Scripture Daily

Context No. 1513 of 4322 · Isaiah

Context · Reflection

Isaiah 27:1-5: in context

1In that day, the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and leviathan, the twisted serpent; and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea. 2In that day, sing to her, “A pleasant vineyard! 3I, the LORD, am its keeper. I will water it every moment. Lest anyone damage it, I will keep it night and day. 4Wrath is not in me, but if I should find briers and thorns, I would do battle! I would march on them and I would burn them together. 5Or else let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me. Let him make peace with me.”

After a word of judgment on the fleeing serpent, Isaiah turns to a song about God's vineyard, which is his people. In that day, sing of it: a pleasant vineyard, and I, the LORD, am its keeper. I water it every moment; lest anyone harm it, I guard it night and day. Wrath is not in me, God says; but he warns that briers and thorns would be dealt with, and then makes an invitation: let the enemy take hold of my protection and make peace with me, let him make peace with me.

The heart of the song is God's description of his own care for his vineyard: I water it every moment; I guard it night and day. This is a picture of ceaseless, watchful tending, a keeper who never leaves his vineyard untended for an instant, watering it moment by moment, guarding it around the clock, never sleeping, never neglecting it. God does not tend his people occasionally, or leave them to fend for themselves between visits; he keeps them constantly, every moment, night and day. There is deep comfort in that image for those who wonder whether God's attention lapses, whether he forgets us or turns away for a while. The keeper of the vineyard waters it every moment and guards it night and day; there is no instant when we are outside his care, no time when the vineyard is left unwatered or unguarded. Even in the night, even when we are unaware of it, even when nothing seems to be happening, he is watering and guarding, tending his vineyard without pause. And notice the invitation that follows, held out even to enemies: let him make peace with me. The God whose care for his own is so constant offers peace even to those who have set themselves against him; the keeper of the vineyard would rather have peace than war. The God who guards his vineyard night and day is not a distant or intermittent keeper but a constant one, and his arms are open even to those who would make peace with him.

Do I doubt whether God's care lapses or his attention turns away, when he describes himself as watering his vineyard every moment and guarding it night and day, so that there is no instant I am outside his ceaseless keeping?

Sources