Seeing God’s mercy afresh in a familiar passage

I love seeing new things in a passage I’ve read many times before. Yesterday I read Isaiah 55 and saw the mercy of God more clearly in that passage than I ever had before.

I’ll walk you through part of the chapter to show you what I saw.

Isaiah 55.7 tells the wicked man to ‘return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.’ God is abundantly merciful. He will have compassion! He will pardon! What amazing news, to hear of a God like this.

Now, the next two verses begin with the Hebrew word ‘for’ or ‘because’: ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’ (vv 8-9). I have read and heard these verses many times. But I realized yesterday that, coming as they do after v 7, they are highlighting God’s mercy. I had never seen that before. God says, I will abundantly pardon (v 7) because my ways and thoughts are higher than yours. It is God’s mercy in this context that elevates his ways and thoughts above ours. The height of God’s ways and thoughts is manifested in his merciful character.

Now, follow to the next two verses (vv 10-11). They also start with the Hebrew word ‘for’ or ‘because’: ‘For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it’ (vv 10-11). I have heard and read these verses many times, too. But I had never realized that the word of God being spoken about is, in this context, his merciful word. God says, my ways and thoughts are higher than yours because they are so merciful (vv 8-9) and you can know that because my merciful word always accomplishes my merciful purposes (vv 10-11).

There are two confirmations that God’s effectual word in vv 10-11 is a merciful word. First, vv 12-13 again begin with the Hebrew word ‘because’ and these verses describe the salvation God accomplishes for his people. The flow of thought is: my word is always effectual (vv 10-11) and you can know this because you will be shown the mercy of deliverance from captivity and being led by God (vv 12-13). Second, the very next words of God reported by Isaiah are in Isaiah 56.1. “Thus says the Lord: ‘Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance will be revealed.’” These are words of mercy.

What great mercy in Isaiah 55.7-13! God’s ways and thoughts are higher in mercy than ours. His merciful word always accomplishes the deliverance it declares.

Thank you, God, for mercy. Thank you that your unsearchable ways are merciful ways toward me. Thank you that when you declare mercy toward me, mercy will always be shown and salvation will always follow.

Posted by Stephen Witmer on Jan 2, 01:39 PM