Day 253
OYB - September 10
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Devotional Old Testament New Testament Psalm Proverb
Tell him to stop worrying. Tell him he doesn't need to fear the fierce anger of those two burned-out embers, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah.
King Ahaz learned an important lesson in dealing with an attack of the enemy: you cannot run from the battle! When an army far superior to his own threatened Jerusalem, "the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear, just as trees shake in a storm" (Isaiah 7:2). But God in His mercy sent the prophet Isaiah to deliver an encouraging message. Through Isaiah God told Ahaz, "This invasion will never happen" (v. 7), and He further instructed the king, saying, "If you want me to protect you, learn to believe what I say" (v. 9).

The enemy's primary weapon is fear. When disaster loomed on the horizon, Ahaz was overcome by fear, but the bold word from the Lord enabled him to remain calm, relaxed, and confident.

Paul said, "Do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord, no matter what happens. Remember the great reward it brings you!" (Hebrews 10:35). And that reward is a "faith that assures our salvation"

(v. 39).

When the battle seems overwhelming, what choice do you have but to stand firm? If you turn and run from the enemy, you will not stand at all. Burn the retreat bridge! Your only option is to stand-and when you do, God will fight for you!
Isaiah 6:1-7:25

Isaiah’s Vision

1In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3And one called out to another and said,

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,

The whole earth is full of His glory.”

4And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. 5Then I said,

“Woe is me, for I am ruined!

Because I am a man of unclean lips,

And I live among a people of unclean lips;

For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

6Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”

Isaiah’s Commission

8Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” 9He said, “Go, and tell this people:

‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive;

Keep on looking, but do not understand.’

10Render the hearts of this people insensitive,

Their ears dull,

And their eyes dim,

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

Hear with their ears,

Understand with their hearts,

And return and be healed.”

11Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered,

“Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant,

Houses are without people

And the land is utterly desolate,

12The Lord has removed men far away,

And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

13Yet there will be a tenth portion in it,

And it will again be subject to burning,

Like a terebinth or an oak

Whose stump remains when it is felled.

The holy seed is its stump.”

War against Jerusalem

1Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it. 2When it was reported to the house of David, saying, “The Arameans have camped in Ephraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.

3Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field, 4and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering firebrands, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah. 5Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying, 6“Let us go up against Judah and terrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” 7thus says the Lord God: “It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass. 8For the head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people), 9and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.” ’ ”

The Child Immanuel

10Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11“Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!” 13Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well? 14Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. 15He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. 16For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.

Trials to Come for Judah

17The Lord will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have never come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah, the king of Assyria.”

18In that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19They will all come and settle on the steep ravines, on the ledges of the cliffs, on all the thorn bushes and on all the watering places.

20In that day the Lord will shave with a razor, hired from regions beyond the Euphrates (that is, with the king of Assyria), the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard.

21Now in that day a man may keep alive a heifer and a pair of sheep; 22and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat curds, for everyone that is left within the land will eat curds and honey.

23And it will come about in that day, that every place where there used to be a thousand vines, valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become briars and thorns. 24People will come there with bows and arrows because all the land will be briars and thorns. 25As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the hoe, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.

2 Corinthians 11:16-33

16Again I say, let no one think me foolish; but if you do, receive me even as foolish, so that I also may boast a little. 17What I am saying, I am not saying as the Lord would, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting. 18Since many boast according to the flesh, I will boast also. 19For you, being so wise, tolerate the foolish gladly. 20For you tolerate it if anyone enslaves you, anyone devours you, anyone takes advantage of you, anyone exalts himself, anyone hits you in the face. 21To my shame I must say that we have been weak by comparison.

But in whatever respect anyone else is bold—I speak in foolishness—I am just as bold myself. 22Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23Are they servants of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. 24Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. 25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. 26I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; 27I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. 29Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?

30If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness. 31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. 32In Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me, 33and I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and so escaped his hands.

Psalms 54:1-7

PSALM 54

Prayer for Defense against Enemies.

For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is not David hiding himself among us?”

1Save me, O God, by Your name,

And vindicate me by Your power.

2Hear my prayer, O God;

Give ear to the words of my mouth.

3For strangers have risen against me

And violent men have sought my life;

They have not set God before them. Selah.

4Behold, God is my helper;

The Lord is the sustainer of my soul.

5He will recompense the evil to my foes;

Destroy them in Your faithfulness.

6Willingly I will sacrifice to You;

I will give thanks to Your name, O Lord, for it is good.

7For He has delivered me from all trouble,

And my eye has looked with satisfaction upon my enemies.

Proverbs 23:1-3

On Life and Conduct

1When you sit down to dine with a ruler,

Consider carefully what is before you,

2And put a knife to your throat

If you are a man of great appetite.

3Do not desire his delicacies,

For it is deceptive food.