The Satisfied Soul

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy, and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.” Isaiah 55:1-2

How is your appetite leading you? Apart from the Lord, I have spent money on that which is unhealthy for me and on that which did not satisfy my soul. But when I abide in Jesus, He satisfies my appetite. He satisfies my soul so much so that I want to avoid sumptuous cuisine, luxurious living, and entertainment that tends to lessen my appetite for Him.

“Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you—the sure mercies of David. Indeed I have given Him as a witness to the people, a leader and commander for the people. Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and the Holy One of Israel; for He has glorified you.” Isaiah 55:3-5

The Lord asks for our ears. If we listen to what He says, our soul thrives. In Acts 13:34, Paul refers to “the sure mercies of David” reference from Isaiah as being Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the witness and leader of people. As we our yield ourselves to honor and serve Him, nations run to us, because the Lord’s glory in us. I bear witness to this is a miracle, because I once a boy from a small, isolated town, but now enjoy fellowship with people from around the world.

“Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:6-7

Every morning and throughout the day, the Lord reminds me that His door is always open. This is true because He took my sins upon Himself on the cross and became an atoning sacrifice for me. He abundantly pardoned me. His Holy Spirit helps me to enjoy my relationship with Him.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:8-11

It makes sense, right? The thoughts and ways of God are higher than ours! His Word is not empty. It contains life! As a seed produces a plant, His Word produces better thoughts in us and prospers our ways.

“For you shall go out with joy and be led out with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a Name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” Isaiah 55:12-13

I like to go out with joy and be led by peace. I enjoy singing and clapping. I prefer beautiful trees to thorns and briers. So, I will listen to the Lord and share what He teaches me.

“Also, the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the Name of the Lord, to be His servants—everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath and holds fast My covenant—even them I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Isaiah 56:6-7

I am glad that the Lord includes us Gentiles in His promises to Israel. I was foreigner to God, but He opened His heart to me. He invited me to join Him, serve Him and to love His Name. Glory! He has extended to me and to all who believe in Him, His covenant of salvation. He brings us to holy place of prayer where we meet with Him and He fills our hearts with loving prayers for people, even as He prays for them.

“The righteous perishes, and no man takes it to heart; merciful men are taken away, while no one considers that the righteous is taken away from evil. He shall enter into peace; they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.” Isaiah 57:1-2

I have been a places where the people are hostile toward Jesus Christ and toward His merciful servants. I prayed a reversal, that they too would come to love Jesus and serve Him, but it didn’t happen. In this passage, the Lord gives us a sign of a society in decline. The sign is no concern for the loss of faithful people of God among them. They want to go “all in” with the devil.

“And of whom have you been afraid, or feared, that you have lied and not remembered Me, nor taken it to your heart? ...But he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land and shall inherit My holy mountain.” