Isaiah 57:14-16 English Standard Version (ESV)

Comfort for the Contrite

¹⁴ And it shall be said, “Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people’s way.” ¹⁵ For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. ¹⁶ For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made.”

There is within this passage the hope for survival of our heart attack. God revives the heart of the contrite. The Hebrew word for contrite is dakah and the point of reference for the meaning is contained in Psalm 10.

Psalm 10:10 English Standard Version (ESV) The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might.

It is not enough to say “I am crushed.” God Himself has brought us down to save us. That is not something that people want to hear about a God who is saving you. If you could see a moment that was about to happen, like an oncoming train while you are stuck on the tracks, would you be grateful to the one who tackled you?

Most of us do not see the danger. We have our own set of circumstances surrounding our salvation. Rarely is it as serious as a heart attack but that is precisely what happens. We end up getting a heart transplant.

Ezekiel 36:26 English Standard Version (ESV) And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

They don’t tell us that at the alter call. Maybe they should.

Romans 12:3,6 English Standard Version (ESV) For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;

What faith are you?

When others ask this question, they are seeking to discover who you worship. It has nothing to do with faith or any of its multiple aspects. There are only three faith based religions and they all have the same root, Abraham. Jews, Christians and Muslims all stake there claims based in the faith of Abraham.

Why Abraham? Abraham was not the first man God called out to and not the last. What makes Abraham so special?

Genesis 12:1-3 English Standard Version (ESV)

The Call of Abram

¹ Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Even before God changed his name to Abraham, God made this promise. Laying claim to Abraham makes those believers part of his family and therefor inheritors of God’s blessing. We might want to examine the motivations of our hearts.

Do we lay claim to any blessing from God? What is the basis of our claim? Is it birthright as in I was born into this faith? Do we feel the need for a protective shield from enemies, real or imagined? Do we seek the blessings for their intrinsic values? Do we seek acceptance?

What is the motivation of the heart?