The Lord Spoke Forcefully and Directly to The Prideful and
Greedy:
He alone is
the high and lofty One. He alone, whose very name is Holy, inhabits eternity.
This means that the Lord, His very nature, is the perfection of holiness and is
the only living and true God. For that reason, He demands that people
acknowledge Him as such, that they obey Him and live righteous lives. In these
few verses, the Lord issues a strong warning to the prideful and greedy.
The Message to The
Prideful & Greedy: The Lord Alone Is the High & Lofty One
15The high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, the Holy One, says this: I live in that high and holy place where those with contrite, humble spirits dwell; and I refresh the humble and give new courage to those with repentant hearts. 16For I will not fight against you forever, nor always show my wrath; if I did, all mankind would perish—the very souls that I have made. 17I was angry and smote these greedy men. But they went right on sinning, doing everything their evil hearts desired. 18I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway! I will lead them and comfort them, helping them to mourn and to confess their sins. 19Peace, peace to them, both near and far, for I will heal them all. 20But those who still reject mea are like the restless sea, which is never still, but always churns up mire and dirt. 21There is no peace, says my God, for them![2] (Isaiah57:15–21)
I.
The Lord Issues a Very Straightforward
Warning to The Prideful (Vv. 15–16).
The prideful must remember that God is
omnipresent and that He alone lives
in the high and lofty place, a place that spans all created worlds, the
dimension of heaven itself. Being the high and lofty One, God lives only with
those who humble themselves before Him and repent for having disobeyed His
Word. The implication is that He does not live with the prideful, those who
exalt themselves above Him. Pride separates people from God by causing Him to
withdraw His presence from them. Note God's warning: His patience and
longsuffering will come to an end. By His Spirit, He convicts the hearts of the
prideful, making them aware of their wicked behavior and of the fact that He is
the true and living God. But if the prideful ignore or deny the conviction, God's
patience will run out, and the prideful will face His judgment.
Still, God's anger will not last
forever. If He remained angry forever, no one would be saved, much less the
prideful. The inference is that God's anger will be set aside when the prideful
repent. If people humble themselves before the Lord, His anger will cease, and
He will accept them into His presence. The prideful who repent will live with
the Lord, and the Lord will live with them.
V "And whosoever shall exalt himself shall
be abased; a, and that shall humble himself shall be exalted" (Mt. 23:12).
V "For the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth
in unrighteousness.… Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication,
wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit,
malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters,
inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenant-breakers,
without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of
God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the
same but have pleasure in them that do them" (Ro. 1:18, 29–32).
V "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves
the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh,
and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of
the world" (1 Jn. 2:15–16).
V "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall"
(Pr. 16:18).
V "He loveth transgression that loveth
strife: and he that exalteth his gate
seeketh destruction" (Pr.
17:19).
V "A high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin" (Pr. 21:4).
V "Seest thou a man wise in his own
conceit? there is more hope of a fool
than of him" (Pr. 26:12).
V "Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord" (Ob. 4).
II.
The Lord Issues a Strong Warning to The
Greedy and Covetous (V. 17).
Covetousness is a disease that has
plagued humanity throughout history. The human heart is filled with a spirit of
selfishness and greed. Through the centuries, many Israelites coveted their
neighbors' wealth, possessions, power, and pleasures. As Scripture says, many
coveted their neighbor's houses, wives, servants, livestock, and anything else
a neighbor owned (Ex. 20:17). As a result, they committed the heinous
sins that the greedy always commit lying, stealing, cheating, and oppressing
people—particularly the poor, disabled, and defenseless—to get what they want.
They would often bribe judges and use the courts to secure the desires of their
hearts. Because of their sin, the Lord punished the Israelites by hiding His
face from them and withdrawing His presence. He did this as a judgment, hoping
to arouse them to repent of their covetousness and turn back to Him.
V "And he said unto them, "Take heed,
and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of
the things which he possesseth" (Lu. 12:15).
V "Mortify therefore your members which
are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil
concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things' sake the
wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience" (Col. 3:5–6).
V "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's
house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his
maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's" (Ex. 20:17).
V "And they come unto thee as the people
cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but
they will not do them: for with their mouth, they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their
covetousness" (Eze. 33:31).
V "For from the least of them even unto
the greatest of them everyone is
given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest everyone
dealeth falsely" (Je. 6:13).
V "Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!" (Hab. 2:9).
III.
The Lord Offers Great Hope to The
Prideful and Greedy, Despite Their Terrible Sins.
He offers them the healing of
salvation and His own personal guidance (Vv. 18–19). But note that
only mourners (v. 19)
will be saved and guided by the Lord. All within Israel or anywhere else who
fell on their faces before the Lord, mourning
and crying out to Him in repentance, would receive God's peace and the healing
of His salvation. In fact, so much peace would flood the souls of repentant
sinners that they would cry, "Peace, peace to all who are far and near."
