Isaiah 30:1-22- He Will Wait For You

Auto-generated from the audio — may contain errors.

0:00 All right, good morning again. For those who just joined us, I'm not Ben Hoyer and my name is Demetrius and I have the privilege of bringing this sermon today. Ben is currently in Lake Mary preaching at Holy Cross, our sister church, and he will be there. So the praying that God uses him in a mighty way there. Today we will be taking a break from the series that Ben has been preaching on, the males with Jesus as Kendall just kind

0:32 of shared with the kids and we're going to take a detour back to the Old Testament and go to the book of Isaiah. But before we jump into the service or the sermon this morning, let me pray for us. Almighty God, you are the creator and sustainer of all life and you're good. You give good gifts to your children. So in these brief moments that we shared today, I ask you to give us eyes to see and ears to hear what you would have for

1:02 us today. Father, by the power of your spirit, help us to experience your presence through the reading of your word, singing of songs and the fellowship with friends. In the praise things in the name of Jesus, amen. So let me set the context for us. We're going to be in Isaiah chapter 30 today. And what's happened, what's happening right now in the book of Isaiah is that the nation of Israel has been split into two nations. So after King Solomon

1:33 died, the nation of Israel split into Israel in the north and Judah in the south. And the prophet Isaiah is writing to the people of Judah in the south, near Jerusalem. And the kings who reign during the time of Isaiah were, there were four kings, King Josiah, his son Jotham, his son Ahaz and Hezekiah. So there were four kings that ruled and reigned in Judah, the kingdom of Judah when Isaiah was prophesying. So what's happening in Judah at the time of these

2:08 kings as they reigned? So two things. Number one, the kings did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. So they did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord at various points during their, you know, during their reign. And secondly, the people of Israel followed, or the people of Judah followed after them and did the same thing. So they worshiped false idols. They, they aligned themselves with the idols of the other countries around them. And in Isaiah chapter 10, we're not

2:40 going to go there, but God in His anger at their idolatry said this, I'm going to use the kingdom of Assyria as quote unquote, the club of my anger against my rebellious children. That's pretty vicious, right? I'm going to use the country as the club of my angry to bring justice to, to you, rebellious people. So the people of Judah started to get wind of the fact that the Syrians had moved into Syria and had conquered Syria in the north. And they moved further south

3:15 and conquered the nation of Israel. And they were headed where? To Jerusalem next to the people of Judah. So the Syrians empowered and emboldened by God as a club of His anger, they were moving to sack Jerusalem. So let's look at Isaiah chapter 30 verse 1 and read and see how the people of Judah responded to that threat. And I'll be reading from the new living translation.

3:45 If you want to click on that on your phone. Verse 1 says, what sorrow awaits my rebellious children says to Lord, you make plans that are contrary to mine, you make alliances not directed by my spirit, thus piling up your sins. For without consulting me, you have gone down to Egypt for help. You have put your trust in Pharaoh's protection. You have tried to hide in his shade, but by trusting Pharaoh, you will be humiliated. And by depending on him, you will be disgraced.

4:20 And in verse 8, as Isaiah says this, now go and write down these words, write them in a book. They will stand until the end of time as a witness that these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the Lord's instructions. They tell the seers, stop seeing visions. They tell the prophets, don't tell us what's right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path and stop telling us about the Holy One of Israel.

4:51 So we'll stop there. So the people have chosen to rebel against God. And I can imagine what led them to rebel. I think about several things. I put myself in their situation. I think about the emotions of anxiety and fear and dread running high because guess what? This conquering nation has their movements out. They're coming our way. At any date, they're going to attack us. So anxiety, fear and dread is running at an all-time high.

