You did not choose Me but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the father will give you whatever you ask in My name…Arise! Shine! Your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has dawned. Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard….so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe. “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.
John 15:16, Isaiah 60:1, Isaiah 58:8, Philippians 2:15, Matthew 5:14, Daniel 12:3, Proverbs 11:30
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies. For he has gathered the exiles from many lands, from east and west, from north and south.
Some wandered in the wilderness,
lost and homeless.
Hungry and thirsty,
they nearly died.
“LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble,
and he rescued them from their distress.
He led them straight to safety,
to a city where they could live.
Let them praise the LORD for his great love
and for the wonderful things he has done for them.
For he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things.
Some went off to sea in ships, plying the trade routes of the world. They, too, observed the LORD’s power in action, his impressive works on the deepest seas. He spoke, and the winds rose, stirring up the waves. Their ships were tossed to the heavens and plunged again to the depths; the sailors cringed in terror. They reeled and staggered like drunkards LORD, help! they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He calmed the storm to a whisper and stilled the waves. What a blessing was that stillness as he brought them safely into harbor!
Let them praise the LORD for his great love
and for the wonderful things he has done for them.
Let them exalt him publicly before the congregation
and before the leaders of the nation
For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame. Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone and, “He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.”
1 Peter 2:6-8
Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom, imprisoned in iron chains of misery. They rebelled against the words of God, scorning the counsel of the Most High. That is why he broke them with hard labor; they fell, and no one was there to help them. LORD, help! they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom; he snapped their chains.
Let them praise the LORD for his great love
and for the wonderful things he has done for them.
For he broke down their prison gates of bronze;
he cut apart their bars of iron.
Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the Great Rock in their path.
“I will love You, O Lord, my Strength! The Lord is my Rock and my Fortress and my Deliverer; My God, my Strength, in whom I will trust; My Shield and the horn of my Salvation, my Stronghold!”
Psalm 18:1-2
Long ago I planned it, and now I am making it happen. I planned for you to crush fortified cities into heaps of rubble. Isaiah 37:26
“I am going to make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp, double-edged teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them to dust. You will turn the hills into straw. You will toss them into the air, and the wind will blow them all away; a whirlwind will scatter them. Then you will rejoice in the LORD. You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 41:15-16
This is what Scripture says:
“The first man, Adam, became a living being.”
The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”
Some were fools; they rebelled and suffered for their sins. They couldn’t stand the thought of food, and they were knocking on death’s door. LORD, help! they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death.
Let them praise the LORD for his great love
and for the wonderful things he has done for them.
Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving
and sing joyfully about his glorious acts.
For Jerusalem will become what her name Ariel means–an altar covered with blood...But suddenly, your ruthless enemies will be crushed like the finest of dust. Your many attackers will be driven away like chaff before the wind. Suddenly, in an instant,
But have you not heard? I decided this long ago.
All the nations fighting against Ariel (Jerusalem) will vanish like a dream! Those who are attacking her walls will vanish like a vision in the night.
How horrible it will be for those who try to hide their plans from the LORD. Their deeds are done in the dark, and they say, “No one can see us” and “No one can recognize us.”
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,
even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. Psalm 139:11-12
You turn things upside down! Should the potter be thought to be like clay; that the thing made should say about him who made it, “He didn’t make me;” or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding?” (Isaiah 29)
“What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.
The LORD Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled).
Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. Isaiah 3:15, Isaiah 2:12, Isaiah 13:6
He certainly knows what we are made of. He bears in mind that we are dust. Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the earth and blew the breath of life into his nostrils. The man became a living being. Psalm 103:14, Genesis 2:7
For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of retribution, to uphold Zion’s cause. say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. This is what the LORD says: “In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out in freedom,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Come into the light.’ They will be my sheep, grazing in green pastures and on hills that were previously bare.
Isaiah 34:8, Isaiah 35:4, Isaiah 40:1, Isaiah 49:8-9
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me, for the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the LORD’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies. Isaiah 61:1-2
…to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in Me. Acts 26:18
But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace. Psalm 37:11
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Isaiah 35:5
Soon–and it will not be very long–the forests of Lebanon will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops. When that day comes, the deaf will hear the words written in the book. The blind will see out of their gloom and darkness The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 29:17-19
He changes rivers into deserts,
and springs of water into dry, thirsty land.
He turns the fruitful land into salty wastelands,
because of the wickedness of those who live there.
But he also turns deserts into pools of water,
the dry land into springs of water.
He brings the hungry to settle there
and to build their cities.
They sow their fields, plant their vineyards,
and harvest their bumper crops.
How he blesses them!
They raise large families there,
and their herds of livestock increase.
When they decrease in number and become impoverished
through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,
the LORD pours contempt on their princes,
causing them to wander in trackless wastelands.
But he rescues the poor from trouble
and increases their families like flocks of sheep.
The godly will see these things and be glad,
while the wicked are struck silent.
Those who are wise will take all this to heart;
they will see in our history the faithful love of the LORD.
The LORD is my light and my salvation–whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life–of whom shall I be afraid?
Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? James 2:5
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
