Light - Isaiah 59

Isaiah 59:16 "And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him."

The hopelessness of man seems evident when we get down to the facts. A doctor may be the best there is but when he is sick he needs another to treat his illness. We are in no way the best when compared to God's righteousness. We cannot measure up by ourselves. Therefore we need someone who can measure up, to stand for us and represent us. To treat us.

v1-2 Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."

Here is the dilemma for man: We cannot approach God because we are sinful. How then can we defend ourselves before him. Just as Job became silent, so must we before his righteousness. We are guilty without a doubt. Then in came Jesus to our defense. He lived a perfect life and died in our place for our sin and rose again to present himself to his Father on our behalf. Thus the answer to sinful man's approach to God.

v8 "The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings; they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace."

Isn't peace what we all seek?

This message to verse 8 seems to have touched the prophet deeply for the chapter turns into a prayer.

The confession: v9 "Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us; we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness."

Hopelessness: v10 "We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noon day as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men."

I have always said that you cannot teach someone who knows everything already. It is true also that a person who does not realize that they are lost will not take direction. One must see a need in their life before they will seek to fulfill that need. Such is salvation.

v12 "For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them;"

There it is out in the open. We are lost and undone.

v20 "And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD. Repentance is turning from.

Though this passage was to Israel in those days, there is the inclusion of the Gentiles. The Redeemer is for all who will come to him. So, we find application for our lives in these words. There is hope for those who stumble in the darkness. Let the light of the Redeemer guide to peace inside.