DAY 202    Read Isaiah 56 through 60.

Today's reading:  Among so many familiar and meaningful passages, it is hard to choose which to highlight.  Let's notice that the blame for a poor relationship with the Lord lies with the sinner--not with God.

Memory gem:  "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"  (Isaiah 59:1, 2).

Thought for today:
Some time ago I visited a man of superior intelligence.  He had good looks, a quick mind, and a great deal of knowledge; but he was a failure in life.  My interview with him took place in a prison cell.  By his own confession he was guilty of more than one crime--many of them.

I said, "Why do you do these things?"
His answer was:  "I don't know.  It seems that I must do them."

He told me that when he committed these various crimes he knew they were wrong; he was convinced they were wrong; he was condemned by their wrongness, and still he kept on doing them.

Sin was the great barrier that prevented his spiritual victory.  He was like the mouse that was caught in the trap by the tip of its tail, yet went right on nibbling the cheese.

Many people are doing that very thing today.  They know that what they are doing is wrong.  They know they are guilty.  They dread the punishment here and hereafter, but they go right on nibbling at their pet sins.

The reason that blessings are often denied us is because of our sins.  It is not that God is unable to help.  The words of our memory gem point out the barrier.

Whatever it is, my friend, you know and God knows.  So break down the barrier; then God can give you a life of victory.

DAY 201    Read Isaiah 51 through 55.

Today's reading:  What beautiful words these chapters contain!  And, surrounded by assurances of God's forgiving love, the fifty-third chapter points to the suffering Messiah.

Memory gem:  "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed"  (Isaiah 53:5).

Thought for today:
The theologians who seem to delight in long words, might say that we need justification, regeneration, and sanctification in order to get to heaven.  These three needs make clear what the three steps are which we must take with Jesus as we turn to the right and start for the Holy City.

Our first need is to have our sins forgiven.  To confess Christ as our Saviour from sin is our first step with Him.  This step with Jesus must be taken by everyone because "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"  (Romans 3:23).

In Isaiah 53:6 it is written that "all we like sheep have gone astray."  Notice that word all.  It is universal.  Now read the whole text:  "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."

Someone has said that salvation starts at the first "all" (all have sinned) and ends at the last "all" (the Lord hath laid on Him--Christ--the iniquity of us all).  At the beginning of this wonderful verse, acknowledge that you are a sinner; and then at the end of the verse, by faith, lay your sins on Jesus.

I once heard of a young lady who was worried about her spiritual condition, for she couldn't understand how God could forgive her sins.  An old minister told her to read the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, and when she came to the fifth verse, to substitute the first person singular pronoun for the plural form.  And so she read it that way: "He was wounded for my transgressions, he was bruised for my iniquities: the chastisement of my peace was upon him."  Ten she stopped, and wonderful light came into her eyes as she read, "And with his stripes I am healed."

That's it my friends!  When Jesus died of a broken heart, it was the sins of the world that killed Him.  Doesn't the Bible say in 1 John 2:2 that Jesus died "for the sins of the whole world"?

DAY 200    Read Isaiah 47 through 50.

Today's reading:  Having presented conclusive evidence of His power as the only true God, the Lord now tries to reason with His people and bring them to repentance.

Thought for today:
Not long ago the public press carried a headline like this: "The Rock of Ages Can't Be Bought."  It was followed by a reference to Mark 8:36.

The editorial under this heading referred to a multimillionaire railroad tycoon who had committed suicide in is luxurious twenty-five-room showplace in Palm Beach, Florida.  It spoke of his tragic end after attaining what most people consider success.

Winters at Palm Beach, summers at Newport, wealth of untold millions with billions under his control; yet the financial wizard of this era stamped himself a failure in the final analysis,  He had everything that money could buy; but there was one thing that all his money could not purchase, and that was the Rock of Ages.  Yet he could have had it for the mere asking.  He could pyramid a fortune and control one of the world's greatest railroads, he could operate a fabulous hotel as a kind of hobby; but he failed to secure those inner resources which would have carried him through the despondency that finally drove him out of this world.

