Anglican Daily Fountain 23rd December 2023 (Devotional Today)
Welcome to Today’s Daily Fountain Devotional of the Anglican Church of Nigeria. Daily Fountain is a daily reading devotional for all Anglicans and Non-Anglicans to read, study, share and discuss the Word of God on a daily basis.
TOPIC: GOD RESISTS THE PROUD
TEXT: Isaiah 47:1-15(KJV)
47:1. Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.
47:2. Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.
47:3. Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man.
47:4. As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.
47:5. Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.
47:6. I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.
47:7. And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it.
47:8. Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:
47:9. But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.
47:10. For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.
47:11. Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know.
47:12. Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.
47:13. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.
47:14. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.
47:15. Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee.
Anglican Daily Fountain 23rd December 2023 STUDY:
Babylon has always stood as a symbol of wickedness, pride and arrogance. The Babylonian Empire had, at the time of Prophet Isaiah, attended an enviable height in many forms of human achievements. The people had become so successful that they began to feel they were “untouchable” and “unmovable.” They said to themselves: “I am, and there is no one besides me; I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children” (v.8).
They were a people full of themselves. They had no regard for God. They felt secured in their wickedness and in their much sorcery, and they felt on top of the world (v.10). Such people put their whole trust in themselves, their positions and possessions. They forgot that “… God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble”(James 4:6).
God rewarded the proud, arrogant and wicked Babylon. God is able to strip the wicked of their false confidence and security. God said to the wicked, proud and arrogant Babylon, “These two things shall come upon you in a moment, in one day; the loss of children and widowhood… in spite of your many sorceries and the great power of your enchantments” (v.9). You need to trust in the Lord alone, with all your heart(Prov. 3:5-6), and God’s security will be yours.
PRAYER: Lord, establish me in your humility and righteousness.
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