Isaiah 63 Devotional

He Shared Their Suffering

“In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.”Isaiah 63:9 (BSB)

The chapter opens with a disturbing figure. A warrior comes from Edom in crimson-stained clothes. He has trodden the winepress of judgment alone, and his own arm brought salvation (63:1-6). It is the language of chapter 59 again: God acting by himself, when no one else could.

Then the mood turns to memory and prayer, recounting the LORD's loving devotion to Israel (63:7). When his people suffered, he shared their suffering. The Angel of his Presence saved them, and in love he lifted them up and carried them through the days of old (63:9). Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit (63:10). Paul uses the same language when he urges believers not to grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). The prayer goes on to call God Father and Redeemer even when Abraham would not recognize them (63:16). God is not distant from his people's pain. He shares it. So even when he seems silent, the right response is not to walk away but to keep calling him Father.

To think about: How does knowing God shares in his people's distress change the way you pray when he seems silent?