Daily Devotional • December 30
A Reading from Isaiah 25:1-9
1 O Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
2 For you have made the city a heap,
the fortified city a ruin;
the palace of foreigners is a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
4 For you have been a refuge to the poor,
a refuge to the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat.
When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rainstorm,
5 the noise of foreigners like heat in a dry place,
you subdued the heat with the shade of clouds;
the song of the ruthless was stilled.
6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
7 And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the covering that is spread over all nations;
8 he will swallow up death forever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
“See, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
Meditation
It is fitting that our lectionary offers the words of the prophet Isaiah during the season of Christmastide. Isaiah paints a stunning portrait of the Messiah — a refuge to the poor and needy, the Lord who prepares a feast where all are welcome, and the Deliverer who “swallows up death forever” but tenderly comforts us in our tears. This is the God who sees our shame and disgrace and casts it away forever.
After proclaiming this litany of God’s goodness, Isaiah responds with great joy and pride:“See, this is our God, we have waited for him, so that he might save us.”
In Christmastide, we rejoice that this same God has come to us to set us free. Though this God may seem too good to be true, God’s presence with us is the deepest truth of our lives. This is our God who now dwells with us.
Lord open our eyes to see our Savior afresh today. For we have waited for him and at last, he is here. Amen.
Steven McCain serves at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church and School in Raleigh, North Carolina. He lives in the Raleigh area with his wife, Elizabeth, and three sons, Benjamin, James, and Micah.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of Kutgi – The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Ft. Thomas, Kentucky
