May 4, 2025 • 36 mins
When life surrounds us with seemingly unstoppable forces, where do we turn? Jerusalem faced this question literally as the ruthless Assyrian Empire encamped around their walls, having crushed every other city in their path. Their political alliances had crumbled, their strategies had failed, and only then did they cry out to God.
This powerful journey through Isaiah 33 reveals how God responds when we finally turn to Him in desperation – not just by removing our troubles, but by transforming us through them. "Trouble comes, I pray, He acts, I'm different is far better than having your troubles disappear." This spiritual maturity recognizes God's purpose extends beyond our immediate relief to our eternal formation.
The chapter dramatically portrays the inevitable fall of oppressors who fail to factor God into their equations. Yet it also turns the spotlight inward, challenging us with the uncomfortable truth that often our greatest enemy isn't external but internal: "It's not my mama, it's not my papa, but it's me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer."
What makes this ancient text so relevant today is its extraordinary vision of hope beyond mere survival. God promises His people more than just the removal of the Assyrian threat – He offers glimpses of a new creation where Christ reigns eternally, where sickness, suffering and sin are no more. This isn't just about getting through today's crisis; it's about living toward that day when "the glory of the Lord will be the light within our midst."
For anyone facing uncertainty, oppression, or fear, Isaiah 33 reminds us that while human powers falter, God never does. When nations crumble, God's kingdom remains secure. Our ultimate hope isn't found in human strategies or solutions but in lifting our eyes to the King in His beauty who will one day make all things new.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Take your Bible and go to the book of Isaiah,
chapter 33.
If you're new here recently,here we're going through the
book of Isaiah together onSunday mornings.
Started in chapter 1, we'llfinish in chapter 66, lord
willing, right in the middle,chapter 33.
Come with me some 2,700 yearsback, 701 BC, about 6,000 miles
(00:27):
away from here, to a city ofJerusalem.
And if you were, you would bein Jerusalem and you would find
the Assyrian Empire.
Ruthless King Sennacherib hascrushed countless cities,
leaving destruction in its wake.
Kingdoms have fallen, some ofthem have folded without even a
(00:50):
fight, others have trembledunder the awesome power of this
empire.
To Jerusalem.
Left alone every fortified city, but it destroyed and the
armies encamped around themmocking.
Left alone every fortified city, but it destroyed and the
(01:11):
armies encamped around themmocking.
The crown jewel of the peopleof God is the only place
standing.
The people of Jerusalem arelooking over the wall and they
see these forces surround themand they fear, like we all would
.
They had looked for help fromEgypt, hoped some alliance with
(01:33):
some other nation would helpthem.
It's all fallen worthless.
Their strategies have failed,their strength has crumbled.
Their confidence is gone, it'sevaporated.
And at this moment ofdesperation they cry out to God,
isaiah lifts up his voice,perhaps to pray what they
(02:02):
haven't yet prayed, or perhapsto echo what they are starting
to pray what they haven't yetprayed.
Or perhaps to echo what theyare starting to pray, but
instead of calling on Egypt,they're now starting to achingly
pray to God.
Why are we looking at thepassage of Scripture, this text
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that's 2,700 years old, thistext that's 2,700 years old,
that's written to people 6,000miles away from us, about people
that are long gone and erasedfrom the earth and the memories
of most who have ever lived onit, about a small city that, in
(02:43):
light of even the cities of thatday, was insignificant.
Why?
Because we live in a worldwhere uncertainty reigns.
We live in a world whereleaders rise and fall, where
economies shift, where wars rageand even our personal lives are
seemingly controlled byunexpected events, and we're
(03:07):
left in the consequence of thosethings rather than in control
of them.
We have to ask ourselves whereis our security?
Where is our safety?
Where is our deliverance?
Where is our peace?
Where's our deliverance?
Where's our peace?
This and these are thequestions and the focus of
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Isaiah 33.
In the face of fear broughtabout by oppression and
unrighteousness and war.
Isaiah is calling the peopleaway from political alliances
and trying to drum up their ownstrength to rely upon the living
God, and he demonstrates anexample of that.
(03:53):
This morning we're going to lookat Isaiah 33.
We're going to look at it inthree parts.
We look for a prayer for God'shelp and understand.
God rises to punish oppressors,but he also mercifully offers
promises of protection and peace.
And in the midst of this wholechapter, the one who's in the
(04:15):
forefront of it all is not usand our needs and how we can
most capably get on with life,but rather the living God, the
one who rises.
But rather the living God, theone who rises, because it's more
than just some medicinal helpfor our days.
It is a revelation of God'ssupremacy over everything,
(04:41):
whether it be nations or ourproblems or even ourselves.
It's a reminder to us thatwhile human powers falter, god
never does.
And when nations crumble, godand his kingdom are secure for
eternity.
We don't have to lean on humanstrategies or solutions, but to
(05:08):
lift our eyes, as Isaiahencourages us, to the God who
reigns forever.
So as we walk through thischapter, in the middle of its
situation, in its immediatecontext, we're going to see not
just Jerusalem givingencouragement of rescue in the
day, but they're going to becast forward into a place of
ultimate deliverance and hope,and we too will find ourselves
swept up into that same promise,joining in them in the same
(05:31):
hope, with the same degree ofexpectancy.
So let's go into this world.
The first thing we're going tofind is a prayer for divine help
, and it'll start in verse two.
We'll get back to verse one injust a moment.
Verse two Lord, be gracious tous.
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We wait for you.
Be our strength every morningin our salvation.
In time of trouble, the peoplesflee at the thunderous noise,
the nations scatter.
When you rise in your majesty,your spoil will be gathered, as
locusts are gathered, peoplewill swarm over it, like the
people in Jerusalem, theseruthless Assyrians on the move
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and now at their door, and fearhas gripped their hearts.
They've tried diplomacy, theytried allegiances, they tried
military strategies, and none ofit has worked.
