Who Are We Listening To?

Good morning. Today we find ourselves in Isaiah 8, verses 9–22.

And unlike the last few days of trying to keep up with all of the parts of history that the prophecy was talking to and when it happened, this section is actually pretty, pretty easy to follow along with.

But man, is it strong.

Yes, it is very strong.

And it really speaks to what we've been aiming at this whole time, at least for me, with this whole thought of: Who are we turning to? Who are we listening to?

In 9 through 15, he really talks about all these things of:

"You are not to say, 'It is a conspiracy!' regarding everything that this people call a conspiracy, and you are not to fear what they fear or be in fright of it."

And then in verse 13, it says:

"It is the Lord of Armies whom you are to regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread."

And then we get down to—we skip down to 19:

"When they say to you"—that means others say to Isaiah—"Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter," should a people not consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?

And to me, the verse that really supports all of it is verse 20:

"To the Law and to the testimony!"

If they—meaning the mediums and spiritists and these other people—if they do not speak in accordance with this word, meaning the Law and the testimony, it is because they have no dawn.

And then they go on to talk about being hungry, and they're mad at God.

They had their focus on the things of this world.

They had their focus on what this world was telling them and all of the political nonsense that was happening at the time, all the rumors.

And they themselves, like King Ahaz, weren't turning towards God, but rather towards all of these other things.

And I'm just reminded: the only place our peace comes from is from Jesus.

I think it's important that we know sort of what's going on around us in the world, but man, ultimately our focus should be on Him and Him alone.

I don't recall a single place in Scripture where it says that peace comes from anywhere other than God, from Jesus.

It repeats itself often and says, "Look to Me. I will give you My peace."

And so really, that's just reminding us that the world—whether it was way back in Isaiah's time and all the craziness that was happening there, or now and all that is happening in our world today—who we look to matters.

And there is only One who will give us peace, and that is our God. That is Jesus Christ.

I interchangeably use God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They're all one in my mind, and so I apologize if I ever confuse you, but that's how I view them. It just depends on the context that I'm talking about, on which One happens to come out.

So where is your focus?

What jumped out at you from this very strongly worded section of Scripture?

Oh, dear Heavenly Father, thank You for being our peace.

I thank You that we only have to look to You and to trust You.

And while the world goes insane and weird, our focus can be on You.

As we battle illness and disease and cancer and worry about finances and jobs and how to pay the bills—to turn to You, trust You, to be obedient to You.

You will guide us.

Oh Lord Jesus, thank You for always being that person, for always being our peace.

Lord, thank You so much for being person—or that God for us. Sorry.

Oh Lord, please be with us as we go out and do all the things that You've asked us to do.

As we talk to the people You place in our path, we will honor You and serve You and spend time listening to You, Lord.

It is in the precious name of Jesus I pray.

Thank you for joining me today as we wander through God's Word with wonder.