I am thinking of a certain type of person that many of us might have had the occasion to deal with, one that can be frustrating, and even hurtful. I am referring to people who hold a grudge, people who will not forgive no matter how many times you sincerely and genuinely apologize, telling them you’re sorry. Someone like that can put a deep wedge into a family. They can quickly destroy a marriage. That kind of behavior can tear apart a friendship. Some of you might have been hurt by someone who refused to forgive, or who held a grudge against you for something wrong you said or did, no matter how contrite you are now. What about God? Does He always forgive, or does He have a difficult time with that, holding a grudge against us to “teach us a lesson”? Let’s take a quick look into a portion of Scripture from the prophet Isaiah today.
One thing that anyone who is familiar with God’s Word can attest is that the Lord willingly and eagerly forgives those who repent and turn away from their sins. As our Scripture passage for today opens, we read how the Lord wants to open up a way for people who have fallen away from Him to be able to return. He calls out to prepare the way for the backslider, the repentant sinner to return to Him, and to take all stumbling blocks out of the way (vs. 14). Too often some religious leaders and other, self-righteous Christians put all sorts of rules and regulations in the way for a sinner to perform before they say that God will forgive. If a believer has sinned and backslides away from the Lord, they put all sorts of stumbling blocks in the way for them to return to Him. God says to get those out of the way and let the sinner return to Him.
If a sinner wants to return to the Lord, all they must do is acknowledge their sin, feel genuine sorrow for what they did against Him, confess, and then forsake that sin, turn away from it and return to the Lord. There are no special religious hoops they must jump through. The Lord said that He dwells with the one who has a contrite and humble spirit, with one who is sincerely sorry for their sins (vs. 15). The One who has lived in all eternity past, before the ages of time, condescends to dwell with those who are humble and have a contrite spirit.
As we continue reading, God promises that He will not hold on to His anger forever against a sinner who repents (vs. 16). Unlike so many humans, God does not hold grudges. If He did, our spirits would fail within us, as there would be nowhere to turn. God’s anger quickly recedes. If this were not so, none of us could endure it. Man, unable to justify himself, would faint and fade away before God’s fury.
This does not mean that God never gets angry with sin. He does, and our sin puts a barrier between us and Him (vs. 17-18). However, the Lord desires that His children be restored and brought back into a right relationship with Him, which the Holy Spirit will bring to pass. Once a believer who has backslidden is restored into a right fellowship, the Lord heals their relationship and blesses them with His peace (vs. 19).
The “fruit of the lips” that Isaiah speaks of is the praise and thanksgiving that we bring to the Lord when we know that our sins have been forgiven, and we have our relationship and peace restored. It can also refer to the words that we say when we call and urge the backslidden to return to the Lord.
The prophet Isaiah closes this passage of Scripture with a warning to the unsaved, to those who have never confessed and repented of their sins (vs. 20-21). He describes the wicked, the unsaved, as being like a troubled sea, waves crashing to and fro that cast up nothing but mire and dirt. They have no peace. When trouble comes to the lives of the unsaved, where do they turn to? Many to drugs, alcohol, and sinful relationships. One cannot find help from other unsaved people, and they can’t find it within themselves, either. As God says, there is no peace for the wicked.
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