None of it, nothing.
And now, now, at the lastmoment, finally, there's a cry
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to God.
They finally turned their facestoward the Lord and Isaiah
lifts up the voice in verse 2.
Now there's some question hereabout whether Isaiah is saying
you need to be praying like this, or you're starting to pray
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like this.
I think probably the latter.
There is some evidence andyou'll find out in a couple
weeks just who prays like this.
But it's a cry.
Now, finally, these people havebeen warned of their
disobedience and of theirabandonment of God, where now
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they're finally coming to himand they're finally praying, and
they're looking now to the onewho's enthroned above the chaos
and they look for rescue.
They acknowledge theirinability, but do they even
(07:59):
understand what God's going todo when he answers?
I don't think they do.
What's going to do when heanswers?
I don't think they do.
And there are times in our lifewhen we get into moments of
complete, absolute desperation.
We're nothing, nowhere,anything's going to work
whatsoever, we're completely outof any resource that seems to
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be of any benefit whatsoever,and all we want is to have that
trouble over.
But God wants to do more thanjust get our troubles over, as
we'll see, because he's going todo something here that's beyond
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that.
Look at how God responds tothis cry that.
Look at how God responds tothis cry, verse five and six the
Lord is exalted, for he dwellson high.
He has filled Zion with justiceand righteousness.
There will be times of securityfor you, a storehouse of
salvation, wisdom and knowledge.
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The fear of the Lord is Zion'streasure.
Well, that's probably a wholelot more than what people were
praying for.
They just wanted the Assyriansout of there.
I just want my trouble over, Ijust like want these enemies
gone.
(09:22):
And God says, oh yeah, well, I'mconcerned with more than just
saving you from your enemies.
I'm concerned with more thanjust taking away your problem.
And here he's telling them thathe is going to form them and
shape them and mark them by apeople of righteousness and
stability and wisdom, becauseit's more about transformation
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in them than it is simply abouttaking away the trouble.
And this is how the Lord worksin us.
The scriptures tell us allthings work together for good to
those who love god and arecalled according to his purpose.
(10:08):
You see, trouble comes in thisfallen world.
It is going to come.
Mark it down, it is certain.
And god is not just operating ina transactional way of saying
trouble comes, I pray he acts,it goes away.
Trouble comes, I pray he acts,it goes away.
(10:29):
He is doing something differentin this world of woe than that
Trouble comes, I pray, he acts,I'm different, I'm different,
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I'm different.
And you'll find in your daysand years ahead, as you walk
with the Lord, that when troublecomes, I pray, he acts, I'm
different is more important thanthe trouble going away.
Did you hear that You're goingto find out and you're going to
welcome this one day?
If you aren't already, if you'rea new believer, it's easy to
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get into.
The trouble comes, I pray, heacts, trouble goes away.
Frame of mind and then kind ofgrind when the trouble doesn't
go away and you're wondering whyis it still there?
I thought god would hear me.
But then you grow in grace andyou realize trouble comes, I
pray, he acts, I'm different isa far better reward and joy of
your heart than having your yourtroubles disappear Wonderfully,
(11:44):
immersively they often do andGod moves you past those things
and, as time would have it,you'll enter into another
difficulty.
But you'll understand thatthere's something going on with
God that's better and biggerthan just getting rid of the
trouble.
(12:10):
And so the people here arelearning something even in the
midst of their prayer for help.
That help comes from the Lord,but that help is bigger than the
parameters of what I dictate tohim in my prayer.
He's doing something larger andbigger and greater and more
eternal than just simply makingthe Assyrian army go away.
(12:34):
I was talking to a belovedbrother in Christ who serves as
a missionary, and he's cryingout, still wondering what's
going on with his life.
And I said, brother, god isallowing things happen to you so
(12:58):
he can do things in you, so hecan work better through you.
Right, that's what this is.
This is not just an ancientprayer.
There's something for us all tohear here.
Now let's move to the secondpoint, because God does hear
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them, god does respond.
And the first point is thisprayer, prayer for God's help.
And the second point is thispunishment of the oppressors,
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these Assyrian people.
They were a mighty force intheir day and nobody at that
time was stronger than they were, and so, of course, they
thought themselves untouchable.
They plundered, they deceived,they crushed everything that was
weak, and everything was weakin comparison to them, and they
believed that their reign ofterror would not come to an end.
They were a haughty and a proudpeople, but Isaiah here tells
(14:08):
them their downfall isinevitable.
Look at verse 1.
Woe you destroyer.
Never destroyed, you, traitor,never betrayed.
When you have finisheddestroying, you will be
destroyed.
You, traitor, never betrayed.
When you have finishedbetraying, they will betray you.
(14:30):
You fought with the sword.
You're going to die by thesword.
The moment you turn weak,you're going to be crushed.
Assyria, the oppressors whothought they could manipulate
and dominate and control are nowon the receiving end.
And before we get to how theLord will operate that which
(14:57):
he'll unfold in the next fewchapters, we need to understand
just how horrible thisoppression was to live under.
And Isaiah paints a prettybleak picture of what happens
when wickedness runs rampant.
Take a look at verse 7, all theway to verse 9.
Listen, their warriors criedloudly in the streets and
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messengers of peace weepbitterly.
The highways are deserted,travel has ceased and agreement
has been broken, cities despised, human life disregarded.
The land mourns and withers.
Lebanon is ashamed and wilted,sharon is like a desert, bashan
and Carmel shake off theirleaves.
(15:45):
All of society has beenaffected by this war.
There's no safety, there's nohelp anywhere.
The warriors that are cryingloudly in the street have
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decimated everything, and thosestreets that were once bustling
with life and commerce are justempty now, because it's a
fearful place to be when thearmy's on those streets and even
nature itself is groaning underthe weight of all of this.
