Daily Devotions
Isaiah
"LORD, in trouble they have visited You"
Text: Isaiah 26:16
PRAYING TO THE LORD
Isaiah was not the only one praying to the LORD. There were others in Judah who cried out to Him piteously!
“LORD, in trouble they have visited You,
They poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them.
As a woman with child
Is in pain and cries out in her pangs,
When she draws near the time of her delivery,
So have we been in Your sight, O LORD.
We have been with child, we have been in pain;
We have, as it were, brought forth wind;
We have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth,
Nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen.”
Isaiah 26:16-18
1. The prayer of the penitent.
a) The righteous had recognised the trouble they were in.
b) They accepted that the LORD was chastening them.
c) They poured out their hearts to the LORD for mercy.
2. Isaiah identified himself with the petitioners.
a) He described how they prayed.
b) All had felt a great sense of fear and pain.
c) Isaiah used the illustration of a pregnant woman suffering from birth pangs.
3. Fearful birth pains.
a) In the ancient days, giving birth was very much harder.
b) All the pain felt may be in vain.
c) The baby or the mother may die at child birth!
4. Fears brought to the LORD.
a) Isaiah described the plight Judah was in.
b) The same problem was faced by many nations.
c) None had fared well in their attempts to deliver themselves out of trouble.
d) Judah had failed miserably and was in danger of death.
5. A candid prayer.
a) This prayer was uttered in utmost candidness to the LORD.
b) How would the LORD respond?