Isaiah 55: God Provides
Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples.
See, you shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. — Isaiah 55:1-9 [+/-]
In this wonderful passage, God through his prophet offers an open invitation to wealth, ease, prosperity, a free celebration, an open bar, a party to outdo all parties. I love the exuberance of the first verses: Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. It’s a grand announcement that God has something of life-sustaining value, and not only that, something pleasant and palatable, to give away for free.
But the second verse suggests that some of us are looking for these good things in a way that is useless to us: “Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread? Or your labor, for that which satisfieth not?” And the invitation is renewed: “Hearken diligently unto me, and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.” Now I loved that passage long before I began to partake of the fatness which comes from “that which is not bread.” But let’s pause for a minute and see what he’s talking about.
So much of our time and effort, and yes, even our prayers, are spent on that which is not bread in the sense that God is now speaking through Isaiah — on physical comforts, sufficiency of food, warmth, shelter, health. Surely we need these things, and God is not stingy with them. But of them Jesus says, Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33 [+/-]). We’re reminded of the words of Jesus: Labor not for the food which perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you (John 6:27 [+/-]). And, I am the bread of life. God will satisfy the needs of our body, but it is our soul which he says should delight itself in fatness.
How do we obtain this gift, this free gift of a fat, satisfied, enriched soul? The first clue comes in Isaiah 55:3 [+/-] Listen diligently to me says God. Are we not only listening, but listening diligently to God? Are we going out of our way to make sure we hear what he has to say? Here he also says, and eat what is good. Now also remember how a New testament writer cites the Psalmist: O taste and see that the Lord is good. He even gives us three simple steps: Give ear; come to me; hear me.
Give ear means to begin to pay attention, be ready for what God might say. Come to me means to step out of our own routine, our own path, to do something that we wouldn’t be doing if it weren’t our priority to pay attention to God and his free gift to us. Hear me then means to take in God’s words, take them to heart, understand them, and let our life’s course be altered by them: that your soul may live. How many people are walking around with dead souls?
He then promises a covenant, his sure mercies promised to David. Why David? David was a man of great faith, and of great sins. God made promises to David based on his faith, and taught David to return to him for forgiveness from his sins. David had a man killed in order to cover up his own adultery; yet when he repented, God forgave him. This forgiveness didn’t come without cost or consequence, but it was forgiveness all the same. It was a sure mercy, actually many mercies that God showed to David.
This act of mercy towards sinners is intended as the means by which God’s people are to be examples to the nations, a beacon of hope that says forgiveness is free, available, and for all. What was the message that was to go out to all nations in the name of Jesus, according to his own words? Repentance and the forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:47 [+/-]).
This message is then given explicitly in verses Isaiah 55:6-8 [+/-]: Seek the Lord while he may be found etc. It is a message of mercy and pardon for all who seek the Lord, all who call upon him. How different are his thoughts than ours! How different are his ways from ours! He wants to do away with sin by forgiving and redeeming sinners. He wants to resolve conflicts among nations by giving away the free gift of His presence to all nations. There is a sense of urgency, however, to this call. In some ways it is still that call to enjoy the excellent feast he has prepared: Get it while it’s hot! Don’t delay, now is the day, today if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. We don’t know if there will be any day but today.
Still, he assures us who have this message now to give to the nations (and also we who still need to hear): he expects a result, because his message is powerful. It will accomplish its work. People will be set free, forgiven, redeemed, released, their hungry souls fed, their useless cravings set aside. God has gone to every length to send forth his word of mercy. Can we receive it? Have you received it? Can our souls be filled, so we are moved to invite others to this rich feast? There’s plenty for all.