Renewal & Repentance
Isaiah 55:1-13
Main Idea: The Lord invites us to experience his lavish, generous grace by coming to him in repentance.
I. Come & Be Satisfied (55:1-5)
The Lord again invites his people to come to him in faith. Like street vendors trying to sell a product, God is beckoning all who hear him to come, feast, and be satisfied. This invitation is to two groups of people:
The Needy: those who thirst & have no money (the “have-nots”)
The Self-Sufficient: Those who spend their money on & labor toward that which does not satisfy (the “haves”)
1 Timothy 6:17: As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” ~ C.S. Lewis
The Lord is inviting us not merely to an intellectual knowledge of his goodness or a theory of his mercy, but instead a full-fledged experience of his lavish, generous grace. He is offering refreshment (waters), rich provision (milk), & joy (wine). We are invited to come to him for life & life abundantly (Jn. 10:10), and someone else has already paid the bill.
We come to this feast of God’s grace by listening to his word (“listen diligently.. Incline your ear… hear”). It is through the Word of God that we are pointed to our source of satisfaction & joy.
God’s Word ensures us that all who accept this invitation to come to him experience the blessing of the everlasting covenant made with David (2 Sam. 7), ultimately seen & fulfilled in Jesus Christ: John 6:35: Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
II. Return & Be Renewed (55:6-13)
The way that we come to God & accept the invitation to his feast of grace is by repentance. 55:6-7 tells us exactly what repentance entails:
1. Seek & call upon the Lord with urgency (55:6a; cf. Acts 17:30)
“To ‘seek’ the Lord is to stop dawdling and to become intentional about him, setting highest value on him, removing everything that keeps us from him, hearing his Word without back-talk, opening up to his will with no preconditions... Seeking the Lord is a whole-life realignment with Christ. We stop treating him as a religious garnish on the side. He becomes our continual feast, our defining center. And the time to move in his direction is now.” ~ Ray Ortlund
2. Forsake our sins, both in belief & behavior (55:7a)
3. Return to receive compassion & abundance of pardon (55:7b)
“This [promise] is a profound consolation for us as we find ourselves time and again wandering away from the Father, looking for soul calm anywhere but in his embrace & instruction. Returning to God in fresh contrition, however ashamed and disgusted with ourselves, he will not tepidly pardon. He will abundantly pardon. He does not merely accept us. He sweeps us up in his arms again.” ~ Dane Ortlund
Typically, Isaiah 55:8-9 is quoted to talk about God’s unique, mysterious providence or his sovereign governance over all things. But in the context of this chapter, Isaiah is noting that there is indeed an immeasurable gulf between God & us, but it in regard to his compassion & mercy toward the undeserving (cf. Ps. 103:9-12)
When we have trouble believing this, we are reminded that God’s word will accomplish what he purposes; it will “rain” down like rain from the sky, watering & nourishing the ground, causing it to bear fruit. Those who trust in him will be led out of exile with joy & peace, worshipping alongside creation itself as God promises to roll back the curse (“thorns & briers”) & transform not only us, but all of creation.
“This passage is beautifully communicating that God’s heart for his people is building toward a crescendo as the generations roll by, preparing to explode onto human history at the end of all things. Our joyous restored humanity will surge forward with such spiritually nuclear energy that the creation itself will erupt in raucous hymns of celebration. This is the party for which the created order is on the edge of its seat in eager anticipation.” ~ Dane Ortlund
Psalm 34:8a: Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