5:24 So I can envision the king and his cabinet frantically strategizing, right? Trying to come up with solutions to protect them from this coming threat. And I can imagine deep in their hearts at some level, they believe the original lie that God can't be trusted. Therefore, we will take matters into our own hands. And we will go down and make an alliance with Egypt. So at the end of the day, the people of Judah,

5:56 they go with the solution that occurs to them at first. So what's the result of this alliance with Egypt partnering with Egypt? Let's look at verse three. It says this, but by trusting Pharaoh, you be humiliated. And by depending on him, you will be disgraced. For though his power extends to so on and his officials have arrived in Haynes, all who trust in him, Pharaoh,

6:27 will be ashamed. He will not help you. Instead, he will disgrace you. So Judah made a worthless treaty with Egypt. So let's pause a moment and kind of step out of the story and think about us. How do we in some ways see in Assyria coming our way and we frantically, fearfully think about ways in which we can come up with our own solutions?

6:59 Man, it could be, Assyria could look like, it could be our kids are made choices that are negatively impacting them. And the result of those choices now, they're costing me time and money. Maybe Assyria could look like a fractured marriage that so broken that divorce seems to be the only logical conclusion. Or it could be, you've just created a business and the geopolitical officials of the day have made decisions that threaten your business.

7:32 Or it could be that our neighbors and friends are being unjustly harassed and persecuted. And lastly, it could be our bills aren't, we don't have money at the end of the month to take care of our bills. There's always in Assyria coming our way. What would we do? And I was just thinking about myself and my life as I was preparing for our time and thinking about a time when there was an insurmountable

8:02 situation in front of me. I was a walk-on football player at Troy University up in Alabama. And for those who don't know what to walk on is, you pay for school, the school doesn't pay for your tuition, you pay for it, but then you just sign up to be on the team. So you pay your way through school and that was me. And my goal was to get a scholarship after two years. Well, after two years, after my sophomore season, we moved from Division 1 AA to 1A. So now we need guys who are bigger, stronger, faster to come in and compete with the Nebraskas,

8:34 the Mississippi States of the world. And guess what? I was not that guy. I was not big enough, not strong enough, not fast enough. So I didn't get a scholarship. Well, fast forward to the summer, I'm at home and I get a letter in the mail from the school, hey, you owe us a couple of thousand dollars. Until you pay your debt, you can't sign up for classes for your junior year. So I started thinking, I'm frantically worried about like, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? So the first thought that came to me was, hey, take out loans

9:07 to just pay your past debt and pay for the rest of your collegiate career. Just do that. But then there was a small voice that was like, hey, call Coach Blakeney and see if Coach Blakeney can help you come up with a solution. So it's the summer, I call Coach Blakeney's office relatively and Miss Judy, his secretary of answers and she's like, meet, I'll pass you through. Hold on one second. So I taught the coach of Blakeney and he says, you know, let me think about this for a second and get back to you.

9:38 30 minutes later, he called me back. Hey, I got a spot for you. Pack your backs, be down here in two days. You're going to be on my video staff, which means we'll pay for your school, but you won't be able to play football. You'll work for the team. So you'll film practices and games and but you can't, you got to give up your dream to play football. I said, hey, that's perfectly fine with me. Let's go. So I packed my bags, went to Troy and chased Amy down after that.

10:09 She shot me down for three years. But perseverance weren't one to race. So I, the gentle and quiet measure faith to trust the Lord to provide, led me to not do the go with the frantic solution of taking out more loans, but to just trust, hey, I could come up with the solution far better than I could ever come up with.

10:39 So let's go back to our story. So the people of Judah, they are confronted with the threat of the Assyrians. And they made a decision to align themselves with Egypt out of haste, fear, and distrust. As I thought about it more, I don't think the solution that they came up with of going to Egypt was necessarily the problem, right? Maybe the manner in which Judah and their leaders went

11:12 about making that decision and coming up with that solution was the problem. What I mean by that is maybe moving with haste, fear, agitation, distrust was the problem and not going to Egypt themselves. So do you remember their times in Scripture where God uses Egypt for the people of Israel as a solution to their problems? You remember Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers. He rose through the ranks of Pharaoh's house. And when famine struck the land of Canaan,

11:46 guess what? The people of Israel, Jacob and his family moved down to Egypt and lo and behold, his son was sitting on a throne and provided safe haven for them in Egypt. Maybe you remember in the New Testament when Jesus was born, Herod was on a rampage trying to find this new king to kill him. And what did an angel say to Joseph one night? Go down into Egypt. For safe haven. So Egypt necessarily the solution may not be the problem but it may be

