Learning Righteousness

The Hope of Waiting on the Lord in Isaiah 26

Amen. Amen. Well, please turn in your Bible to Isaiah 26. We'll continue going through the book of Isaiah. And we're currently in a section in Isaiah that's summarizing all the work holes against the nations that have gone before.

And within that, we're in a section that's particularly concerned about trusting in the Lord and waiting on the Lord. And so we've seen the past couple of times what it means to wait on the Lord. And today, I'd like to talk a little about that motivation behind waiting on the Lord, trusting in his judgments, trusting in his commandments.

I believe this message dovetails very nicely with what we heard this morning about the darkness of the mind and the enlightenment that God has provided in Christ. There are eschatological implications for that darkness.

By eschatological, I mean something that has to do with the end, something that has to do with the future. There are future implications for that darkness. Specifically, if people are so darkened that they do not see God, that they do not recognize what he is doing, then God is not glorified when he continues to allow the wicked to go on in favor.

But God is glorified when he brings justice against them. Moreover, God is not glorified if his people forever following him would not have some kind of reward in the matter, if they would simply be defeated by their enemies.

However, God is glorified if they are protected from their enemies. If they, they who are enlightened to know what God is doing, are able to see his goodness in what he is doing, through both favor and through judgment, that he will provide the kind of favor and judgment that will make him apparent to both the righteous and the wicked.

If the wicked do not learn in favor, then God must bring judgment against the wicked. And this is one of the reasons why the Christian can wait on God, can trust in him, and with patience, wait for his answer.

You know, you hear all the time things that just make your mind spin. Pastor Brian mentioned twice that people don't even know what truth is anymore. And that can be something that can be very distressing to the Christian, something that can cause us to despair and feel like, what is the point if no one understands?

What this passage offers is a hope found in that very fact. The fact that people do not understand, do not see what God is doing, means that he will correct the situation. It is a guarantee that he will do something about it.

And so rather than being a reason for despair, it is actually a reason for hope. Let me go ahead and read this passage here. Beginning in verse seven and going down to verse 11. This is Isaiah 26. Please stand for the reading of God's word.

The path of the righteous is level. You make level the way of the righteous. In the path of your judgments, oh Lord, we wait for you. Your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul. My soul yearns for you in the night.

My spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. If favor is shown to the wicked, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of uprightness, he deals corruptly and does not see the majesty of the Lord.

Oh Lord, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people and be ashamed. Let the fire for your adversaries consume them. You may be seated. Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you today looking to your word, trusting you for guidance.

And God, I pray that you would equip us with everything we need in order to trust you. That we would see the promises you have, the instructions you have given, and that we would embrace them fully knowing that they are our only hope.

In Jesus' name, amen. He begins here in verse seven. The path of the righteous is level. You make level the way of the righteous. Isaiah begins by speaking of this certainty, that God makes level the way of the righteous.

He is a friend of the righteous man. He protects the righteous man and carries him along his way. Speaks of making that path level. Something that you don't see in the ESV that you would see if you looked at other Bibles is that it speaks of God as being the upright one who makes paths upright.

You see, it's in God's very nature as one who is upright to make smooth paths for those who would follow him. God cares for his children. Any time where you're going through some kind of trial and it feels like God doesn't care for the righteous, know that that is not the case.

He has his purposes in what he is doing. And moreover, you have a guarantee that he will make your path straight if you are following him. You make level the way of the righteous. Then it says in verse eight, in the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you.

Your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul. The people of God wait for him in the paths of his judgment. In other words, they follow his law patiently. You know, it's very difficult to follow the law of God.

It's not easy to do. Something where there are many temptations pull us astray. It often feels like this immediately gratifies. This sin will immediately answer my problems. Doesn't matter if it's the kind of very sensual sins that we often think of.

In that way, sexual sins, things involving drugs, or even other things. The way you treat another person, whether or not you regard them with respect, whether or not you reconcile differences between others, there are all kinds of sins where we are tempted into thinking that this sin will immediately answer my problems.

There is no use on waiting in the Lord. God's work is slow. Brothers and sisters, God's work is not slow as men count slowness. You have that passage in Peter's epistle that speaks of Jesus Christ's return.

I believe the very same thing can be applied to waiting on the Lord in other senses. As we wait on the Lord, as we trust in him, following his commands, following his judgments, we should know that the answer will not be slow.

The answer might be slow from our timetable, but from God's timetable, which is the right timetable, it is not slow. He will answer in his perfect timing, which will be for the good of those who love him.

So rest and trust in that. Know that he will not abandon his people. Your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul. You know, Isaiah's talking about what motivates someone to trust in the Lord.

God's name and his remembrance. What is his name? His name in scripture is Yahweh, right? You see in Exodus 3 .15, where this is given. It says, God also said to Moses, say to this people, say to this people of Israel, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you.

This is my name forever. And then notice this connection here. And thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. So when Isaiah speaks of the remembrance of God, speaking of his name, when God gives his name to his people, this is a notion that he ties along together with it.

