Written by: John Sernaque
Call to Worship,
Isaiah 54:17
54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue [that] shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This [is] the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness [is] of me, saith the LORD.
RH - The Review and Herald August 20, 1895
All the fifty-fourth chapter of Isaiah is applicable to the people of God, and every specification of the prophecy will be fulfilled. The Lord will not forsake his people in their time of trial. He says, “For a small moment have I forsaken you; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.” Are these words of comfort spoken to those who are making void the law of God? —No, no, the promise is for those who amid general apostasy, keep the commandments of God, and lift up the moral standard before the eyes of the world who have forsaken the ordinance, and broken the everlasting covenant. [Isaiah 54:9-13 quoted] (RH August 20, 1895). {4BC 1148.3}
It is up to us to lift up the moral standards of this world and those who are living in apostasy. Jesus said, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten”. Likewise, we have a stern duty, that must be exercised with kindness. Remember, the promise is for those who keep the commandments of God. This will be our heritage and our righteousness are not ours, that would be self- righteousness, but our righteousness is of God. This is yet another one of God’s amazing promises to us. So, what must we do? We must claim God’s promise and believe in and claim this promise.
Our Father, our God Almighty,
We come before You this Sabbath in thanksgiving and prayer. We thank You for Your promise, that no weapon that is formed against us shall prosper and that every tongue that shall rise against us in judgement thou shalt condemn. We thank You for this one of Your many promises to us. We thank You for Your great mercies in our times of trial and for Your everlasting kindness. Help us as we carry out our stern duty, that we may do so with kindness. We pray that You grant us Your strength, courage, wisdom, understanding, and discernment to do what is right and favorable and well pleasing in Your sight; and let not our will, but let Thy will be done. I pray that You bless our worship and that we may hear Your voice from on High. Save us and forgive us of our sins. We thank You for hearing and answering our prayers. This we pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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