V "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give
unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid" (Jn.
14:27).
V "These things I have spoken unto you,
that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be
of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (Jn. 16:33).
V "Therefore, being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ro. 5:1).
V "But now in Christ Jesus ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our
peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of
partition between us" (Ep. 2:13–14).
V "Be careful for nothing, but in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known
unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep
your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Ph. 4:6–7).
V "And, having made peace through the
blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven" (Col. 1:20).
V "The Lord will give strength unto his
people; the Lord will bless his people with peace" (Ps. 29:11).
V "Great peace have they which love thy
law: and nothing shall offend them" (Ps. 119:165).
V "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose
mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee" (Is. 26:3).
V "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes, we are healed" (Is. 53:5).
IV.
The Lord Says the Fate of The Prideful and
Greedy Will Be Entirely Different from The Fate of Those Who Repent (Vv.
20–21).
The wicked and
unrepentant will be restless, like a turbulent sea whose waves never rest due
to their being tossed about. In addition, their lives will always be filled
with the filth and smut of sin, just like the slimy sand and mud that is
stirred up by the tossing waves of the sea. "There is no peace … to the
wicked" (v. 21).
V "For the kingdom of God is not meat and
drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Ro. 14:17).
V "And in those times, there was no peace to him that went out,
nor to him, that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries" (2 Chr. 15:5).
V "In the morning thou shalt say, Would
God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for
the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine
eyes which thou shalt see" (De.
28:67).
V "For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest
in the night. This is also vanity" (Ecc. 2:23).
V "The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings:
they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace"
(Is. 59:8).
V "Destruction cometh; and they shall seek
peace, and there shall be none"
(Eze. 7:25).
V "Our necks are under persecution: we labor and have no rest" (La. 5:5).[3]
Our Prayer of Confession
and Repentance Because of Our Pride and Greed
You alone, Lord, are the High & Lofty One.
Therefore because of who you are, we thank you, Lord, that you have provided a
way for us to live with you. We thank you that you have told us what you
require of us to dwell with you in your High Holy Place. We are to live a humble,
contrite, and repentant life before we can enter your Holy habitation.
Therefore, Father God, we ask you to help us live humble, contrite, repentant
lives. We thank you, Father God, that you have not destroyed us for our hearts'
sinful desires and our continual sinful and willful disobedient acts toward
you. We praise you, Father God, for your mercy of healing and comfort and for
your leading and teaching us to mourn and confess our sin. Your leading of us
to learn how to repent is what we want of you, Father God. We need repentance
in our lives for the purpose of healing and peace. Thus, Father God, help us to
rest in you, help us to cleanse our ways of wickedness, and to accept the peace
of heart, mind, soul, and spirit you offer.
Father God, we
also ask of you to help us remain faithful to you. Help us to lay aside our
worthless idols and pursuits of this life that repeatedly prove empty and void
of any meaning. We ask you, Lord to forgive us for our worshipping of the flesh
that has led to countless lives sacrificed on the altar of lustful selfishness.
Lord, we have argued for making decisions based on what we thought was best to
do at the time of our choices. However, what we have and do continue to fail at
is seeking your Word and what you have said about our behaviors and choices.
Again, Lord, we repent of our nearsighted sense of immediate gratification and
ask you to help us to think of how our choices will influence our eternal
destiny.
Lord, we know
that you know our true hearts' intentions and motives. At best, we can guess our
motivations based on immediate needs. Even then, we always choose what is best
for us and our selfishness. Our lust and pride are sins of our hearts that trip
us to fall and fail every time we pursue our own desires. So, help us, Father
God, we need you. We know, Lord, that you are good, and if we humble ourselves
with a contrite repentant heart, soul, and spirit, you will heal, forgive, and
receive us, giving us eternal salvation to dwell with you in your Holy
Habitation. Father God, we look forward to that soon day, and may we prepare our
hearts for when you receive us.
In Jesus' Name, Amen
"What Then Is Man, That God Should Be Mindful of Him? Or The Son of Man, That He Should Visit Him?" (Ps. 8:4). It Is an Extraordinary Condescension and Humility That God Should Bring Himself Down to The Level of Man, Hold Communion with Him, "Dwell" With Him, and "Heal" Him; Yet He Does This.[4]
[1] Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. 1910. Isaiah.
Vol. 2. The Pulpit Commentary. London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company.
a 57:20
those who still reject me,
literally, “the wicked.”
[2] Taylor, Kenneth Nathaniel. 1997. The Living Bible,
Paraphrased. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.
[3] Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2005. Isaiah: Chapters 36–66. Vol. II. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
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