Isaiah 35 Devotional

A Road Built for the Weak

“So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.”Isaiah 35:10 (BSB)

After the ash and thorns of chapter 34, the desert bursts into bloom, and people see the glory of the LORD (35:1-2). Then the prophet turns to the weak, calling for tired hands and unsteady knees to be made firm and for anxious hearts to take courage, because God is coming to save (35:3-4). His coming brings sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, a leap to the lame, and a shout to the mute (35:5-6).

A road runs through this renewed land, called the Way of Holiness. No lion prowls beside it, and the redeemed walk it home to Zion with singing (35:8-10). Notice who travels it: not the strong, but the rescued. When John the Baptist sent to ask whether Jesus was the one to come, Jesus pointed to the blind seeing, the lame walking, and the deaf hearing (Matthew 11:4-5). The God of Isaiah 35 had arrived. Unsteady knees do not disqualify anyone from this road. They are exactly what he came to strengthen.

To think about: Where do you feel weak or unsteady right now, and how does the God who comes to save meet you there?