn pale;
23 But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst,
They will sanctify My name;
Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
And will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 “Those who err in mind will know the truth,
And those who criticize will accept instruction.”  Isaiah 29:17-24.

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Thus, there is hope!

Wait for the LORD!

“20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in You.”  Psalm 33:20-22.

“The Lord favors those who fear Him,
Those who wait for His lovingkindness.”  Psalm 147:11.

“And it will be said in that day,
“Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”  Isaiah 25:9.

“Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him;  But the righteous will live by his faith.”  Habakkuk 2:4.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith;  as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”  Romans 1:16-17.

“36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

37 For yet in a very little while,
He who is coming will come, and will not delay.
38 But My righteous one shall live by faith;
And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.

39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”  Hebrews 10:36-39.

“7 But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
8 Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy.
Though I fall I will rise;
Though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me.

9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me.
He will bring me out to the light,
And I will see His righteousness.”  Micah 7:7-9.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 29:1-16.  Here is a link to this chapter – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+29&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“Woe, O Ariel (Jerusalem), Ariel the city where David once camped!
Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule.
2 I will bring distress to Ariel,
And she will be a city of lamenting and mourning;
And she will be like an Ariel to me.
3 I will camp against you encircling you,
And I will set siegeworks against you,
And I will raise up battle towers against you.

..

13 Then the Lord said,
“Because this people draw near with their words
And honor Me with their lip service,
But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,
14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;
And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,
And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.”
15 Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the Lord,
And whose deeds are done in a dark place,
And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”
16 You turn things around!
Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay,
That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;
Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?”  Isaiah 29:1-3 and 13-16.

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Other doctrine resists and rebels against God’s sovereignty.
 
We see it again in today’s Scripture.

“You turn things around!
Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay,
That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;
Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?”  Verse 16.

And, we see it also elsewhere in Scripture.

“2 The kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers take counsel together
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us tear their fetters apart
And cast away their cords from us!”  Psalm 2:2-3.

“9 “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker—
An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth!
Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’
Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?
10 “Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
Or to a woman, ‘To what are you giving birth?’”  Isaiah 45:9-10.

“You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault?  For who resists His will?”  On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God?  The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it?  Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?”  Romans 9:19-21.

But, God does not loosen His grip;  God laughs and scoffs at them and then will terrify them in His fury.

“4 He who sits in the heavens laughs,
The Lord scoffs at them.
5 Then He will speak to them in His anger
And terrify them in His fury, saying,
6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King
Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”  Psalm 2:4-6.

But, for Reformed Doctrine which joyfully embraces God’s sovereignty and seeks out God’s will, wisdom, and works:
 
“11 Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:

“Ask Me about the things to come concerning My sons,
And you shall commit to Me the work of My hands.
12 “It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it.
I stretched out the heavens with My hands
And I ordained all their host.
13 “I have aroused him in righteousness
And I will make all his ways smooth;
He will build My city and will let My exiles go free,
Without any payment or reward,” says the Lord of hosts.”  Isaiah 45:11-13.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 28:23-29.

“23 Give ear and hear my voice,
Listen and hear my words.
24 Does the farmer plow continually to plant seed?                                                                                                                                                                 Does he continually turn and harrow the ground?
25 Does he not level its surface
And sow dill and scatter cummin
And plant wheat in rows,
Barley in its place and rye within its area?
26 For his God instructs and teaches him properly.
27 For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
Nor is the cartwheel driven over cummin;
But dill is beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a club.
28 Grain for bread is crushed,
Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever.
Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it,
He does not thresh it longer.
29 This also comes from the Lord of hosts,
Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great.”  Isaiah 28:23-29.

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There is a difficult part of this Scripture to understand, and there is an easy part of this Scripture to understand.  But it is all wonderful and great.

“This also comes from the Lord of hosts,
Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great.”  Verse 29.

And, there is hope that the LORD will help us understand.

“For his God instructs and teaches him properly.”  Verse 26.

The difficult part of this Scripture is the farmer analogies such as the following verse on which we will meditate.

“Grain for bread is crushed,
Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever.
Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it,
He does not thresh it longer.”  Verse 28.

As we meditate on this difficult part to understand, we check out the definition of “thresh”.

