In our last visit I quoted F.B. Meyer’s commentary on Isaiah 33:14-24. In it he said, “Be sure to make God your Judge, Lawgiver, and King. Then notwithstanding that you limp in weakness, you shall gather your share in the great spoils of victory.”Let me add to this what William Penn once said, “Right is right, even if everyone is against it; and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it.”
Isaiah illustrates this as he speaks of the justice of God in His dealings with man. He declares in verse 22, “The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; it is he who will save us.” To me this is the key verse for the whole book of Isaiah.
As our king He has the right to judge us. As our lawgiver He knows how to rightly judge us. As our judge He deals righteously.<p> The reprobate are judged because they don’t know God and are not interested in knowing Him. The rebellious are judged because they know God and His purpose, but reject them both. The religious professors are judged because they come to God with religious rites but with hearts that are far from Him.
God’s judgment, however, is overshadowed by His grace and tempered by His love. As He punishes, He purifies. And as He purifies, He works out His divine plan.
As you go through this process of becoming what God intended for you to be you will have questions and often feel like throwing in the towel. Much of what you face will be the result of your own doing. But through it all, God is able to work all of it together for your good and the good of His kingdom. Trust Him.