(16:28):
You see, oppression and wardon't just break people, they
break nations, they breakterritory when once thriving
streets are now ghost towns,where there was once strong and
there's nothing but weakness,where even creation bears the
(16:49):
scars of human warfare.
Just go to Europe, you'll seeit.
I lived in London for severalyears and would walk around and
there'd be old building, oldbuilding, old building, ugly,
post-war building.
Old building, old building, oldbuilding, ugly, post-war
building.
And you're thinking, well, thisis kind of weird.
What's happening here?
(17:10):
And being an American, what'syour first thought?
Buy it, tear it down, build itdifferent, right?
They don't do that in England,not a lot.
Some.
They're starting to become moreAmerican, poor people.
What would they do?
Well, one year, royal and Iwere headed over to London and
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we flew out of Boston.
We stopped at the Harvardbookstore right across from
Harvard University, a greatbookstore, not directly
affiliated with the university,but in it was a book.
I didn't buy it because it wastoo expensive, but I've got a
camera on my phone so I tooksome pictures and there were
maps of all of London that puton the map every place some bomb
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or ordinance had exploded and Iwent to the streets that I knew
and I went.
There's my answer Old building,old building, old building bomb
.
Old building, old building, oldbuilding, bomb, bomb, bomb, old
building bomb.
And all of those post-warrebuilds that's where the
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devastation was.
I was literally living in themiddle of a war zone that had
started to recover and I wouldwalk I would often take friends
for walks to Clapham Common, notvery far walk, and as we walked
we'd pass Spurgeon's house, tipour hat to him.
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We would walk past whereWilberforce lived and then we'd
walk onto the common and we'dtalk about Spurgeon preaching to
20,000 people on the common inorder to raise money to help a
family whose father had died,been killed by lightning on that
common.
And we'd walk to Holy TrinityChurch there and talk about the
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Clapham sect, about this band ofevangelical brothers and
sisters who were influential inmoving missions forward and were
influential in the demolishingof the slave trade.
And as I would talk about thebuilding, I'd bring them to one
side of it and there waspockmarks all over the side of
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the building where bombs hadlanded close to it and had
gouged out pieces of thematerial Destruction.
Warriors in the streets weepingemptiness, ghost towns mourning
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A community once flourishing,now rewriting its story in grief
.
London rebuilt, it endured.
Jerusalem is surrounded byenemies and Jerusalem's not
strong enough to win.
Now take a look at verse 10.
(20:11):
Now, take a look at verse 10.
Now I will rise up, says theLord.
Now I will lift myself up.
Now I will be exalted.
You will conceive chaff andyou'll give birth.
To stubble your breath is firethat will consume you.
The peoples will be burned toashes like thorns, cut down and
(20:35):
burned in a fire.
You who are far off, hear whatI've done.
You who are near, know mystrength.
The oppressors thought they wereunstoppable, but they never
factored God into their equation.
They thought they were thefinal word.
No, god's word was the finalword.
(20:56):
And when he stood up to defendthe people, there was no army on
earth going to stop him.
And they would run.
They would run and they wouldfall and they would flee.
They would run and they wouldfall and they would flee.
(21:16):
And even their walls ofcommemoration of their past fame
left gaping holes that give usall whispers of just how
humiliated they were as an army.
Pharaoh, when the people cameout of Egypt lifted himself up
(21:37):
in pride until the grindingonslaught of the plagues began
to show him that he couldn'tmatch God's activity.
And yet his heart grew harderand harder and harder.
He lost his own children andpeople of his own.
(21:58):
People cried out for the deathof the firstborn, and yet he
thought, if he just simply getenough horses and enough
chariots and enough men, hecould pull those people back
when they left, until he got inthe middle of the Red Sea and
found that God controlled thewind and the waves.
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But there's something here morethan just deliverance the taking
down of the oppressors that areon the outside of the walls.
Take a look at verse 14.
The sinners in Zion are afraidTrembling seizes, the ungodly.
Who among us can dwell with aconsuming fire?
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Who among us can dwell with anever-burning flame?
It's easy to point fingers atthe external enemy of Syria, but
Isaiah is saying you know whoelse is an enemy?
We are.
We are God's people are just asdangerous as the ones outside
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the wall.
And Isaiah 33 is a wake-up callto all people who sin.
And it's not about pointing thefinger at the one that you think
is the problem, it's findingout that the finger needs to be
turned here.
It's not my mama, it's not mypapa, but it's me, oh Lord,
(23:41):
standing in the need of prayer.
My biggest enemy isn't them, orhim or her, it's me.
Is there hope?
And it just grinds more deeply.
The one who lives righteouslyand speaks rightly, who refuses
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profit from extortion, whosehands have never taken a bribe,
who stops his ears fromlistening to murderous plots and
shuts his eyes against evilschemes, he'll dwell on the
heights.
Oh boy.
We all like a little juicy bitof gossip.
We all like to take a littlebit of revenge.
(24:26):
We all like to sort of twistthings to our profit.
If it means even the weaknessof somebody else, uh-oh.
There's none of us, none of us,who are safe from that furnace,
that consuming fire.
(24:48):
Who among us can dwell with aconsuming fire?
Who among us can dwell withever-burning flames?
None of us, none of us.
There's only one who came intothis world who was able to say,
(25:10):
with a straight face and withhonesty and he wasn't deranged
which one of you can convince meof sin?
Only one, and that's the Lord,jesus Christ.
This chapter moves from thisplea for help and the
(25:33):
realization that God's going todo more than just take care of
our problem.
He also helps us realize we arethe problem.
But he doesn't stop there.
He does not stop there Becausehe now moves into promises of
provision and protection thatexceed expectation and even
(25:54):
imagination.
Such a chapter, as many ofthese chapters, are, of
contrasts that are so, sostriking and strong.
Judgment for the wicked, butsecurity to those who hope in
the Lord.
And this Lord who says in verse10, now I will rise, and we
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should all fear that.
