Isaiah 57:11

The Bible says in Isaiah 57:11-15, “And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied, and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart? have not I held my peace even of old, and thou fearest me not? I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee. When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain; And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people. For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” There are really only two types of people in the world: those who know and serve the Lord, and those who do not either know or serve the Lord. This passage in Isaiah tells us a couple of truths about each type of person. Isaiah 57:11 tells us that the unbelievers fear the wrong things, they lie, and they do not remember God. Isaiah 57:12 tells us that unbelievers perform unrighteous deeds and ungodly works, and therefore the unbelievers go through life bearing the consequences of their actions. That is why the Lord says to the unbeliever in Isaiah 57:12, “they shall not profit thee.” Isaiah 57:13 tells us that the unbelievers trust in the wrong things instead of trusting in the Lord. Here it says that they were trusting in “companies.” In other words they were trusting in their armies to protect them instead of trusting in God. Too bad the leaders of our country have not learned this lesson. Yes, build up the strongest defenses that you can because this is a world where evil countries will plot against and even attack those whom they consider to be their enemies. But you had better trust in the Lord for your help, and not in your military might. The Bible says in Psalms 9:17, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”

Believers who serve Jesus are in great contrast to the unbelievers. Believers who are full of faith fear nothing in life or in death, except for God. It is good to fear God because God is holy, and because God is the Judge of every person in this earth. It says in Isaiah 57:15, “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place.” How sinful we are compared to Jesus, and therefore we should fear Him who hath made us and who watches our every step. It says to believers in Hebrews 10:30-31, “For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Believers fear God, and believers do good deeds. Because God is good, those who belong to Christ will want to do the right thing. If it is not your goal to do the right thing, then you must question if you have truly been saved. It says in Second Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold all things are become new.” That is one of the reasons that there is such a big difference between believers and unbelievers. Believers want to do the right thing to please God, but unbelievers have no such motivation.

Believers should trust in the Lord for all things at all times. That is what the Lord expects to happen. We already trusted in the Lord Jesus for the salvation of our souls, so we know how to trust in Him. Notice one very important attribute of those who trust in the Lord. The Lord says in Isaiah 57:15, “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit.” To be rightly related to the Almighty and eternal God, whose name is Jesus Christ, we must be “of a contrite and humble spirit.” To be of a contrite spirit means to truly be sorry about our own sinfulness and to truly be repentant. One of the best examples of being of a contrite spirit is expressed in Luke 18:13, “God Be merciful to me a sinner.” To be of a humble spirit is the opposite of being proud or vain. A humble person has a right view of himself or herself: neither too high nor too low.

The Bible says in Isaiah 57:16-21, “For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners. I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” These verses in Isaiah chapter 57 demonstrate for us the tremendous mercy and love that God has for the children of God. It is talking about the Israelites during the time of Isaiah who had sinned so greatly and failed so miserably. Their sins were so despicable that they are unmentionable. God was provoked to wrath against them in His righteous anger. Twice it says that God was “wroth” with them. In other words He was angry. When the Almighty God is angry, there can be terrible consequences for those who must bear His anger. And God knows that. With one word, He can destroy the world, let alone individuals in the world. God said that if He was always angry, “the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.” God does not want to destroy. Jesus said in Luke 19:10 that He did not come to destroy, but that “the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

God did not want to destroy the Israelites even though they deserved it. God could have done more to destroy the Israelites, but He restrained Himself. God said in Ezekiel 33:11, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” Notice that God said in Isaiah 57:17, “I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.” God could have punished the Israelites more, and He should have punished them more even unto death; but He did not. Instead, God hid Himself. It says in Isaiah 45:15, “Verily thou art a God that hideth thyself, O God of Israel, the Savior.” Evidently one of the reasons that God hides Himself is because He is restraining Himself from destroying us even though we deserve judgment because of our wickedness and sinfulness. One thing to notice about the wickedness of the children of Israel is that even though the Lord held back from punishing them further, they went on into more sin and more self-will. That is why it says in Isaiah 57:17, “and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.” How stubborn people can be. How stubborn Christians can be when they are not in tune with the Lord. Too often people do not learn the lessons that they should learn, but they continue going down the wrong path. But in spite of the sinfulness of man and in spite of the failures of Christians, God remains true to Himself and He is love. He loves His own. It says of Jesus in John 13:1, “having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.” The verses in Isaiah 57:16-21 remind us once again of the eternal security of the believer. We are eternally secure once we believe in Jesus because of God and because of God’s great love for us. We might fail, but God will never fail to keep His promises. Notice what God has promised the believer in Isaiah 57:18, “I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.” Even though the “ways” of the Israelites had become so bad, instead of destroying the Israelites, God decided to “heal him,” to “lead him,” and to “restore comforts unto him.”

But those who are not under the protection provided by having faith in Christ will not receive such blessings. The unbelievers have a much different fate. It says in Isaiah 57:20-21, “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” Notice the words used to describe the wicked: “troubled” “cannot rest” and “no peace.” That is the main reason why they turn to alcohol and drugs and other wild and crazy things: they have no peace. Of course, anyone who is in such a condition can find peace by turning to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says in Romans 5:1, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Bible says in Isaiah 58:1, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” If someone is not rightly related to the Lord Jesus Christ, then there is a sin problem that must be dealt with. There is no justification for sin. There must be no rationalizing about sin to dismiss it or to make it sound acceptable. Call it what it is. Sin is sin, and not an alternate lifestyle. You cannot do your own thing: you must do God’s thing. And the servants of God must tell it like it is. That is important. It’s important because a person cannot get rightly related with God unless there is genuine repentance from sin. Jesus said in Luke 13:3 and in Luke 13:5, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

One of the problems with the Israelites is that they claimed they needed no repentance. That is what is being shown in the following verses. They were religious and they were performing all of the religious ceremonies, but they had sin in their life and were not rightly related to the Lord. It says in Isaiah 58:2-5, “Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?” The Lord is emphasizing that all of their religious ceremonies, even the denial of self with fasting, is all a vain show without true repentance. By the way true repentance means that you change your ways and stop doing the sinful actions of which you have been practicing. This same message is given in the book of Revelation to Christians. Jesus says in Revelation 2:20-22, “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.” The formula for being rightly related to God is very simple. It is just like 1,2,3. One: you turn from your sins. Two: You turn to Jesus and ask for forgiveness. Three: You start doing the right thing. You are not a servant of Christ unless all three of these actions are a part of your life today.

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