You cannot carry your burden alone, and God does not want you to.  He loves you.  You are His child.  He can give you the peace which you long for.

How can we stop worrying and grieving?  By believing with all our hearts that Jesus will do what He says He will do.  The peace you and I need is the peace that only Jesus can give.

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Difficult or obscure words:
Isaiah 49:12.  "Sinim"--popularly, but probably incorrectly, applied to China.  More likely Aswan in upper Egypt, or some other location remote from Palestine but within the Fertile Crescent.
Isaiah 49:23.  "Nursing fathers" and "Nursing mothers"--foster parents.

DAY 199    Read Isaiah 43 through 46.

Today's reading:  God, through the prophet Isaiah, continues to challenge the false gods for a showdown.  God insists over and over that He alone is God.

Memory gem:  "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else"  (Isaiah 45:22).

Thought for today:
In the apostle Paul's great sermon to the intelligent pagans of Lystra, he declared that God has "left not himself without witness"  (Acts 14:17).  For God's existence, God's work, God's presence in the world, He has seen to it that there are witnesses--in nature and in history, which is crystallized human experience, as well as in the Sacred Scriptures.

In fact, God challenges the skeptic of all historic times to consider evidence, even coercive evidence.  Show us the former things, He challenges.  Bring forth the records of the past and bear witness to any failure of divine prophecy.  But if history proves the absolute truth and foreknowledge of prophecy, then you become My witness, God says.

Remember this, friends: the Bible stakes everything on its ability to foretell the future.  If its claim to make genuine predictions is true, it is a miracle of foresight beyond human ability, and it is absolute proof of supernatural knowledge in the prophet.

God claims to be the only one able to foretell the future absolutely, to write history in advance.  And remember, many of these Bible prophecies pointed forward for centuries and even millenniums to the time of fulfillment.  There could be no collusion between prophet and the fulfiller of it.

God challenges the heathen gods to do the same, to produce real prophecy--which of course they never could, and never did, because they didn't exist except in the minds of their worshipers.

God calls for "strong reasons," in other words, coercive reasons.

NOTE:  In Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1, Cyrus is called by name.  Chapter 45 is addressed to this "shepherd," this "anointed" one, who was to accomplish God's purpose more than 150 years later.

DAY 198    Read Isaiah 40 through 42.

Today's reading:  These chapters issue challenge after challenge for the false gods to prove their power.  Also some of the most beautiful prophecies of the Messiah and the most precious promises are found there.

Memory gem:  "Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness"  (Isaiah 41:10).

Thought for today:
I live on the edge of a great city.  One reason that I should like to live far away from the city, in the mountains or on the seashore, is this--the great cities rob us of the glory of the stars.  There is too much light in cities.  It would do us all good, at least once in our lifetime, to be alone beneath the stars, to watch the majestic march of the constellations across the sky from dusk to dawn.  It seems to me that no thinking mind could ever, after that, doubt the existence of the Supreme Being.

It is the will of God that we should look at the stars.  Every modern astronomical observatory is the fulfillment of a scriptural command.  Have you ever read the words of Isaiah 40:26?

"Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth."

Look at the stars.  Look upward.  Study astronomy.  That's the Bible command.  Look at the stars and see who hath created them.  Look at the midnight sky and see God in His works.  As flowers bloom here on earth in summertime, so, as Longfellow has said, "Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven [blossom] the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels."

NOTE:  Isaiah 41 contains the first of several remarkable prophecies of Cyrus the Great, who would conquer Babylon a century and a half later.
Chapter 42 predicts the coming Messiah (see Matthew 12:17-21).

DAY 197    Read 2 Kings 20; 2 Chronicles 32:24-33; Isaiah 38 and 39.

Today's reading:  King Hezekiah falls ill, and unusual events accompany his healing.

Memory gem:  "The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth"  (Isaiah 38:19).

Thought for today:
You will notice in this case the promise of healing came at once, even before the prophet Isaiah had time to get out of the palace, and that the king was instructed by the prophet of God to cooperate in the work of healing by putting a plaster or poultice of figs on the boil which was afflicting him.  This showed no lack of faith.  It was ordered from the same source that gave the promise of recovery.