“Thresh” is defined by The Free Dictionary as “To beat the stems and husks of (grain or cereal plants) with a machine or flail to separate the grains or seeds from the straw.”  http://www.thefreedictionary.com/thresh

And, we consider the context of this Scripture.  What is one of the themes of the Book of Isaiah?

God punished the nation of Israel using nations like Assyria and Babylon as His tools.  But, God did not totally destroy Israel.  God saved a remnant.

“For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return;  A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.”  Isaiah 10:22.

Putting these meditations together, God threshed Israel.  But, God did not thresh Israel forever so as to totally destroy all of Israel.  God threshed Israel just long enough to separate that part of Israel which would be destroyed (the straw) from that remnant of Israel that would be saved (the grain).

The easy part of this Scripture is the general statement that God instructs and teaches His people.

“For his God instructs and teaches him properly.”  Verse 26.

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you with My eye upon you.”  Psalm 32:8.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 28:14-22.

“14 Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, O scoffers,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol we have made a pact.
The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by,
For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.”

16 Therefore thus says the Lord God,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone,
A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.
He who believes in it will not be disturbed.
17 “I will make justice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies
And the waters will overflow the secret place.
18 “Your covenant with death will be canceled,
And your pact with Sheol will not stand;
When the overwhelming scourge passes through,
Then you become its trampling place.
19 “As often as it passes through, it will seize you;
For morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night,
And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means.”
20 The bed is too short on which to stretch out,
And the blanket is too small to wrap oneself in.
21 For the Lord will rise up as at Mount Perazim,
He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon,
To do His task, His unusual task,
And to work His work, His extraordinary work.
22 And now do not carry on as scoffers,
Or your fetters will be made stronger;
For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts
Of decisive destruction on all the earth.”  Isaiah 28:14-22.

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There scoffers, and there are deceivers.  But, their will is bound, and their work is destroyed by the Almighty Sovereign LORD Who does His extraordinary work.

“21 For the Lord will rise up as at Mount Perazim,
He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon,
To do His task, His unusual task,
And to work His work, His extraordinary work.
22 And now do not carry on as scoffers,
Or your fetters will be made stronger;
For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts
Of decisive destruction on all the earth.”  Verses 21 and 22.

“16 Therefore thus says the Lord God,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone,
A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.
He who believes in it will not be disturbed.
17 “I will make justice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies
And the waters will overflow the secret place.” Verses 16 and 17.

Other doctrine falsely and futilely focuses on man, man’s alleged free-will, and man’s works.

But, Reformed Doctrine summarizes Scripture and teaches about God, God’s will, and God’s work.

“Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches;  but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth;  for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.”  Jeremiah 9:23-24.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 28:1-13.

“Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim,
And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the fertile valley
Of those who are overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord has a strong and mighty agent;
As a storm of hail, a tempest of destruction,
Like a storm of mighty overflowing waters,
He has cast it down to the earth with His hand.
3 The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is trodden under foot.
4 And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the fertile valley,
Will be like the first-ripe fig prior to summer,
Which one sees,
And as soon as it is in his hand,
He swallows it.
5 In that day the Lord of hosts will become a beautiful crown
And a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people;
6 A spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment,
A strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate.
7 And these also reel with wine and stagger from strong drink:
The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink,
They are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink;
They reel while having visions,
They totter when rendering judgment.
8 For all the tables are full of filthy vomit, without a single clean place.

9 “To whom would He teach knowledge,
And to whom would He interpret the message?
Those just weaned from milk?
Those just taken from the breast?

10 “For He says,
‘Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there.’”
11 Indeed, He will speak to this people
Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue,
12 He who said to them, “Here is rest, give rest to the weary,”
And, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen.
13 So the word of the Lord to them will be,
“Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there,”
That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive.”  Isaiah 28:1-13.

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Other doctrine treasures man.  It focuses on man, man’s alleged free-will, and man’s works.  It staggers and stumbles and is snared.

But, Reformed Doctrine treasures the LORD of hosts.  It focuses on God, God’s will, and God’s works.  It is saved.

“In that day the Lord of hosts will become a beautiful crown
And a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people;”  Verse 5.

“Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
For the Lord God is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.”  Isaiah 12:2.

“I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it,
And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.”  Psalm 52:9.

“And it will be said in that day,
“Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”  Isaiah 25:9.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah chapter 27.  Here is a link to this chapter – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+27&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“² In that day,
“A vineyard of wine, sing of it!
³ “I, the Lord, am its keeper;
I water it every moment.
So that no one will damage it,
I guard it night and day.
⁴ “I have no wrath.
Should someone give Me briars and thorns in battle,
Then I would step on them, I would burn them completely.
⁵ “Or let him rely on My protection,
Let him make peace with Me,
Let him make peace with Me.”
⁶ In the days to come Jacob will take root,
Israel will blossom and sprout,
And they will fill the whole world with fruit.”  Isaiah 27:2-6.

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We sing for joy that the LORD is the keeper of the vineyard and takes such good care of it.  We sing for joy at the fruitfulness of God’s vineyard.

“In the days to come Jacob will take root,
Israel will blossom and sprout,
And they will fill the whole world with fruit.”  Verse 6.

“And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.”  Isaiah 58:11.

“¹² The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree,
He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
¹³ Planted in the house of the Lord,
They will flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴ They will still yield fruit in old age;
They shall be full of sap and very green,
¹⁵ To declare that the Lord is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”  Psalm 92:12-15.

“² But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
³ He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.”  Psalm 1:2-3.

“⁷ “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord
And whose trust is the Lord.
⁸ “For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.”  Jeremiah 17:7-8.

“⁸ But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.
⁹ I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it,
And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.”  Psalm 52:8-9.

“So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.”  Matthew 7:17-18.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control;  against such things there is no law.”  Galatians 5:22-23.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 26:11-21.

“11 O Lord, Your hand is lifted up yet they do not see it.
They see Your zeal for the people and are put to shame;
Indeed, fire will devour Your enemies.
12 Lord, You will establish peace for us,
Since You have also performed for us all our works.
13 O Lord our God, other masters besides You have ruled us;
But through You alone we confess Your name.
14 The dead will not live, the departed spirits will not rise;
Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,
And You have wiped out all remembrance of them.
15 You have increased the nation, O Lord,
You have increased the nation, You are glorified;
You have extended all the borders of the land.
16 O Lord, they sought You in distress;
They could only whisper a prayer,
Your chastening was upon them.
17 As the pregnant woman approaches the time to give birth,
She writhes and cries out in her labor pains,
Thus were we before You, O Lord.
18 We were pregnant, we writhed in labor,
We gave birth, as it seems, only to wind.
We could not accomplish deliverance for the earth,
Nor were inhabitants of the world born.
19 Your dead will live;
Their corpses will rise.
You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy,
For your dew is as the dew of the dawn,
And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.

20 Come, my people, enter into your rooms
And close your doors behind you;
Hide for a little while
Until indignation runs its course.
21 For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
And the earth will reveal her bloodshed
And will no longer cover her slain.”  Isaiah 26:11-21.

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Other doctrine teaches that God loves everybody and that Christ died for everybody.

But, we see from today’s Scripture the sharp contrast in how God deals with His enemies and how He deals with His people.

“…  Indeed, fire will devour Your enemies.”  Verse 11.

But, for His people:

“Lord, You will establish peace for us,
Since You have also performed for us all our works.”  Verse 12.

For His enemies:

“…  Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,
And You have wiped out all remembrance of them.”  Verse 14.

“For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
And the earth will reveal her bloodshed
And will no longer cover her slain.”  Verse 21.

But, for His people:

“Come, my people, enter into your rooms
And close your doors behind you;
Hide for a little while
Until indignation runs its course.”  Verse 20.

Other doctrine and the world teach that everyone is equal and treated alike by God, but don’t believe it!

Reformed Doctrine teaches the sharp contrast between how God deals with the elect (His people, the righteous) and how He deals with the non-elect (His enemies, the wicked). 

“You are my hiding place;  You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance.  Selah.”  Psalm 32:7.

“5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
6 Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.
8 You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.
9 For you have made the Lord, my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
10 No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.

11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.”  Psalm 91:5-11.

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;  for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God;  you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”  1 Peter 2:9-10.