Today’s Devotion
Topic: Our God Sings
Text: Isaiah 5: 3 & 4
3 Now, you people of Jerusalem and Judah, you judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more could I have done for my vineyard that I have not already done? When I expected sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes? Amen
Imagine the looks on the faces of the Israelites when God decided, at one time, to sing to them instead of talking, as they were used to. A great number of them might have wondered what God would want to sing to them about, way before He even sang a note of His song. In this day and age, the anxiety and anticipation would be the same if He ever chose to sing to us. Who knows what He would sing to us about?
In Israel’s case, He sang through Isaiah saying… “Now I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a rich and fertile hill. He plowed the land, cleared its stones, and planted it with the best vines. In the middle he built a watchtower and carved a winepress in the nearby rocks. Then he waited for a harvest of sweet grapes, but the grapes that grew were bitter. Now, you people of Jerusalem and Judah, you judge between me and my vineyard.
“What more could I have done for my vineyard that I have not already done? When I expected sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes? Now let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will tear down its hedges and let it be destroyed. I will break down its walls and let the animals trample it. I will make it a wild place where the vines are not pruned and the ground is not hoed, a place overgrown with briers and thorns. I will command the clouds to drop no rain on it. The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. The people of Judah are His pleasant garden. He expected a crop of justice, but instead He found oppression. He expected to find righteousness, but instead He heard cries of violence.” (Isaiah 5: 1- 7)
In this song, God likened Himself to a beloved who gave of his best to ensure that a vineyard he had planted would yield sweet grapes, only to receive bitter grapes at the end of the harvest. So he decides that the people of Jerusalem and Judah (who were actually the offenders) should judge between He and His vineyard.
Beloved, pause and think of the many “investments” that God has made in your life. Consider the blessings He has bestowed over and over again on you as He daily grants you all that pertains to life and godliness. What harvest should He expect from you at the end? What song do you think He will be singing to you – one of praise or condemnation? There’s an open invitation for you. God says to you, “Come now, let’s settle this. Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)
Begin to pray. Ask the Almighty God to strengthen you in your walk with Him so that you make wise use of every opportunity and blessing He brings your way to bear good fruits for the glory of His name. “May the LORD your God be with you; the Mighty Warrior who saves. May He take great delight in you; in His love may He no longer rebuke you, but rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)
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