Spiritual Senses
Opening Prayer
Lord, fully open my eyes and ears. Keep me from falling spiritually asleep.
Read Isaiah 42:10–25
10 Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the ends of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
you islands, and all who live in them.
11 Let the wilderness and its towns raise their voices;
let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice.
Let the people of Sela sing for joy;
let them shout from the mountaintops.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord
and proclaim his praise in the islands.
13 The Lord will march out like a champion,
like a warrior he will stir up his zeal;
with a shout he will raise the battle cry
and will triumph over his enemies.
14 “For a long time I have kept silent,
I have been quiet and held myself back.
But now, like a woman in childbirth,
I cry out, I gasp and pant.
15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills
and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn rivers into islands
and dry up the pools.
16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsake them.
17 But those who trust in idols,
who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’
will be turned back in utter shame.
Israel Blind and Deaf
18 “Hear, you deaf;
look, you blind, and see!
19 Who is blind but my servant,
and deaf like the messenger I send?
Who is blind like the one in covenant with me,
blind like the servant of the Lord?
20 You have seen many things, but you pay no attention;
your ears are open, but you do not listen.”
21 It pleased the Lord
for the sake of his righteousness
to make his law great and glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and looted,
all of them trapped in pits
or hidden away in prisons.
They have become plunder,
with no one to rescue them;
they have been made loot,
with no one to say, “Send them back.”
23 Which of you will listen to this
or pay close attention in time to come?
24 Who handed Jacob over to become loot,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord,
against whom we have sinned?
For they would not follow his ways;
they did not obey his law.
25 So he poured out on them his burning anger,
the violence of war.
It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand;
it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.
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.
Meditate
“You have seen many things, but have paid no attention; your ears are open, but you hear nothing” (Isa. 42:20, NIV).
Think Further
Because we are blessed with five senses—to be able to see, hear, touch, taste and smell—we have much for which to thank God. Though we often take these blessings for granted, our lives would be so much more difficult without them. The fact that Jesus devoted so many of his earthly miracles to alleviating five-senses malfunctions underlines that point. But spiritual blindness or deafness is more serious. In this passage, as the prophets so often declared, God’s people are charged with just that (18–20). Israel—the very nation commissioned to be God’s agent as a light to Gentile eyes and to bring the good news of the Gospel to the ears of the foreigner—was itself blind and deaf! As a result, God’s people were under his judgment (23–25).
As New Testament believers, we too have had our eyes opened and our ears unstopped. That deputizes us as agents of the Lord. To operate effectively
we must keep our eyes open and our ears tuned to what the Lord teaches us, primarily through his Word but also through prayer and the circumstances
of our life. Only then can we live lives pleasing in his sight and fulfill our calling. Am I spiritually alert to what he is showing me? Am I paying
attention down here?
If I am, I will obey the command of verse 10, exercising another of my God-given abilities! I will use my voice to sing to the Lord, joining all the
ends of the earth in singing the new song, rejoicing in his deliverance and salvation, giving him the glory he deserves (12)!
Apply
Lord, give me eyes to see Your glory today, ears to hear Your Word and a voice to praise You as I bear Your message to those I meet.
Closing prayer
Lord, I understand that I am commissioned to be salt and light to a lost and dying world. Strengthen me in my resolve to work effectively.
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