12:22 our heart's disposition towards whatever we're facing. God uses Egypt in all kinds of solutions and our lives to protect those he loves. The question is how do we go about getting to that solution? How do we go about getting to the solution that is not made out of the decisions that are made out of fear, haste, agitation. There's a devotion that I like to read. I've been reading it the last probably six or seven years

12:54 every day. It's called God Calling. And it's written by two women who wanted to be named the two listeners. They didn't want to be known. They just lived together for a year and prayed each day and just wrote down whatever the Lord spoke to them. And they lived in London during the time of World War II. And one day they said this agitation and hurry destroys good work.

13:24 When people want to destroy evil in the world so often they rush into action. It's wrong. First be still and know that he is God. Then act as only he tells you. Always calm with God. Calm is trust in action. Calm is trust in action. So maybe God would have told the people of Judah to go into Egypt. Maybe not. But at least they would have calmly and confidently

13:57 walked with the God of creation in life. Right? So let's summarize where we are right now. Assyria has there on the doorstep of Judah about to come and attack them. The people of Judah ignored their main ally, the God of creation and life. And they signed a worthless treaty with Egypt. So that's where we are. Let's go back to the text and see what Isaiah has to say to the people.

14:31 Let's look at verse 15. This is what the sovereign Lord, the holy one of Israel says, only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. Enquireness and confidence is your strength. Verse 18. So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help.

15:08 So in the midst of turning to Egypt for provision and protection and deliverance, the holy one continually offered his rebellious people an invitation. An invitation to return to him and find their rest, their strength, their salvation in him. And like the people of Judah, even when we don't wait, even when we turn to make decisions out of fear and agitation and distrust and even haste, God is faithful.

15:46 We can take comfort in that fact that he must wait for us to return to him and rest in him. When we return to him, there are solutions that he has for us that go beyond our wildest dreams. Right? But the questions of these, are we willing to risk embarrassment, failure, being mocked in order to look to our Father and his plans versus our own?

16:17 Are you willing to stand firm on the promises of God and risk him offering a solution that you're not comfortable with? Even if the answer to those questions is a resounding no, there's still hope he must wait for us. Even when we turn our back and run with haste to other things to solve our problems, he must wait for us. That's good news.

16:50 So I was thinking about what Ben said last week. He said that, and I'm paraphrasing here, he said that the God of creation in life offers us an invitation to join him at his feast of plenty, and he never resends that invitation. He doesn't disinvite his people. He didn't disinvite the people of Judah to return to him. He won't disinvite us to return to him. When we do look to other things and other nations and other strategies and our own money, our own

17:24 reputation, our network, all these things, which may be in and of themselves good, but we turn to them before we turn to him. So what does Isaiah tell the people of God when they do return to him? So what does Isaiah have to say is the result of turning to him? Let's look at Isaiah 30 verse 19.

17:55 We'll read 19 through 22 and it says, Oh people of Zion who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will be gracious to you if you ask for his help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries. Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and suffering for drink, he will still be with you to teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes. Your own ears will hear him

18:26 right behind you. A voice will say, this is the way you should go, whether to the right or to the left. Then you will destroy all your silver idols and your precious gold images and you will throw them out like filthy rags saying to them good riddance. That is what is offered to us when we turn to him. Though there may be adversity and suffering, he will not leave us. He will wait for us to return to him.

19:01 Let's pray. Thank you, Lord, for your good word to us. It may be said of us that we accept your invitation to return to you and rest in you and find our strength and our salvation in you. Even when we don't return to you, Lord, we praise you and thank you that your invitation still stands and that you wait on the porch for us

19:33 to return like the loving father you are. So in the coming days and weeks, help us to not run ahead of you in arrogance or help us to not lag behind you in fear. Help us to walk calmly and confidently with you through each day as we face whatever comes our way, knowing that you can be trusted and that you will wait for us and you will provide everything we need for this life and the life to come. Thank you again for this time. We pray. Amen.