Isaiah 16:1-5: a reflection

1Send the lambs for the ruler of the land from Selah to the wilderness, to the mountain of the daughter of Zion. 2For it will be that as wandering birds, as a scattered nest, so will the daughters of Moab be at the fords of the Arnon. 3Give counsel! Execute justice! Make your shade like the night in the middle of the noonday! Hide the outcasts! Don’t betray the fugitive! 4Let my outcasts dwell with you! As for Moab, be a hiding place for him from the face of the destroyer. For the extortionist is brought to nothing. Destruction ceases. The oppressors are consumed out of the land. 5A throne will be established in loving kindness. One will sit on it in truth, in the tent of David, judging, seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness.

In the midst of prophecies about the nations, this passage voices a striking plea for the sheltering of the vulnerable. Give counsel! Execute justice! Make your shade like the night in the middle of the noonday; hide the outcasts; don't betray the fugitive! Let my outcasts dwell with you; be a hiding place for him from the face of the destroyer. It is a call to shelter the outcast and the fugitive, to be a hiding place for the vulnerable fleeing destruction, not to betray them but to give them refuge.

Notice the call: to shelter the outcast and the vulnerable, to be a hiding place for the fugitive. The plea is to hide the outcasts, to give refuge to the fugitive fleeing the destroyer, to be a shade and a hiding place for the vulnerable rather than betraying them. It is a call to protect and shelter those in need of refuge, the outcast, the displaced, the endangered, to make oneself a hiding place for them rather than turning them away or betraying them. The vulnerable fleeing harm are to be sheltered, not abandoned.

That call is worth taking to heart, for there are outcasts and vulnerable ones around us who need shelter and refuge. There are people in need of refuge, the displaced, the endangered, the outcast fleeing harm; and we can turn them away, betray them, refuse them shelter, or we can be a hiding place for them, sheltering and protecting the vulnerable. The plea here is to hide the outcasts, to be a refuge for the fugitive. Do not turn away or betray the vulnerable who need shelter; be a hiding place for them, sheltering and protecting the outcast and the fugitive, as this passage pleads. Shelter the vulnerable who need refuge, making yourself a hiding place for them rather than betraying them or turning them away, as the plea here calls to hide the outcasts and be a refuge for the fugitive fleeing the destroyer; care for the vulnerable in need of shelter, rather than abandoning them.

Lord, in the midst of prophecies about the nations, this passage voices a striking plea for the sheltering of the vulnerable. Give counsel! Execute justice! Make your shade like the night in the middle of the noonday; hide the outcasts; don't betray the fugitive! Let my outcasts dwell with you; be a hiding place for him from the face of the destroyer. It is a call to shelter the outcast and the fugitive, to be a hiding place for the vulnerable fleeing destruction. Show me the call: to shelter the outcast and the vulnerable, to be a hiding place for the fugitive. The plea is to hide the outcasts, to give refuge to the fugitive fleeing the destroyer, rather than betraying them. It is a call to protect and shelter those in need of refuge, to make oneself a hiding place for them rather than turning them away. Take that call to my heart, for there are outcasts and vulnerable ones around me who need shelter and refuge. There are people in need of refuge, the displaced, the endangered, the outcast fleeing harm; and I can turn them away, refuse them shelter, or I can be a hiding place for them. Keep me from turning away or betraying the vulnerable who need shelter; help me be a hiding place for them, Lord, sheltering and protecting the outcast and the fugitive, as this passage pleads. Help me care for the vulnerable in need of shelter, rather than abandoning them.