How he is to be remembered. How is he to be remembered? He is to be remembered as the savior. In Exodus 3, the people are in bondage. They're enslaved in Egypt. And God is about to draw them out of Egypt to bring them into the promised land.

And God would have them remember him as savior. What they desire is what God desires. What the people of God desires is what he desires, to know him as savior. God desires to be glorified as savior. God's people await his salvation so that they may glorify him as the savior.

These are things that we can hold on to because it's not just us and our need wanting God to save us, but this is his own desire that he be remembered as our savior. And so Isaiah continues on and speaks of this being the desire of our soul.

My soul yearns for you in the night. My spirit within me earnestly seeks you. Speaking of that immaterial constituent of man, soul and spirit, Isaiah talks about this longing, this longing of his heart.

And here he even switches from speaking of this collective hour to speaking specifically of himself, saying my soul. You know, he personalizes it here to emphasize how deep and earnest this is. His soul yearns in the night, not only in the morning, not only during the day, but even in the night, he longs for the Lord.

A lot of people have taken this to mean in times of trial, so what night speaks of here. While that very well may be, my understanding of this passage is that it's talking about all time, that he does not only seek God during the day, but also at night.

In fact, one way this could be translated is before the dawn. So in other words, early when I wake up at all times, my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness when God's judgments are in the earth. When God judges, and this does not merely speak of his condemnation, but even of his guiding. When God judges, when his law has its effect, people learn.

When those who are following his law receive the blessings that are promised, you know, we talked about the fifth commandment this morning and how a promise comes along with it. When people are blessed and following God's law, they learn righteousness.

They are reinforced to see that what God says is good is good, that this very reflection of his character is something to be embraced, that he himself is one to be embraced. When those who reject God's law suffer for it, God is glorified because it shows that those who would reject God and these laws that come from his very character, shows that those who would twist God and twist his word will themselves be twisted.

The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. But, but if favor is shown to the wicked, he does not learn righteousness. You know, the righteous person, excuse me, the wicked person, we often see them living in prosperity.

You know, this is something that a lot of the Psalms talk about frequently, because it seems at odds with what God should be doing. Why is he not punishing those who are wicked? The one who is wicked, if favor is shown to him, he doesn't learn righteousness.

His mind is darkened. He is simply confirmed in his wickedness. Psalms speak of this, not only of the prosperity, but of the fact that he continues in ignorance because of this. Psalm 10, verse four says, in the pride of his face, the wicked does not seek him.

All his thoughts are, there is no God. His ways prosper at all times. Your judgments are on high, out of his sight. As for all his foes, he puffs at them. He says in his heart, I shall not be moved. Throughout all generations, I shall not meet adversity.

The one who is wicked is confirmed by God's favor. And so this is a guarantee to God's people that that favor will end. God cares for his own name. He cares for his own reputation. And so he will not allow the wicked to go on forever, but he will bring his judgments into the land.

Why would he delay? This is a question, like I mentioned, that's asked in the Psalms. Why would he not immediately bring judgment? The answer is simply he is building a case against them. Genesis 15, 16 says that they will come back here and the fourth generation for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.

You know, that is God promising to Abraham that it is not until 400 years that the people will come out of their bondage in Egypt. You know, and think about the connections here between God's name, him being savior, him giving that name to his people, the name that they should remember him by, and how he kept them in bondage for 400 years.

Why did God allow that? To build a case against these enemies so that when he makes his judgment known, it is clear what is going on. It is clear that it is deserved. It is clear that he is good and that he is just and that he is right.

You see that also in Romans nine, when it speaks of why would God be patient with the wicked? Why would God be patient with the wicked? What if God is doing this? What if he is with patience, enduring the wickedness of the wicked to show his mercy on these vessels of mercy?

In other words, what if God is building this case up in order to demonstrate to his own people simply how merciful he is and how little they deserve? You know, we deserve so little from God. We deserve so little.

The fate of the wicked, that is what we deserve apart from Christ, apart from the grace and the mercy of Jesus Christ, we deserve what the wicked have coming to them. And if God did not build a greater and greater case against them, we would not see just how little it is that we deserve.

And so he has his purposes, even in being patient with the wicked. It's like a, you know, what does an undercover cop do? An undercover cop is he, you know, spends time with whatever agency he's trying to bust.

You know, he will spend more time taking more evidence. He doesn't just immediately go in with guns blazing and take them all down, right? But he builds up lots and lots of evidence so that it can be presented in court and so that on that day of judgment, everything will be made perfectly clear.

Those who have done right will be perfectly vindicated. Those who have done wrong will be perfectly condemned. And this is what God is accomplishing in the world. In the land of uprightness, he deals corruptly and does not see the majesty of the world, excuse me, of the Lord.

That statement, in the land of uprightness, this is a different word than the word that's used for level before. But that's the idea. God makes level paths for the righteous. He does not make level paths for the wicked.

And so even though the wicked continue in prosperity for a time, the believer can be certain that because God desires to glorify himself, that that will end. Verse 11 says, O Lord, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see it.

