{"id":72206,"date":"2025-04-07T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T04:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/?p=72206"},"modified":"2025-04-02T17:06:25","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T21:06:25","slug":"healing-and-peace-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/healing-and-peace-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Healing and Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 56:1-12, Isaiah 57:1-21, Psalm 103:1-13<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of our liturgy in our weekly worship service is confession of our sin to one another. As a congregation\u2014as brothers and sisters knit together by our sin, suffering, hope, and dependence on Jesus\u2014we confess our sins together. We lament the brokenness of the world and the way sin has intersected with our relationships, our motivations, and creation. Then, the liturgist leading the morning\u2019s confession will speak over all of us an assurance of our pardon, reminding us using the words of Scripture that Christ accomplished everything we need for full forgiveness and acceptance. We often use the words of Psalm 103:8\u201312, \u201cThe LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love. He will not always accuse us or be angry forever. He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve or repaid us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his faithful love toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.\u201d It\u2019s our weekly proclamation of the gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading Isaiah 56\u201357 reminds me of this practice. We are people incapable of following the law, and we are desperately dependent on the High and Exalted One (Isaiah 57:15) to save us and guarantee our salvation and forever with Him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These two chapters of Isaiah bring to mind the Ten Commandments, with many reminders of the original laws woven into this proclamation from the Lord: \u201cwho keeps the Sabbath\u201d (Isaiah 56:2), \u201c[who] love the name of the LORD\u201d (v.6), those who are \u201coffspring of liars\u201d (Isaiah 57:4), \u201cwho burn with lust…[and] slaughter children\u201d (v.5), who \u201cpoured out a drink offering\u201d to others (v.6). These chapters read like an accusation, the charged confession of all the ways the Israelites have strayed away from the Lord\u2019s commands.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet, Isaiah 57 does not conclude with a final punishment or a just verdict. Rather, the Lord says, \u201cFor the High and Exalted One, who lives forever, whose name is holy, says this: \u2018I live in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and lowly of spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the oppressed. For I will not accuse you forever, and I will not always be angry\u2019\u201d (vv.15\u201316). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cHigh and Exalted One, who lives forever, whose name is holy\u201d is Jesus. And Jesus is the one who will lead and restore comfort to us (v.18), the ones who suffer and mourn because of our indwelling sin. And during Lent this year, as we look toward Easter we must remember how deep our disobedience is and how perfect Christ\u2019s love and payment is. This is the reminder of Isaiah\u2019s words in these chapters, and it is the greatest gift we have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by Melanie Rainer<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 56:1-12, Isaiah 57:1-21, Psalm 103:1-13 Part of our liturgy in our weekly worship service is confession of our sin to one another. As a congregation\u2014as brothers and sisters knit together by our sin, suffering, hope, and dependence on Jesus\u2014we confess our sins together. We lament the brokenness of the world and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":71924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[296],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lent2025"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"related_plans":[71943],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"#SheReadsTruth","devotional_text":"HEALING AND PEACE<\/b>

\r\nby Melanie Rainer<\/i>

\r\n

Part of our liturgy in our weekly worship service is confession of our sin to one another. As a congregation\u2014as brothers and sisters knit together by our sin, suffering, hope, and dependence on Jesus\u2014we confess our sins together. We lament the brokenness of the world and the way sin has intersected with our relationships, our motivations, and creation. Then, the liturgist leading the morning\u2019s confession will speak over all of us an assurance of our pardon, reminding us using the words of Scripture that Christ accomplished everything we need for full forgiveness and acceptance. We often use the words of Psalm 103:8\u201312, \u201cThe LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love. He will not always accuse us or be angry forever. He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve or repaid us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his faithful love toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.\u201d It\u2019s our weekly proclamation of the gospel.<\/p>
\r\n

Reading Isaiah 56\u201357 reminds me of this practice. We are people incapable of following the law, and we are desperately dependent on the High and Exalted One (Isaiah 57:15) to save us and guarantee our salvation and forever with Him.<\/p>
\r\n

These two chapters of Isaiah bring to mind the Ten Commandments, with many reminders of the original laws woven into this proclamation from the Lord: \u201cwho keeps the Sabbath\u201d (Isaiah 56:2), \u201c[who] love the name of the LORD\u201d (v.6), those who are \u201coffspring of liars\u201d (Isaiah 57:4), \u201cwho burn with lust...[and] slaughter children\u201d (v.5), who \u201cpoured out a drink offering\u201d to others (v.6). These chapters read like an accusation, the charged confession of all the ways the Israelites have strayed away from the Lord\u2019s commands.<\/p>
\r\n

And yet, Isaiah 57 does not conclude with a final punishment or a just verdict. Rather, the Lord says, \u201cFor the High and Exalted One, who lives forever, whose name is holy, says this: \u2018I live in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and lowly of spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the oppressed. For I will not accuse you forever, and I will not always be angry\u2019\u201d (vv.15\u201316).<\/p>
\r\n

The \u201cHigh and Exalted One, who lives forever, whose name is holy\u201d is Jesus. And Jesus is the one who will lead and restore comfort to us (v.18), the ones who suffer and mourn because of our indwelling sin. And during Lent this year, as we look toward Easter we must remember how deep our disobedience is and how perfect Christ\u2019s love and payment is. This is the reminder of Isaiah\u2019s words in these chapters, and it is the greatest gift we have.<\/p>","share_image_height":"640","day_number":"36","scripture":"Isaiah 56:1-12, Isaiah 57:1-21, Psalm 103:1-13","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}