You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3

Isaiah 25-27

Isaiah 25

Song of Praise for God’s Favor

1 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.
2 For you have made a city into a heap,
a fortified city into a ruin,
a foreigners’ fortress to be no city.
It will never be built.
3 Therefore a strong people will honor you.
Cities of ruthless nations will fear you.

4 For 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 ruthless
is like a storm against the wall.
5 Like the heat in a dry place
you will bring down the uproar of foreigners.
Like the heat by the shade of a cloud,
the song of the ruthless will be brought low.

6 On this mountain, the Lord of Hosts
will make all peoples a feast of choice meat,
a feast of choice wines, of choice meat full of marrow,
of well refined choice wines.
7 He will destroy in this mountain,
the covering that covers all peoples,
and the veil that is spread over all nations.
8 He has swallowed up death forever!
The Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces.
He will take the reproach of his people away
from off all the earth, for the Lord has spoken it.

9 It shall be said in that day, “This is our God!
We have waited for him, and he will save us!
This is the Lord! We have waited for him.
We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation!”

10 For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain.
Moab will be trodden down in his place,
like straw is trodden down in the water of the dunghill.
11 He will spread out his hands in the midst of it,
like one who swims spreads out hands to swim,
but his pride will be humbled, together with the craft of his hands.
12 He has brought the high fortress of your walls down,
laid low, and brought to the ground, to the dust.

Isaiah 26

Song of Trust in God’s Provision

1 In that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city!
He appoints salvation as walls and bulwarks.
2 Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter:
the one which remains faithful.
3 You will keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for God, the Lord, is an everlasting Rock.
5 For he has brought down those who dwell on high, the lofty city.
He lays it low.
He lays it low to the ground.
He brings it to the dust.
6 The foot shall tread it down,
the feet of the poor
and the steps of the needy.”

God’s People get Vindication

7 The way of the just is uprightness.
You who are upright make the path of the righteous level.
8 Yes, in the way of your judgments, O Lord,
we have waited for you.
Your name and your renown are the desire of our heart.
9 With all my soul I have desired you in the night.
Yes, with my spirit within me I will seek you earnestly,
for when your judgments are on the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10 Even if favor is shown to the wicked,
yet he will not learn righteousness.
In the land of uprightness he will deal wrongfully,
and will not see the majesty of the Lord.

11 O Lord, your hand is lifted up, yet they do not see,
but they will see your zeal for the people,
and be disappointed.
Yes, fire will consume your adversaries.
12 O Lord, you will ordain peace for us,
for you have also done all our work for us.
13 Lord our God, other masters besides you have had dominion over us,
but your name alone will we acknowledge.

14 The dead shall not live.
The departed spirits shall not rise.
Therefore you have visited and destroyed them,
and caused all memory of them to perish.
15 You have increased the nation, O Lord.
You have increased the nation!
You are glorified!
You have enlarged all the borders of the land.

16 O Lord, in trouble they have sought you.
They poured out a prayer
when your chastening was upon them.
17 Just like a woman with child,
who draws near the time of her delivery,
writhes and cries out in pain,
so we have been before you, O Lord.
18 We have been with child.
We have been in pain.
We gave birth, it seems, only to wind.
We have not accomplished any salvation on the earth,
nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
19 Your dead shall live.
My dead bodies shall arise.
Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust,
for your dew is like the dew of herbs,
and the earth will cast out the departed spirits.

20 Come, my people, enter into your rooms,
and shut your doors behind you.
Hide yourself for a little moment,
until the indignation is past.
21 For behold, the Lord is coming from his place
to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.
The earth also will disclose her blood,
and will no longer cover her slain.

Isaiah 27

The Deliverance of Israel

1 On that day, the Lord, with his destructive, great, and powerful sword, will punish Leviathan, the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the crooked, coiling serpent, and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea. 2 In that day, sing to her,

“A delightful vineyard!
3 I, the Lord, am its keeper.
I will water it every moment.
Lest anyone damage it,
I will keep it night and day.
4 Wrath 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.
5 Or else let him take hold of my strength,
that he may make peace with me.
Let him make peace with me.”

6 In days to come, Jacob will take root.
Israel will blossom and bud.
They will fill the face of the world with fruit.

7 Has he struck them as he struck those who struck them?
Or are they killed like those who killed them were killed?
8 By measure, you send them away to contend with them.
He has removed them with his fierce blast
in the day of the east wind.
9 Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be forgiven,
and this is the full fruit of his sin being removed:
that he makes all the alter stones
like chalk that is beaten in pieces,
so that the Asherah poles and the incense altars
shall rise no more.

10 For the fortified city is solitary,
a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness.
The calf will feed there,
and there he will lie down and consume its branches.
11 When its boughs are withered,
they will be broken off.
The women will come and set them on fire,
for they are a people without understanding.
Therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them,
and he who formed them will show them no favor.

12 It will happen in that day that the Lord will thresh from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered one by one, Israelites. 13 It will happen in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and those who were outcasts in the land of Egypt, shall come, and they will worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

Galatians 3:10-29

Redeemed by Christ

10 For all those who rely on the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written,

“Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things
that are written in the book of the law, to do them.” a

11 Now that no man is justified by the law before God is evident, for,

“The righteous will live by faith.” b

12 The law is not of faith, but,

“The man who does them will live by them.” c

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written,

“Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,” d

 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

The Law’s Purpose

15 Brothers, speaking in human terms, though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been confirmed, no one can void it or add to it. 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his offspring.  He does not say, “To descendants”, as of many, but as of one, “To your offspring”, e which is Christ.

17 Now I say this: A covenant confirmed beforehand by God in Christ, the law, which came 430 years after, does not annul, so as to make the promise of no effect. 18 For if the inheritance is from the law, it is no longer from the promise, but God has granted it to Abraham through the promise.

19 Then why is there the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise has been made. It was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not between only one person, but God is one. 21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could bring to life, most certainly righteousness would have been of the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned all things under the power of sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

23 But before this way of faith had come, we were kept under guard by the law, protected in confinement until this faith was revealed. 24 So that the law was our guardian to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that this way of faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

Sons Through Faith in Christ

26 For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to the promise.

a Deuteronomy 27:26
b Habakkuk 2:4
c Leviticus 18:5
d Deuteronomy 21:23
e Genesis 12:7

Psalm 61

Hear My Cry. Listen to My Prayer

For the Chief Musician. For a stringed instrument. By David.

1 Hear my cry, O God.
Listen to my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth, I will call to you
when my heart is overwhelmed.
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
3 For you have been a refuge for me,
a strong tower from the enemy.
4 I will dwell in your tent forever.
I will take refuge in the shelter of your wings.

Selah.

5 For you, O God, have heard my vows.
You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6 You will prolong the king’s life.
His years will be for generations.
7 He shall be enthroned in the presence of God forever.
Appoint your loving kindness and truth,
that they may preserve him.
8 So I will sing praise to your name forever,
that I may fulfill my vows daily.

Proverbs 23:17-18

17 Do not let your heart envy sinners,
but rather fear the Lord all day long.

18 Indeed surely there is a future hope,
and your hope will not be cut off.

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