Now says I will arise, and weshould all welcome that, how do
we as humans live in the complexof that, that sense of dread
and yet delight from the samebeing, god?
This is the turning point.
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You see, god offers to thepeople of Israel more than just
survival.
He, people of Israel, more thanjust survival.
He's offering them more thanjust a little more peace in the
rest of their days until theykind of retire and start tapping
into their 401ks.
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He's got more for them thanthat.
He's got more for us than that.
He's got more for them thanthat.
He's got more for us than that.
Take a look at verse 17.
Your eyes will see the king andhis beauty and you'll see a
vast land.
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Your mind will meditate on thepast terror.
Where is the accountant?
Where is the tribute collector?
Where is the one who spied outour defenses?
You'll no longer see thebarbarians, the people whose
speech is difficult tocomprehend, whose stammer in a
language not understood.
Look at Zion, the city of ourfestival times.
Your eyes will see Jerusalem, apeaceful pasture, a tent that
(27:47):
does not wander.
Its tent pegs will not bepulled up, nor any of its cords
loosened For the majestic one,our Lord, will be there, a place
of rivers and broad streams,where ships that erode will not
go and majestic vessels will notpass.
For the Lord is our judge, theLord is our lawgiver, the Lord
is our king.
He will save us.
(28:08):
This is not just survival, thisis not just please make the
Assyrians go away.
This is protection, this issecurity, this is provision,
this is peace, and he lifts themto a high place.
(28:35):
Take a look at verse 17 again.
Your eyes will see the king andhis beauty.
You will see a vast land.
This is more than just Hezekiah.
This is bigger than any of theearthly kings who happen to turn
(28:57):
their hearts to the Lord, fortheir reign and desire to bring
righteousness back into the land.
This is a foreshadowing of thenew creation.
These are whispers of the trueking, jesus christ.
(29:19):
This is a movement of of lifeas they knew it into a life they
could never even imagine, of atransformed world that ends in
verse 24.
Take a look at verse 24.
And none there will say I amsick.
The people who dwell there willbe forgiven their inequities.
(29:43):
No enemy, no thorns, peacefulpasture, the presence of God, no
sickness, which means no sin,no suffering, nothing but peace
and healing and righteousness,without oppression or enemy.
(30:05):
And the king is there.
This is the future.
This is the future for allthose who are in Christ, for all
those who trust the living God,because he wants to do more
than just take away yourAssyrian.
He wants to do more than justchange your day.
He wants to bring you into anew age of eternal glory, and
(30:33):
you'll be with him in it andglad of it.
We had glimpses of this when ourSavior came into the world.
Some men got into a boat withhim and thought, well, it'd be
just a fun little boat ride togo on until it wasn't.
And then the wind and the waveskicked up, as they sometimes do
, and desperation filled theirhearts.
(30:54):
And Jesus sat in the boat,seemingly uninterested in it all
, until they started to cry.
And it was.
And they looked withastonishment at one another and
said who is this man that eventhe wind and the waves obey him?
(31:22):
Well, isaiah in chapter 33 iskicking us well beyond the wind
and the waves.
He's kicking us into thereaches of the universe, beyond
any telescope that we orsatellite have.
And he's saying those thingswill obey him when he speaks and
when he says that the elementswill melt with a fervent heat
and a new heaven and a new earthwill be dawned where holiness
(31:45):
makes its home.
All things were made by him andfor him.
And this is it.
And he's saying to those whotrust him, who cry out save us,
save me, are going to enter intoNot because you're righteous
(32:08):
enough to be there, but becauseyou recognize you aren't
righteous enough to be there.
And you plead to the living God, who is that consuming fire,
that ever-burning flame, and youplead his mercy and grace, and
he will flood you with mercy andgrace beyond your ability to
even take it in.
(32:28):
You will burn your brain cellstrying to even imagine how
glorious it is.
Look, revelation 21,.
God is dwelling with humanityand they will live with him.
They will be his peoples andGod himself will be with them
(32:48):
and will be their God, and hewill wipe every tear from their
eyes.
Death will be no more.
Grief, crying and pain will beno more.
You see, this isn't just apromise of a timely,
2,700-year-old moment.
(33:09):
In some people who lived a longway away from here, this is a
preview of the new heavens andthe new earth where Christ
reigns, where sin is gone andpeace is eternal.
When the pandemic raged in ourhearts more than it maybe did in
(33:29):
the world, all of us, strickenwith questions of how desperate
it would all become, gratefulfor the medical advances that
mitigated those things.
We wondered would this worldever return to normal?
And one song kept my heart, andit is that song, is he Worthy?
(33:54):
Written by Andrew Peterson, andwe even played it together in
our prayer times during thatseason, and it just resonated so
deeply within all of us,resonated so deeply within all
of us.
I'd like for us to do a littleantiphonal not singing, because
(34:20):
if I have to sing it you'regoing to run away, but
antiphonal repetition there's aquestion or a statement put out
and it's replied in theaffirmative.
So the first ones will be we doand it is, and then he is.
So can we say this together,all right?
Do you feel the world is broken?
We do.
Do you feel the shadows deepen?
(34:42):
We do.
You guys can say this.
There's two single syllablewords.
We can do this.
Let's start over A littlestronger, okay.
I don't want to be a choirdirector.
I had choir directors and I'mbeing a lot kinder than they
were right at the moment.
Do you feel the world is broken?
(35:03):
We do there you go.
Do you feel the shadows deepen?
We do there you go.
Do you feel the shadows deepen?
We do.
But do you know that the darkwon't stop the light from
getting through?
We do.
Do you wish you could see allthings made new?
(35:23):
We do.
Is all creation groaning?
It is.
Is a new creation coming?
It is.
Is the glory of the Lord to bethe light within our midst?
It is.
Is it good to remind ourselvesof this?
(35:46):
It is.
Is anyone worthy?
Is anyone whole?
Is anyone able to break theseal and open the scroll?
