GOOD VINEYARD, BAD GRAPES
Opening Prayer
Lord, may your Word penetrate my defenses, and bring life and strength to my inner being.
Read ISAIAH 5:1-7
The Song of the Vineyard
5 I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
and cut out a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit.
3 “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more could have been done for my vineyard
than I have done for it?
When I looked for good grapes,
why did it yield only bad?
5 Now I will tell you
what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
and it will be destroyed;
I will break down its wall,
and it will be trampled.
6 I will make it a wasteland,
neither pruned nor cultivated,
and briers and thorns will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain on it.”
7 The vineyard of the Lord Almighty
is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are the vines he delighted in.
And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;
for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
In what ways does music encourage worship for you? Is there a particular song that blesses you? In what way?Everyone likes a good song. Isaiah, like any preacher, needed to get the people’s attention. So he sang a song. Perhaps it was festival time and crowds were milling about, enjoying the harvest wine and songs.
Isaiah’s song is a parable about a much-loved friend who owns a vineyard (vv. 1, 7a). The vineyard owner (the Lord Almighty) values his vineyard (his people) greatly and goes to great trouble to ensure their security, fruitfulness, growth, and development. But when he comes to taste the fruit, he spits it out. It is bitter and useless (vv. 1, 2). The owner is so disheartened that he consigns the vineyard back to waste ground, reversing all the measures he took earlier.
Isaiah’s song shows us a God who is both delighted and disappointed (v. 7). He delights in us as his people, and he lavishes care on us. Nothing is too much trouble. He is disappointed when we pay him back with a world of bloodshed and the cries of the poor. He is looking for good fruit, which—in this context—is a people who will live the life of righteousness and treat all people fairly (v. 7).
Apply
Are we too predictable in our methods sometimes? If Isaiah used song and Jeremiah used drama, let’s encourage the development of everyone’s artistic, creative, and technical abilities to help express God’s truth to the world.
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, help me to walk closely with you so that my life will bear fruit—fruit that will last.
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