Let them see your zeal for your people and be ashamed. Let the fire for your adversaries consume them. God's hand is lifted up. His hand is lifted up in judgment. Psalm 7 describes this as someone who has a bow, a bow taught.

We imagine God is exerting energy to exercise his hand. To exercise judgment against men. But really, scripture pictures it as just the opposite. That he is exerting energy and holding off judgment. Now, not that God doesn't, you know, has to spend energy.

Not that God has limited resources. But the right way of thinking about this, if we were to imagine God as having those kind of creaturely limitations, is that he is exercising energy and withholding his judgment.

That he has his bow bent and it is only his sheer strength that keeps it from snapping and immediately causing judgment in the earth. But they do not see it. The mind of the wicked is darkened. The mind, apart from knowing Christ, is darkened.

They do not see the judgment that is coming. You know, it's incredible how the wicked do not anticipate the calamities that will happen in their life. In fact, it's not just that they're surprised when various worldwide calamities occur.

But even the greatest calamity that will happen in their own life, death, most people are woefully unprepared for. They have no idea that this is coming, even though it is obvious. And on another level, everyone knows that death is coming.

Everyone knows death is coming and they act as though it is not. They go about their life as though they can avoid death or as though it's not going to affect them. Maybe they don't even believe in God and so they don't think there's any meaning and yet they act as though there is meaning.

It's incredible how people ignore this most important truth and yet continue on just oblivious. That is the darkened mind. Let them see your zeal for your people and be ashamed. Let the fire for your adversaries consume them.

You know, the Bible usually uses the word shame to speak of what one experiences when they have trusted in something that should not be trusted. When Paul says, I will not be ashamed of the gospel, that is because as he trusts in the good news of Jesus Christ, it will never let him down.

The one who is trusted in false hopes, false idols, false things of the world, they will be ashamed because God will judge them. But the people of God, when they see God's judgments in the land, when they see that fire, that zeal consume the adversaries, they know that God is good.

They experience his goodness. They see what he is doing. When they see his favor, they know to thank God. You know, this should be a reason for us to thank God frequently. Not only in our prayers, but when we see God do good things in our lives.

His name should be on our lips. We should acknowledge him, even before others. This is something I struggle with. You know, speaking in a way that I know a lot of people aren't going to totally understand, praising the Lord, but it's something we ought to do, is to praise God frequently for what he has done.

We should not be those who have darkened senses, cannot tell what God is doing. But we should, with eyes of faith, be able to see what God is doing. We should see that when he is good to us, that he is indeed good to us.

We should not see this as something the universe is doing, or something creation is accomplishing, but something that God is accomplishing through creation. And when we see the wicked go on, and no judgment occur, we should not see that God is asleep, that God is not absent, but rather, we should see that bow drawn, and that he is pointing it.

We must be people who are awake. We must be children of the light. And we can have that light through Jesus Christ. You know, it is not, this is a dire hope for the wicked, because if the wicked cannot learn, how are they to change their condition?

If the wicked cannot learn to see what is right and what is good, how are they supposed to change themselves into being one who can? The only answer is through Jesus Christ. He is the one that opens eyes, opens minds, changes hearts.

It is only through Jesus Christ. You know, if you are someone who doesn't know what truth is, if you are someone who is darkened in your mind and can't see these things, if you aren't aware that death is coming, and that you must have an answer to that great calamity that is headed for your life, the only hope is in Jesus Christ.

He will remove this darkness so that you no longer, in ignorance, hurdle towards that end. But in having eyes opened, know who it is that you must cling to, your only hope of life, the one who will give you enlightenment so that you can experience his favor without it not accomplishing any good end.

You must turn to Jesus Christ. And it is him that we can have his goodness, his favor, and there being no reason for God to withdraw that from us. So to summarize, what's being said here is that darkness that the wicked experience, that enlightenment that the righteous experience is no cause for despair.

Rather, it is a cause for hope because it is because of that darkness and that enlightenment that we can be certain God will make his judgments clear, that God will bring favor to his people because they learn through that, they know him through that, and that he will bring judgments on the wicked because they will learn from that.

They will see, as it says here. They do not see it. Let them see your zeal. They do not see now, they will see when it is too late. They will know who God is. They will bend the knee forcefully, not willingly at that point in time.

God will make himself known to all. He will be glorified by all, whether willingly or unwillingly. And with the righteous, those who know him, those who have their minds enlightened by Christ, it will be through his favor.

For those who have not had their minds enlightened by Christ who dwell in darkness, it will be through judgment. So let us turn to Christ for more and more enlightenment of the mind. Let's pray. Let's pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for the great, great gift we have in Jesus Christ, that he has brought light into the world, that he opens eyes and hearts. God, we thank you for everything that you have provided in him.

And I ask that for those who do not know him, that you would, in your mercy, open their eyes. And for those who continue on in wickedness, we do cling to this promise that you would save your people by bringing judgments against our enemies.

Lord, I ask that you would accomplish your purposes in the world. In Jesus' name, amen.