He is the Lion of Judah whoconquered the grave.
He was David's root and thelamb who died to ransom the
slave.
Is he worthy?
(36:07):
Is he worthy of all blessingand honor and glory?
Is he worthy of this he is?
Let's pray, father.
What glorious truths in yourword.
Thank you for our Savior, jesusChrist.
May we worship him, may wedepend upon Him, and may we look
(36:34):
to Him for the restoration ofall things and find that all
things that we might considerreward are found only in Him and
from Him, so that glory mightbe all to Him.
And we pray this in Christ'sname, amen.
Take your Bible and go to the book of Isaiah,
chapter 33.
If you're new here recently,here we're going through the
book of Isaiah together onSunday mornings.
Started in chapter 1, we'llfinish in chapter 66, lord
willing, right in the middle,chapter 33.
Come with me some 2,700 yearsback, 701 BC, about 6,000 miles
(00:27):
away from here, to a city ofJerusalem.
And if you were, you would bein Jerusalem and you would find
the Assyrian Empire.
Ruthless King Sennacherib hascrushed countless cities,
leaving destruction in its wake.
Kingdoms have fallen, some ofthem have folded without even a
(00:50):
fight, others have trembledunder the awesome power of this
empire.
To Jerusalem.
Left alone every fortified city, but it destroyed and the
armies encamped around themmocking.
Left alone every fortified city, but it destroyed and the
(01:11):
armies encamped around themmocking.
The crown jewel of the peopleof God is the only place
standing.
The people of Jerusalem arelooking over the wall and they
see these forces surround themand they fear, like we all would
.
They had looked for help fromEgypt, hoped some alliance with
(01:33):
some other nation would helpthem.
It's all fallen worthless.
Their strategies have failed,their strength has crumbled.
Their confidence is gone, it'sevaporated.
And at this moment ofdesperation they cry out to God,
isaiah lifts up his voice,perhaps to pray what they
(02:02):
haven't yet prayed, or perhapsto echo what they are starting
to pray what they haven't yetprayed.
Or perhaps to echo what theyare starting to pray, but
instead of calling on Egypt,they're now starting to achingly
pray to God.
Why are we looking at thepassage of Scripture, this text
(02:22):
that's 2,700 years old, thistext that's 2,700 years old,
that's written to people 6,000miles away from us, about people
that are long gone and erasedfrom the earth and the memories
of most who have ever lived onit, about a small city that, in
(02:43):
light of even the cities of thatday, was insignificant.
Why?
Because we live in a worldwhere uncertainty reigns.
We live in a world whereleaders rise and fall, where
economies shift, where wars rageand even our personal lives are
seemingly controlled byunexpected events, and we're
(03:07):
left in the consequence of thosethings rather than in control
of them.
We have to ask ourselves whereis our security?
Where is our safety?
Where is our deliverance?
Where is our peace?
Where's our deliverance?
Where's our peace?
This and these are thequestions and the focus of
(03:32):
Isaiah 33.
In the face of fear broughtabout by oppression and
unrighteousness and war.
Isaiah is calling the peopleaway from political alliances
and trying to drum up their ownstrength to rely upon the living
God, and he demonstrates anexample of that.
(03:53):
This morning we're going to lookat Isaiah 33.
We're going to look at it inthree parts.
We look for a prayer for God'shelp and understand.
God rises to punish oppressors,but he also mercifully offers
promises of protection and peace.
And in the midst of this wholechapter, the one who's in the
(04:15):
forefront of it all is not usand our needs and how we can
most capably get on with life,but rather the living God, the
one who rises.
But rather the living God, theone who rises, because it's more
than just some medicinal helpfor our days.
It is a revelation of God'ssupremacy over everything,
(04:41):
whether it be nations or ourproblems or even ourselves.
It's a reminder to us thatwhile human powers falter, god
never does.
And when nations crumble, godand his kingdom are secure for
eternity.
We don't have to lean on humanstrategies or solutions, but to
(05:08):
lift our eyes, as Isaiahencourages us, to the God who
reigns forever.
So as we walk through thischapter, in the middle of its
situation, in its immediatecontext, we're going to see not
just Jerusalem givingencouragement of rescue in the
day, but they're going to becast forward into a place of
ultimate deliverance and hope,and we too will find ourselves
swept up into that same promise,joining in them in the same
(05:31):
hope, with the same degree ofexpectancy.
So let's go into this world.
The first thing we're going tofind is a prayer for divine help
, and it'll start in verse two.
We'll get back to verse one injust a moment.
Verse two Lord, be gracious tous.
(05:51):
We wait for you.
Be our strength every morningin our salvation.
In time of trouble, the peoplesflee at the thunderous noise,
the nations scatter.
When you rise in your majesty,your spoil will be gathered, as
locusts are gathered, peoplewill swarm over it, like the
people in Jerusalem, theseruthless Assyrians on the move
(06:26):
and now at their door, and fearhas gripped their hearts.
They've tried diplomacy, theytried allegiances, they tried
military strategies, and none ofit has worked.
None of it, nothing.
And now, now, at the lastmoment, finally, there's a cry
(06:51):
to God.
They finally turned their facestoward the Lord and Isaiah
lifts up the voice in verse 2.
Now there's some question hereabout whether Isaiah is saying
you need to be praying like this, or you're starting to pray
(07:13):
like this.
I think probably the latter.
There is some evidence andyou'll find out in a couple
weeks just who prays like this.
But it's a cry.
Now, finally, these people havebeen warned of their
disobedience and of theirabandonment of God, where now
(07:36):
they're finally coming to himand they're finally praying, and
they're looking now to the onewho's enthroned above the chaos
and they look for rescue.
They acknowledge theirinability, but do they even
(07:59):
understand what God's going todo when he answers?
I don't think they do.
What's going to do when heanswers?
I don't think they do.
And there are times in our lifewhen we get into moments of
complete, absolute desperation.