Let us continue to study Christ's ministry of healing power.  And let us not forget that it is not a denial of our faith to make use of the remedial agencies available--the things that God has provided to alleviate pain and to aid nature in her work of restoration.  God could have cured Hezekiah instantly, but specific directions were given regarding natural treatment in his case.  On one occasion Jesus anointed a blind man's eyes with clay.  The cure was wrought only by the power of Christ, yet He made use of the simple agencies of nature.  When we have prayed for the recovery of the sick and have asked God's blessing on the means which He Himself has provided, we can work with all the more hope and energy and thank God for the privilege of cooperating with Him.

After we have prayed, let us have faith in God, whatever the outcome.  If bereavement comes, let us remember that the bitter cup is held to our lips by our Father's hand.  Should health be restored, let us not forget that the person healed is placed under added obligation to the Lord.  He is healed to help; he is saved to serve.  His added days of life and health are for a purpose, and that purpose is to glorify God and to do good to others.

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Difficult or obscure words:
2 Kings 20:12.  "Berodach-baladan"--Correctly spelled Merodach-baladan in Isaiah 39:1.  He was at this time a king in exile seeking for allies in his life-long attempt to free Babylon from Assyrian domination.

DAY 196    Read Psalm 46; 47; 48; 75; 124; 129.

Today's reading:  Prayers for deliverance from the arrogant Assyrians gave way to joyful songs of rejoicing.  These psalms (although probably not composed at this time) express the deep emotion of God's people.

Memory gem:  "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth"  (Psalm 46:10).

Thought for today:
"Hezekiah's pleadings in behalf of Judah and of the honor of their Supreme Ruler were in harmony with the mind of God.  Solomon, in his benediction at the dedication of the temple, had prayed the Lord...to show favor when, in times of war or of oppression by an army, the chief men of Israel should enter the house of prayer and plead for deliverance [See 1 Kings 8:33, 34]...

"The land of Judah had been laid waste by the army of occupation; but God had promised to provide miraculously for the needs of the people.  To Hezekiah came the message: 'This shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.'  2 Kings 19:29...

"The God of the Hebrews...prevailed over the proud Assyrian.  The honor of Jehovah was vindicated in the eyes of the surrounding nations.  In Jerusalem, the hearts of the people were filled with holy joy.  Their earnest entreaties for deliverance had been mingled with confession of sin and with many tears.  In their great need they had trusted wholly in the power of God to save, and He had not failed them.  Now the temple courts resounded with songs of solemn praise."--Prophets and Kings, pp. 359-362.

NOTE:  Psalm 46 has been called Luther's psalm, because it was the inspiration for the great Reformer's hymn, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God."
Psalm 47, closely related to 46 and 48, is read in Orthodox Jewish synagogues on the Hebrew New Year's Day before sounding the shofar.

DAY 195    Read Isaiah 36 and 37; 2 Chronicles 32:1-23.

Today's reading:  In the parallel accounts of the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem, we notice again how God honored the faith of good King Hezekiah.

Memory gem:  "Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back be the way by which thou camest"  (Isaiah 37:28).

Thought for today:
In Isaiah 36 and 37 we read about Sennacherib, king of Assyria, and his invasion of the land of Judah.  In spite of his great army, he had failed to take Jerusalem.  Something happened to him which he did not record, but the Bible recorded it.  Read it for yourself in 2 Kings 19:35 and Isaiah 37:36.

Sennacherib had returned to Nineveh, his capital, and in the official record of his campaign in the west he said concerning King Hezekiah, "As for himself, like a bird in a cage in his royal city Jerusalem, I shut him up."

Sennacherib made as good a story as he could out of the siege and simply said that he shut poor Hezekiah up like a bird in a cage.  Actually, Hezekiah was reposing quite safely in his cage.  But the Bible says that soon after Sennacherib's return to Nineveh after his failure in Judah, two of his sons assassinated him (see 2 Kings 19:37).

