Psalms 31:1-4, 8:1, 5:1-4

My Shepherd met me this morning, singing His praises, and seeking His face. He invited me into His green pastures. He laid me down in Isaiah. The Mind of the Spirit called my attention to Isaiah 64:8:

Isaiah 64:8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

The setting is God’s displeasure:

Isaiah 64:6 ¶ But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Isaiah 64:7 And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

And:

Isaiah 64:9 Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.

Isaiah 64:10 Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.

Along the still waters, I reflected that In the midst of these declarations of disapproval, the Spirit intercedes on our behalf: “But,” a term of contradiction, an exclamation, “in spite of this,” remember another thing, reflect not on our iniquity, but on this, look here, on this truth, and not on our sin: “O LORD,” You are our Father.” A father pities his children; show us pity. Hear, in our cry, “Abba”; let not your ears be wholly cut off from our pleading—“Father!” (Galatians 4:6; Isaiah 59:1-2).

“We are clay!” Remember the dust from which You have fashioned us, see how frail a thing we are: “we are clay.” You are “our potter,” not merely “the potter.” You are our Potter, we are Your clay. Your tears moistened the dust, and your hands fashioned us; we pierced the hands of our Potter, and His blood joined His tears, blood and water from Your heart (John 19:34), to cleanse our sins (1 John 1:7; Ephesians 5:26).

The prophet lamented the neglected condition of what he called, “Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee” (Isaiah 64:11), dedicated by our Father to be His “house of prayer” (Isaiah 56:7). Neglected! It became a “den of thieves” (Matthew 21:13). Draw us, O LORD, pour out upon us Your spirit of grace and supplication.

I heard Him say, “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications” (Zechariah 12:10a).

If upon the house where their father’s praised, if You honored the house that Solomon built, surely You will regard our Father’s House (1 Timothy 3:15), the House Your Son built (Matthew 16:18).

When! He quickly responded: “They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10b).

In the valley, shadowed by His Cross, I saw the “crimson tide,” and sang with my fathers: “Cleanse their hearts from sinful folly / In the stream Thy love supplied, / Mingled stream of blood and water / Flowing from Thy wounded side.” Cleanse us, LORD!

Our Father thundered from the heavens, and a familiar voice, as the sound of many waters, responded (2 Samuel 22:14; see Psalm 18:4-18): “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

At the table, He anointed my head with His oil and filled my cup with the day’s portion, mixing His sufficient grace into whatever troubles may lurk in its dregs. Goodness and mercy appeared, and followed as we went, together, into the harvest.

Praying! 🙏