We're nothing, nowhere,anything's going to work
whatsoever, we're completely outof any resource that seems to
(08:19):
be of any benefit whatsoever,and all we want is to have that
trouble over.
But God wants to do more thanjust get our troubles over, as
we'll see, because he's going todo something here that's beyond
(08:40):
that.
Look at how God responds tothis cry that.
Look at how God responds tothis cry, verse five and six the
Lord is exalted, for he dwellson high.
He has filled Zion with justiceand righteousness.
There will be times of securityfor you, a storehouse of
salvation, wisdom and knowledge.
(09:01):
The fear of the Lord is Zion'streasure.
Well, that's probably a wholelot more than what people were
praying for.
They just wanted the Assyriansout of there.
I just want my trouble over, Ijust like want these enemies
gone.
(09:22):
And God says, oh yeah, well, I'mconcerned with more than just
saving you from your enemies.
I'm concerned with more thanjust taking away your problem.
And here he's telling them thathe is going to form them and
shape them and mark them by apeople of righteousness and
stability and wisdom, becauseit's more about transformation
(09:48):
in them than it is simply abouttaking away the trouble.
And this is how the Lord worksin us.
The scriptures tell us allthings work together for good to
those who love god and arecalled according to his purpose.
(10:08):
You see, trouble comes in thisfallen world.
It is going to come.
Mark it down, it is certain.
And god is not just operating ina transactional way of saying
trouble comes, I pray he acts,it goes away.
Trouble comes, I pray he acts,it goes away.
(10:29):
He is doing something differentin this world of woe than that
Trouble comes, I pray, he acts,I'm different, I'm different,
(10:56):
I'm different.
And you'll find in your daysand years ahead, as you walk
with the Lord, that when troublecomes, I pray, he acts, I'm
different is more important thanthe trouble going away.
Did you hear that You're goingto find out and you're going to
welcome this one day?
If you aren't already, if you'rea new believer, it's easy to
(11:18):
get into.
The trouble comes, I pray, heacts, trouble goes away.
Frame of mind and then kind ofgrind when the trouble doesn't
go away and you're wondering whyis it still there?
I thought god would hear me.
But then you grow in grace andyou realize trouble comes, I
pray, he acts, I'm different isa far better reward and joy of
your heart than having your yourtroubles disappear Wonderfully,
(11:44):
immersively they often do andGod moves you past those things
and, as time would have it,you'll enter into another
difficulty.
But you'll understand thatthere's something going on with
God that's better and biggerthan just getting rid of the
trouble.
(12:10):
And so the people here arelearning something even in the
midst of their prayer for help.
That help comes from the Lord,but that help is bigger than the
parameters of what I dictate tohim in my prayer.
He's doing something larger andbigger and greater and more
eternal than just simply makingthe Assyrian army go away.
(12:34):
I was talking to a belovedbrother in Christ who serves as
a missionary, and he's cryingout, still wondering what's
going on with his life.
And I said, brother, god isallowing things happen to you so
(12:58):
he can do things in you, so hecan work better through you.
Right, that's what this is.
This is not just an ancientprayer.
There's something for us all tohear here.
Now let's move to the secondpoint, because God does hear
(13:22):
them, god does respond.
And the first point is thisprayer, prayer for God's help.
And the second point is thispunishment of the oppressors,
(13:45):
these Assyrian people.
They were a mighty force intheir day and nobody at that
time was stronger than they were, and so, of course, they
thought themselves untouchable.
They plundered, they deceived,they crushed everything that was
weak, and everything was weakin comparison to them, and they
believed that their reign ofterror would not come to an end.
They were a haughty and a proudpeople, but Isaiah here tells
(14:08):
them their downfall isinevitable.
Look at verse 1.
Woe you destroyer.
Never destroyed, you, traitor,never betrayed.
When you have finisheddestroying, you will be
destroyed.
You, traitor, never betrayed.
When you have finishedbetraying, they will betray you.
(14:30):
You fought with the sword.
You're going to die by thesword.
The moment you turn weak,you're going to be crushed.
Assyria, the oppressors whothought they could manipulate
and dominate and control are nowon the receiving end.
And before we get to how theLord will operate that which
(14:57):
he'll unfold in the next fewchapters, we need to understand
just how horrible thisoppression was to live under.
And Isaiah paints a prettybleak picture of what happens
when wickedness runs rampant.
Take a look at verse 7, all theway to verse 9.
Listen, their warriors criedloudly in the streets and
(15:23):
messengers of peace weepbitterly.
The highways are deserted,travel has ceased and agreement
has been broken, cities despised, human life disregarded.
The land mourns and withers.
Lebanon is ashamed and wilted,sharon is like a desert, bashan
and Carmel shake off theirleaves.
(15:45):
All of society has beenaffected by this war.
There's no safety, there's nohelp anywhere.
The warriors that are cryingloudly in the street have
(16:07):
decimated everything, and thosestreets that were once bustling
with life and commerce are justempty now, because it's a
fearful place to be when thearmy's on those streets and even
nature itself is groaning underthe weight of all of this.
(16:28):
You see, oppression and wardon't just break people, they
break nations, they breakterritory when once thriving
streets are now ghost towns,where there was once strong and
there's nothing but weakness,where even creation bears the
(16:49):
scars of human warfare.
Just go to Europe, you'll seeit.
I lived in London for severalyears and would walk around and
there'd be old building, oldbuilding, old building, ugly,
post-war building.
Old building, old building, oldbuilding, ugly, post-war
building.
And you're thinking, well, thisis kind of weird.
What's happening here?
(17:10):
And being an American, what'syour first thought?
Buy it, tear it down, build itdifferent, right?
They don't do that in England,not a lot.
Some.
They're starting to become moreAmerican, poor people.
What would they do?
Well, one year, royal and Iwere headed over to London and
(17:33):
we flew out of Boston.
