“Therefore, the anger of the LORD is kindled against his people, and he has stretched forth his hand against them and has smitten them. And the hills trembled, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.” Isaiah 5:25
When we consider the severe judgment of the Lord God upon His own people for their rebelliousness and sin, who are we to think that God will not judge us and our nation for turning away from God and His Word? Our only hope is to repent of our evil and rebellious ways and to humbly look to God for mercy and healing in the shed blood of Jesus.
Your anger is kindled against us, O Lord. Your judgment has begun. Open our eyes to the truth and grant us true repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, Your Son and our Savior. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the Revised Common Version of the Bible.]
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20
People and nations who rebel against the Lord and His Word seek to justify their evil deeds by calling evil good and good evil, light darkness and darkness light, bitter sweet and sweet bitter. Ultimately, God will judge and condemn those who reject and oppose what He has so clearly revealed in His Word.
Awaken our people and rulers to the truth of Your Word and grant that we repent of our attempts to justify what is evil and condemn what is good and look to You for mercy in the shed blood of Christ Jesus, Your Son, and our only Savior. In His name, we pray. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the Revised Common Version of the Bible.]
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ But in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Romans 8:35-37
Can anyone or anything separate us from the love of Christ and take from us the salvation He won for us? His love and His promises are sure — even in the face of trouble, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or death. Through faith in Christ Jesus, we have the victory!
O gracious Savior, keep us in the true and saving faith that nothing may separate us from Your love and mercy or take from us what You have promised. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the Revised Common Version of the Bible.]
”Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.” 1 Corinthians 8:1
We know there is only one true God, who created all, and that we do not sin if we happen to eat food that another has devoted to a false god. But charity (selfless love) will move us not to vaunt our knowledge and be a cause of sin to weaker brethren who do not yet have such understanding. As believers in Christ, we have great freedom but, in love, we do not use our liberty in such a way as to cause those who do not yet have such knowledge to sin against their own consciences.
We thank Thee, O God, for the divine truth You reveal to us in the Scriptures. Do not let us become puffed up in that knowledge but, in selfless love, live in such a way that we do not cause our fellow believers to sin or fall from the faith but rather edify and build them up in the truth. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]
“Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:16-18
Though our sins stain our lives like scarlet and crimson, God offers us mercy and forgiveness in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, if we but repent of our sins and look to Him in faith for pardon and cleansing. We read in 1 John 1:8-9: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Have mercy upon me, O God, and wash me thoroughly from my sin, granting me pardon and forgiveness in the shed blood of Jesus, my Savior. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]
