Scripture Daily

Context No. 3602 of 4322 · Isaiah

Context · Reflection

Isaiah 25:1-5: in context

1The LORD, you are my God. I will exalt you! I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago, in complete faithfulness and truth. 2For you have made a city into a heap, a fortified city into a ruin, a palace of strangers to be no city. It will never be built. 3Therefore a strong people will glorify you. A city of awesome nations will fear you. 4For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the blast of the dreaded ones is like a storm against the wall. 5As the heat in a dry place you will bring down the noise of strangers; as the heat by the shade of a cloud, the song of the dreaded ones will be brought low.

Isaiah breaks into praise for God's faithful works, plans formed long ago and carried out in perfect faithfulness and truth. And he celebrates a great reversal: God brings the proud, fortified cities to ruin, while becoming a refuge for the weak.

Notice the tender image at the center: you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. God is a fortress not for the strong and self-sufficient, but for the poor and needy, those who have no other refuge to run to. To the proud, self-glorifying cities he is judgment; to the helpless who take shelter in him he is a stronghold and a shade. There is comfort here for anyone in distress: the same God who humbles the proud is the very One who becomes a shelter for the weak, the refuge of the poor, the shade in the scorching heat, and the wall that stands against the storm.

Do I run to God as my stronghold in distress, the refuge of the poor and needy, trusting that the God who humbles the proud is a shelter to the weak who take cover in him?

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