We stopped at the Harvardbookstore right across from
Harvard University, a greatbookstore, not directly
affiliated with the university,but in it was a book.
I didn't buy it because it wastoo expensive, but I've got a
camera on my phone so I tooksome pictures and there were
maps of all of London that puton the map every place some bomb
(17:55):
or ordinance had exploded and Iwent to the streets that I knew
and I went.
There's my answer Old building,old building, old building bomb
.
Old building, old building, oldbuilding, bomb, bomb, bomb, old
building bomb.
And all of those post-warrebuilds that's where the
(18:18):
devastation was.
I was literally living in themiddle of a war zone that had
started to recover and I wouldwalk I would often take friends
for walks to Clapham Common, notvery far walk, and as we walked
we'd pass Spurgeon's house, tipour hat to him.
(18:40):
We would walk past whereWilberforce lived and then we'd
walk onto the common and we'dtalk about Spurgeon preaching to
20,000 people on the common inorder to raise money to help a
family whose father had died,been killed by lightning on that
common.
And we'd walk to Holy TrinityChurch there and talk about the
(19:06):
Clapham sect, about this band ofevangelical brothers and
sisters who were influential inmoving missions forward and were
influential in the demolishingof the slave trade.
And as I would talk about thebuilding, I'd bring them to one
side of it and there waspockmarks all over the side of
(19:28):
the building where bombs hadlanded close to it and had
gouged out pieces of thematerial Destruction.
Warriors in the streets weepingemptiness, ghost towns mourning
(19:50):
A community once flourishing,now rewriting its story in grief
.
London rebuilt, it endured.
Jerusalem is surrounded byenemies and Jerusalem's not
strong enough to win.
Now take a look at verse 10.
(20:11):
Now, take a look at verse 10.
Now I will rise up, says theLord.
Now I will lift myself up.
Now I will be exalted.
You will conceive chaff andyou'll give birth.
To stubble your breath is firethat will consume you.
The peoples will be burned toashes like thorns, cut down and
(20:35):
burned in a fire.
You who are far off, hear whatI've done.
You who are near, know mystrength.
The oppressors thought they wereunstoppable, but they never
factored God into their equation.
They thought they were thefinal word.
No, god's word was the finalword.
(20:56):
And when he stood up to defendthe people, there was no army on
earth going to stop him.
And they would run.
They would run and they wouldfall and they would flee.
They would run and they wouldfall and they would flee.
(21:16):
And even their walls ofcommemoration of their past fame
left gaping holes that give usall whispers of just how
humiliated they were as an army.
Pharaoh, when the people cameout of Egypt lifted himself up
(21:37):
in pride until the grindingonslaught of the plagues began
to show him that he couldn'tmatch God's activity.
And yet his heart grew harderand harder and harder.
He lost his own children andpeople of his own.
(21:58):
People cried out for the deathof the firstborn, and yet he
thought, if he just simply getenough horses and enough
chariots and enough men, hecould pull those people back
when they left, until he got inthe middle of the Red Sea and
found that God controlled thewind and the waves.
(22:22):
But there's something here morethan just deliverance the taking
down of the oppressors that areon the outside of the walls.
Take a look at verse 14.
The sinners in Zion are afraidTrembling seizes, the ungodly.
Who among us can dwell with aconsuming fire?
(22:47):
Who among us can dwell with anever-burning flame?
It's easy to point fingers atthe external enemy of Syria, but
Isaiah is saying you know whoelse is an enemy?
We are.
We are God's people are just asdangerous as the ones outside
(23:15):
the wall.
And Isaiah 33 is a wake-up callto all people who sin.
And it's not about pointing thefinger at the one that you think
is the problem, it's findingout that the finger needs to be
turned here.
It's not my mama, it's not mypapa, but it's me, oh Lord,
(23:41):
standing in the need of prayer.
My biggest enemy isn't them, orhim or her, it's me.
Is there hope?
And it just grinds more deeply.
The one who lives righteouslyand speaks rightly, who refuses
(24:05):
profit from extortion, whosehands have never taken a bribe,
who stops his ears fromlistening to murderous plots and
shuts his eyes against evilschemes, he'll dwell on the
heights.
Oh boy.
We all like a little juicy bitof gossip.
We all like to take a littlebit of revenge.
(24:26):
We all like to sort of twistthings to our profit.
If it means even the weaknessof somebody else, uh-oh.
There's none of us, none of us,who are safe from that furnace,
that consuming fire.
(24:48):
Who among us can dwell with aconsuming fire?
Who among us can dwell withever-burning flames?
None of us, none of us.
There's only one who came intothis world who was able to say,
(25:10):
with a straight face and withhonesty and he wasn't deranged
which one of you can convince meof sin?
Only one, and that's the Lord,jesus Christ.
This chapter moves from thisplea for help and the
(25:33):
realization that God's going todo more than just take care of
our problem.
He also helps us realize we arethe problem.
But he doesn't stop there.
He does not stop there Becausehe now moves into promises of
provision and protection thatexceed expectation and even
(25:54):
imagination.
Such a chapter, as many ofthese chapters, are, of
contrasts that are so, sostriking and strong.
Judgment for the wicked, butsecurity to those who hope in
the Lord.
And this Lord who says in verse10, now I will rise, and we
(26:19):
should all fear that.
Now says I will arise, and weshould all welcome that, how do
we as humans live in the complexof that, that sense of dread
and yet delight from the samebeing, god?
This is the turning point.
(26:39):
You see, god offers to thepeople of Israel more than just
survival.
He, people of Israel, more thanjust survival.
He's offering them more thanjust a little more peace in the
rest of their days until theykind of retire and start tapping
into their 401ks.
(27:01):
He's got more for them thanthat.
He's got more for us than that.
He's got more for them thanthat.
He's got more for us than that.
Take a look at verse 17.
Your eyes will see the king andhis beauty and you'll see a
vast land.