Another son, who was his successor, tells of this event in the following words from an official inscription: "In the month Nisanu, a favorable day, complying with their exalted command, I made my joyful entrance into the royal palace, the awesome place, wherein abides the fate of kings.  A firm determination fell upon my brothers. They forsook the gods and turned to their deeds of violence, plotting evil...To gain a kingship they slew Sennacherib, their father."  Again history proves that God spoke the truth.  The Bible is literally true in its statements of historical facts.

It is good for us Christians--yes, for all men--to read the Bible over again from cover to cover, and to read it often.  We are glad to see that it is literally true; but above all, that it presents to us the Lord Jesus Christ, the only, but all-sufficient, hope of a lost and ruined world.

DAY 194    Read 2 Kings 18:13 through chapter 19.

Today's reading:  When a heathen king and his godless henchmen poured contempt of God, a godly king asked the Lord to defend His honor.  The result left no doubt.

Memory gem:  "O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only"  (2 Kings 19:19).

Thought for today:
A man who played God was Sennacherib, who invaded the Holy Land.  Because of the sins of Judah, God permitted this invasion by the Assyrian army, but Sennachrib assumed to himself the character of God and took to himself the glory that belonged to the God of heaven.  Referring to his conquest of other nations, he said that none of their gods had been able to deliver them out of his hand.  "Where are they?" he cried.  Here he put his hand above God's.

Sennacherib sent a letter threatening good King Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem.  Hezekiah took this letter up to the temple of God and spread it out before the Lord and prayed.  My friend, that's a good thing to do when men around you try to play God.  Take it to the Lord.  Talk to Him about it.

And the answer came through the prophet Isiah.  Speaking of His dealings with the Assyrian king, God said: "I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way which thou camest"  (2 Kings 19:28).

Sennacherib returned to Assyria, and, while he was worshiping in his heathen temple, two of his sons killed him with the sword.

My friends, it's dangerous for any man to play God.  He is liable to find that he is very human, very mortal after all.

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Difficult or obscure words:
2 Kings 18:4.  "Nehushtan"--probably bronze god, or possible serpent.
2 Kings 18:17.  "Tartan and Rasaris and Rab-shakeh"--titles, not given names.  The "Tartan" was chief general, the "Rabsaris" was probably chief eunuch, and "Rab-shakeh" was the chief cup-bearer of personal valet of the king.  In this case the Rab-shakeh spoke for the king.

DAY 193    Read 2 Chronicles 30 and 31.

Today's reading:  Good King Hezekiah's all-out efforts to restore true religion in Judah brought his people to a spiritual high by observing the long-neglected Passover.

Memory gem:  "There was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem"  (2 Chronicles 30:26).

Thought for today:
"The good beginning made at the time of the purification of the temple was followed by a broader movement, in which Israel as well as Judah participated.  In his zeal to make the temple services a real blessing to the people, Hezekiah determined to revive the ancient custom of gathering the Israelites together for the celebration of the Passover feast.

"For many years the Passover had not been observed as a national festival.  The division of the kingdom after the close of Solomon's reign had made this seem impracticable.  But the terrible judgments befalling the ten tribes were awakening in the hearts of some a desire for better things; and the stirring messages of the prophets were having their effect.  By royal couriers the invitation to the Passover at Jerusalem was heralded far and wide, 'from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulum.'  The bearers of the gracious invitation were usually repulsed.  The impenitent turned lightly aside; nevertheless some, eager to seek God for a clearer knowledge of His will, 'humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.'...

"The occasion was one of the greatest profit to the multitudes assembled.  The desecrated streets of the city were cleared of the idolatrous shrines placed there during the reign of Ahaz.  On the appointed day the Passover was observed; and the week was spent by the people in offering peace offerings, and in learning what God would have them do.  Daily the Levites 'taught the good knowledge of the Lord;' and those who had prepared their hearts to seek God, found pardon.  A great gladness took possession of the worshiping multitude;...all were united in their desire to praise Him who had proved so gracious and merciful."--Prophets and Kings, pp. 335-337.