Friday 9 December 2022

Today is Friday the 9th of December, in the second week of Advent.

The Porter’s Gate sings, ‘Isaiah (O Come)’.



For those who walk in darkness
The sun is rising, rising, rising
the shadow dies our anguish flies
From dawn on high
O Lord Jesus, come
O Come
O Come
The yoke upon our shoulders
is finally breaking, breaking, breaking
Our burdens gone in that bright dawn
When he has come
O Lord Jesus, come
O Come
O Come
The sun to us is given
And we are waiting, waiting, waiting
Immanuel, o wonderful
Your peace to tell
O Lord Jesus, come
O Come
O Come



Today’s reading is from the prophet Isaiah.


Isaiah 48:17-19

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
I am the Lord your God, who teaches you for your own good,
who leads you in the way you should go.
O that you had paid attention to my commandments!
Then your prosperity would have been like a river,
and your success like the waves of the sea;
your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains;
their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me.

When parents or teachers say, ‘This is for your own good’, it doesn’t usually feel like good news for the hearer. But this is God we’re dealing with, and we know that God only leads us in paths of goodness. There is reproach here but also promise. How do you hear God’s reproach or God’s promise in this reading?

Is there some part of God’s commandments to which you are aware you haven’t paid attention? Is God calling your attention to something in your life that needs re-ordering? Allow God’s word to sink in deeper, seeing if there is a sense of invitation there.

As this reading is read again, notice if any words or thoughts strike you particularly. What comes across is God’s longing for our good and our fulfilment. Is there a sense of promise here for you?

However this reading touches you, is there something that you want to say to the God who speaks so directly to us? This is a chance to speak to God of your own longings and your sense of how God may be calling you right now.

O Wisdom
Lord and Ruler
Root of Jesse
Key of David
Rising Sun
King of the Nations
Emmanuel
Come, Lord Jesus