(27:21):
Your mind will meditate on thepast terror.
Where is the accountant?
Where is the tribute collector?
Where is the one who spied outour defenses?
You'll no longer see thebarbarians, the people whose
speech is difficult tocomprehend, whose stammer in a
language not understood.
Look at Zion, the city of ourfestival times.
Your eyes will see Jerusalem, apeaceful pasture, a tent that
(27:47):
does not wander.
Its tent pegs will not bepulled up, nor any of its cords
loosened For the majestic one,our Lord, will be there, a place
of rivers and broad streams,where ships that erode will not
go and majestic vessels will notpass.
For the Lord is our judge, theLord is our lawgiver, the Lord
is our king.
He will save us.
(28:08):
This is not just survival, thisis not just please make the
Assyrians go away.
This is protection, this issecurity, this is provision,
this is peace, and he lifts themto a high place.
(28:35):
Take a look at verse 17 again.
Your eyes will see the king andhis beauty.
You will see a vast land.
This is more than just Hezekiah.
This is bigger than any of theearthly kings who happen to turn
(28:57):
their hearts to the Lord, fortheir reign and desire to bring
righteousness back into the land.
This is a foreshadowing of thenew creation.
These are whispers of the trueking, jesus christ.
(29:19):
This is a movement of of lifeas they knew it into a life they
could never even imagine, of atransformed world that ends in
verse 24.
Take a look at verse 24.
And none there will say I amsick.
The people who dwell there willbe forgiven their inequities.
(29:43):
No enemy, no thorns, peacefulpasture, the presence of God, no
sickness, which means no sin,no suffering, nothing but peace
and healing and righteousness,without oppression or enemy.
(30:05):
And the king is there.
This is the future.
This is the future for allthose who are in Christ, for all
those who trust the living God,because he wants to do more
than just take away yourAssyrian.
He wants to do more than justchange your day.
He wants to bring you into anew age of eternal glory, and
(30:33):
you'll be with him in it andglad of it.
We had glimpses of this when ourSavior came into the world.
Some men got into a boat withhim and thought, well, it'd be
just a fun little boat ride togo on until it wasn't.
And then the wind and the waveskicked up, as they sometimes do
, and desperation filled theirhearts.
(30:54):
And Jesus sat in the boat,seemingly uninterested in it all
, until they started to cry.
And it was.
And they looked withastonishment at one another and
said who is this man that eventhe wind and the waves obey him?
(31:22):
Well, isaiah in chapter 33 iskicking us well beyond the wind
and the waves.
He's kicking us into thereaches of the universe, beyond
any telescope that we orsatellite have.
And he's saying those thingswill obey him when he speaks and
when he says that the elementswill melt with a fervent heat
and a new heaven and a new earthwill be dawned where holiness
(31:45):
makes its home.
All things were made by him andfor him.
And this is it.
And he's saying to those whotrust him, who cry out save us,
save me, are going to enter intoNot because you're righteous
(32:08):
enough to be there, but becauseyou recognize you aren't
righteous enough to be there.
And you plead to the living God, who is that consuming fire,
that ever-burning flame, and youplead his mercy and grace, and
he will flood you with mercy andgrace beyond your ability to
even take it in.
(32:28):
You will burn your brain cellstrying to even imagine how
glorious it is.
Look, revelation 21,.
God is dwelling with humanityand they will live with him.
They will be his peoples andGod himself will be with them
(32:48):
and will be their God, and hewill wipe every tear from their
eyes.
Death will be no more.
Grief, crying and pain will beno more.
You see, this isn't just apromise of a timely,
2,700-year-old moment.
(33:09):
In some people who lived a longway away from here, this is a
preview of the new heavens andthe new earth where Christ
reigns, where sin is gone andpeace is eternal.
When the pandemic raged in ourhearts more than it maybe did in
(33:29):
the world, all of us, strickenwith questions of how desperate
it would all become, gratefulfor the medical advances that
mitigated those things.
We wondered would this worldever return to normal?
And one song kept my heart, andit is that song, is he Worthy?
(33:54):
Written by Andrew Peterson, andwe even played it together in
our prayer times during thatseason, and it just resonated so
deeply within all of us,resonated so deeply within all
of us.
I'd like for us to do a littleantiphonal not singing, because
(34:20):
if I have to sing it you'regoing to run away, but
antiphonal repetition there's aquestion or a statement put out
and it's replied in theaffirmative.
So the first ones will be we doand it is, and then he is.
So can we say this together,all right?
Do you feel the world is broken?
We do.
Do you feel the shadows deepen?
(34:42):
We do.
You guys can say this.
There's two single syllablewords.
We can do this.
Let's start over A littlestronger, okay.
I don't want to be a choirdirector.
I had choir directors and I'mbeing a lot kinder than they
were right at the moment.
Do you feel the world is broken?
(35:03):
We do there you go.
Do you feel the shadows deepen?
We do there you go.
Do you feel the shadows deepen?
We do.
But do you know that the darkwon't stop the light from
getting through?
We do.
Do you wish you could see allthings made new?
(35:23):
We do.
Is all creation groaning?
It is.
Is a new creation coming?
It is.
Is the glory of the Lord to bethe light within our midst?
It is.
Is it good to remind ourselvesof this?
(35:46):
It is.
Is anyone worthy?
Is anyone whole?
Is anyone able to break theseal and open the scroll?
He is the Lion of Judah whoconquered the grave.
He was David's root and thelamb who died to ransom the
slave.
Is he worthy?
(36:07):
Is he worthy of all blessingand honor and glory?
Is he worthy of this he is?
Let's pray, father.
What glorious truths in yourword.
Thank you for our Savior, jesusChrist.
May we worship him, may wedepend upon Him, and may we look
(36:34):
to Him for the restoration ofall things and find that all
things that we might considerreward are found only in Him and
from Him, so that glory mightbe all to Him.
And we pray this in Christ'sname, amen.
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