JULY 30, 2021 SCRIPTURE AND SONG “THE GARDEN OF THE LORD”

ISAIAH 51:3 For the Lord will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places, and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song or instrument of praise. Amp.

DEFINITIONS

Waste – c) drought, a desolation

Eden – c) delicate, delight, pleasure

What brings desolation?

Matthew 24:15 So when you see the appalling sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the Holy Place and let the reader take notice and ponder and consider and heed this, 16. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; Amp.

Daniel 11:30 … he(Satan) shall even turn back and make common cause with those Jews who abandon the holy covenant with God. 31. And armed forces of his shall appear in the holy land and they shall pollute the sanctuary, the spiritual stronghold and shall take away the continual daily burnt offering and they shall set up in the sanctuary the abomination that astonishes and makes desolate, probably an idol. Amp.

The Holy Place is where the Presence of the Lord dwells. He dwells in the hearts of those who keep His commandments (John 14:21,23). When they stop keeping His commandments they reap desolation or emptiness. Why?

Romans 2:22 …You who abhor and loathe idols, do you rob temples — appropriate to your own use what is consecrated to God, thus robbing the sanctuary and doing sacrilege? Amp.

What is the temple of the Holy Spirit? He is not talking about a physical building but about His sheep. We are not our own. We belong to Him and have been consecrated for His purpose. We no longer can waste time watching TV and doing our own thing. He has a plan for each of us. We are to spend time in prayer everyday until it is our established routine everyday. We cannot do without the spiritual benefits that follow.

Satan takes away the continual daily burnt offering, which is probably prayer and replaces it with something easier. This is an idol because it is putting self before God thus making it desolate. Each time you skip your prayer time, it gets easier to skip it the next time, until it is not a problem for you.

Satan is allowed to attack those who have abandoned the Holy Covenant. What is the Holy Covenant but believing with personal trust and confident reliance on Jesus. Something must have happened to them that broke their line of communication to the Lord and so they become offended and fall away instead of seeking Him for the answer to their painful condition.

The Lord is merciful and is always close by, ready to pick us up when we fall. We can see with what great mercy He plans for His remnant in the last days in Isaiah 51:3. A desolate place is without the presence of God, which for any Christian is hell. It is misery and wretchedness.

He wants to comfort all those waste places and fill them with His joy and gladness making it into the beautiful garden of the Lord. How will He do it? With thanksgiving and a song. Let us enjoy the songs He gives to us. He inhabits the praises of His people. He has made so many ways to bless us. Let us put out our water jars so the Holy Spirit can fill us up!

POEM — STREAMS IN THE DESERT

For life is all too short, dear.

And sorrow is all too great,

To allow our slow compassion

That tarries until too late.

And its not the thing that you do, dear,

It’s the thing you leave undone,

That gives you bitter heartache,

At the setting of the sun.

Song — GARDEN — KELLY WILLARD