and his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
he shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
[isaiah 11:3-5]
from the very first sin, adam and eve covered themselves and hid out of fear of judgment. as children, we learn to protect and cover ourselves from others. we join social groups, clubs, and organizations to find others just like ourselves in order to be understood. at our worst, we lash out at others before we can be criticized.
in this passage, we see a prophecy of the character of Christ. it says that he will not judge us for what his eyes see, or by what his ears hear. that his delight is in our fear of the Lord! we see this all across Jesus’ life here on earth. when he sees the woman at the well (john 4:7-29), when he sees zacchaeus in the tree (luke 19:1-10), when he sees the thief on the cross (luke 23:39-43). he noticed outcasts. he pursued those who were sick and poor in spirit. he saw their heart.
the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, o God, you will not despise. [psalm 51:17]
Jesus didn’t deal with them according to their sins, nor does he with ours. he wasn’t constrained by human judgement, or fear of death. nothing stopped him from doing the father’s will. for those living in submission and humility to the Father, he will save and deal fairly through the redemptive work of the cross. for the wicked He will judge with the rod of his mouth and the breath of his lips.
isaiah is describing a savior from the beginning of time, through the redemption of the cross, to final judgment! too often i forget the full extent of his mercy. too often i choose acceptance from the world in an effort to hide my sins. too often i fear, instead of living in hope and joy!
are you hiding because of your sin? where are you choosing the world over a savior?
i encourage you to spend some time in psalm 51 today. bring your shame to the one who forgives. take joy in mercy, and worship the one who is deserving!
~ joe lorsung