“Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with lapis lazuli I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones" (Isaiah 54:11-12).
Sovereign, merciful God and Father, thank You for Your word that enlightens, instructs and comforts us. Thank You for revealing Yourself through Your word—for showing us the heart, the attributes, the character of God (if we could even assign such terms to You, holy and unfathomable God).
Your word, O God, is so rich with Your person, Your presence, Your power, Even messages, spoken in a particular context, show us what you are like, how You purpose, how You act. We know You spoke these particular words in Isaiah 54 through the prophet to encourage Your people with the future glory of their "afflicted city."
Yet, whether to a nation in the historical reality of captivity, to a church facing centuries of difficulty, or to an individual believer struggling through adversity, You offer the same assurance, the same promise of comfort and restoration.
Father, thank You for the hope You offer to the afflicted, the storm-lashed and the desolate. Even when it's hard for us to see how any of it could work for our good, help us to trust You, and to believe You are rebuilding and fortifying us with the precious stones of Your love, Your mercy and Your grace.
The Church’s one foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is His new creation
By water and the Word:
From heav’n He came and sought her
To be His holy Bride;
With His own blood He bought her,
And for her life He died.
Elect from every nation,
Yet one o’er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation,
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy Name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses,
With every grace endued.
’Mid toil and tribulation,
And tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation
Of peace for evermore;
Till, with the vision glorious,
Her longing eyes are blest,
And the great Church victorious
Shall be the Church at rest.
Yet she on earth hath union
With God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won:
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we,
Like them, the meek and lowly,
In love may dwell with Thee.
~ Samuel J. Stone ~ Published 1866
~ Alt Text: Charles W. Naylor ~ 1907
コメント