Revive Us O LORD

Isa 57:1 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.

Death of this flesh body is going to happen to all of us. It is an evil time in the world, but there are those in the righteousness of Christ, that witness and shine for his glory. They may not be popular in an evil land, they may even be persecuted. Some of the best witnesses are gone, or are near death. We need them, but the LORD will raise up new witnesses. Some could be taken away to spare them from the evil to come and some may be martyred. Some are rewarded for a life time of service with a long life and a peaceful death; others, like Isaiah suffer death at the hands of evil men.

Heb 11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

When Peter was told that he must die a martyrs death, he asked, what about John?

John 21:21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?
John 21:22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.

All in Christ Jesus are received into glory and will return to rule and reign with the Lord in his kingdom; some go in peace, others at the hand of man; but to be eternally with Jesus is our reward.

Mat 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Isa 57:2 He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.

Isa 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Isa 26:4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

Deu 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Isa 57:3 But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.
Isa 57:4 Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood,
Isa 57:5 Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks?

What of this ungodly generation? Shall they continue to do evil before the LORD? Sorcery and witchcraft are being practiced as in times of old. Illegitimate children, with no father's, or with evil parents, speak and walk in darkness, until the LORD sends a witness; but will they hear? Some hear and serve the LORD as did Mary Magdalene, the beloved servant and witness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Others refuse the truth and speak perverse words; some become people of power, corrupting the nation, the laws and the courts. These are children of iniquity, delighting in evil and sowing seeds of falsehood; the servants of the devil. They worship the creation, believe in evolution and deny the God who made all. Some are as those who sacrificed their children to the god Molech; they kill their children and serve those who promote this evil. Those who serve the LORD are labeled as extremists. The ungodly call good evil and evil good.

Isa 57:6 Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion; they, they are thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink offering, thou hast offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort in these?
Isa 57:7 Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.

In nature you have committed idolatry and played the harlot with strange gods.

Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Rom 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

Isa 57:8 Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it.

Behind your doors you set up idols: You have given your heart not to the LORD of your covenant, but to strange gods. You have enlarged your bed, been intimate with other gods, expanding your worship of many gods and making covenants with them; in bed with false gods and beliefs. You have gone the way of the transgressor.

Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exo 20:6 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Isa 57:9 And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell.

Judah gave themselves to serve foreign kings as an unfaithful woman. I remember the woman of the streets, who came to Jesus with ointment. What a beautiful example she was of love and service to her king.

Luke 7:37 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
Luke 7:38 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

Luke 7:44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
Luke 7:45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
Luke 7:46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
Luke 7:47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
Luke 7:48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.

May we serve Jesus like this, even doing good to the least of those we meet. What we do with Jesus will show which king we serve; the King of glory or the king of this world, the devil.

Isa 57:10 Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet saidst thou not, There is no hope: thou hast found the life of thine hand; therefore thou wast not grieved.

Although they were weary of their lifestyle, they had become addicted to it; they did not say that there was no hope for them, for they did not want to repent. They were not grieved by their iniquity, being as reprobates without a conscience.

Isa 57:11 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?

Who are you afraid of, that you would trust in false gods and not the God of Israel? Today I see people fearing for lack of finances and looking to a leader for hope. Where is God in this? Why have you turned from him? When you had abundance, did you love things more than your provider; now who will save you?

Psa 4:3 But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.
Psa 4:4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
Psa 4:5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.

Isa 57:12 I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee.

Trusting in man or things or false gods and doing works to please them to prosper, will not help you, if you turn from the true God.

Isa 57:13 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;
Isa 57:14 And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people.

Apart from our Holy God, all is vanity and all will perish as the chaff in the wind; but those who trust in the LORD shall inherit eternal life. The LORD will make a way for his people, he will make the path clear and straight. Jesus is a stumbling block to those who trust in self righteousness, but those who trust in Jesus shall be delivered unto holy ground.

Isa 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, 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.

Our LORD lives! LORD of Glory and LORD of life. In him we hide and are refreshed. LORD GOD, You are the high and lofty one, holy and separated from flesh; high and exalted are you, our LORD.

Isa 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

He dwells in the high and holy dwelling place; who may enter his presence through Jesus? Those of a contrite and humble spirit. Contrite: dakka, means dust, in the dictionary it is described as one of a humble remorseful and repentant heart. Revive your people LORD, give them a fresh anointing.

Isa 40:29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
Isa 40:30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
Isa 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isa 57:16 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.

To contend; Qal, plead, strive, debate, chide.

Psa 103:8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
Psa 103:9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
Psa 103:10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
Psa 103:11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
Psa 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Isa 57:17 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.

Many think that if they follow their heart, that they are in truth. No, the heart is often deceived by sin.

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Jer 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
Jer 17:11 As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.
Jer 17:12 A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.
Jer 17:13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.

Isa 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.

We are but dust, apart from the grace of our Lord.

Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Psa 103:13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
Psa 103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

Isa 57:19 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.

The LORD speaks through those who trust him. We speak life and hope and the glory of our LORD. We dwell in his peace and rest in him. He is our healer and our strength.

Isa 57:20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
Isa 57:21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

What a picture of the wicked masses. They are without peace; a restless polluted sea, casting up mire and dirt. We are to come out from them and not to partake in their uncleanness.

2 Cor 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2 Cor 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

We are the chosen of God, sent to proclaim the gospel of peace and to receive eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus is our rest and our peace with God, with his family and within ourselves. Keep us revived Lord and let not the enemy have any part with us. Amen