Psalm 8:1
My Shepherd met me in His green pastures and laid me down in Isaiah 63. He has drawn my attention to this portion of His pasture several times this week and again last night. I was having difficulty sleeping, so I took my Bible downstairs to my prayer closet to pray and read. He gave me verse 14:
Isaiah 63:14 As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.
I noticed that this chapter in Isaiah mentions the Holy Spirit three times, more than in any other chapter in this book: Isaiah 63:10, 11, and 14.
Understandably, some set this prophecy for fulfillment at Christ’s Second coming. Isaiah 63:4 says, “For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.” In His first coming, Jesus declared His mission in His first official sermon after His baptism, when in the Synagogue He opened the Scriptures to Isaiah 61:1-2 and read verses 1-2a, stopping short of “the day of vengeance of God” (See Isaiah 61:1-2 and Luke 4:16-21).
However, the Prophet did not say the “day of vengeance” had come; rather, He said it was in His heart. Furthermore, He mentioned the year of His redeemed had come, not the day. That’s important because, at His first appearing, He prophesied that our redemption “draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28). He indicated that we should begin expecting our redemption to come any time after the signs He pointed to in His Temple discourse “begin to come to pass” (Luke 21:28). According to Jesus’ prophecy, the sign that triggered the beginning of the prophecy that concluded with His redemption was the destruction of the Temple, which occurred in AD 70 (Luke 21:5-7, 20-22, 28). We are now living in the days of vengeance upon “this people,” when God carries in His heart both the “day of vengeance” and the “year of his redeemed” (Isaiah 61:4; compare Luke 21:22-24; 28).
They vexed His Holy Spirit (Isaiah 63:10; see Stephen’s rebuke against them in Acts 7:51, “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.” Consider Paul’s follow-up and final reproof against them in Acts 28:23-29; see Isaiah 6:9-13. This reproof was delivered to Israel in the context of God’s offer of “the kingdom” to be restored to them (Acts 28:23).
Along the still waters, I considered Paul’s exhortation to His church: “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). I meditated on this within the context of what the Bible says regarding “the kingdom,” of which Jesus said “Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matthew 21:43).
The kingdom was withdrawn from Israel because she “vexed the Holy Spirit” (Isaiah 63:10) and was extended to America because she brought forth the fruit of the kingdom: repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 21:43; Acts 20:21). Can we long keep it if we go on grieving Him?
God remembered the “days of old,” when God led His people through the Red Sea by His shepherd, Moses, in whom He put His holy Spirit (Isaiah 63:11). He remembered how He had led them “through the deep” as a horse in the wilderness and “as a beast” into the valley, where the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest (Isaiah 63:14).
I remembered that the Spirit dwells in our hearts (2 Corinthians 1:22; Galatians 4:6). I remembered how He has invited us into the “rest” He withdrew from them (Hebrews 3:11, 18; 4:1-11). And I remembered the warning: “Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief” (Hebrews 4:11). And I wondered whether our Father sometimes remembers the early church and how the Spirit came upon her, and how “the angel of his presence” moved in her midst (Isaiah 63:9; see Acts 1:5-8; 2:1-4; 4:31; 5:1-11; 8:4-13, 26-30; 12:5-12, 20-25; 13:1-4, 6-12; 16:6-12, 16-18, 24-34; etc.). And I wondered if He is sometimes provoked to these memories while we “grieve” His Holy Spirit and quench Him (Ephesians 4:30-31; 1 Thessalonians 5:19).
In the valley, He pointed to my “resting place”: the Cross. I think I noted somber tones in the Holy Voice: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23; see Isaiah 63:14a with Jeremiah 10:19-21). Only those who by means of the Cross depart from iniquity can hope to make His name glorious (Isaiah 6:14b; 2 Timothy 2:19; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:17).
Do not grieve His Spirit—He’s had enough of that! I thought it was interesting that my sleepless night turned into the insight: the Spirit of the LORD causes us to rest in the valley, shadowed by His cross.
At the table, I found my Shepherd waiting. Jesus seemed more official than usual, and goodness and mercy were in attendance at either end of the table. He bid me bow my head as He poured the anointing oil over my crown. He took His cup, filled it, and returned it to me in a more formal manner than usual. We walked together into the harvest.
Praying for revival! 🙏
Going live asap:
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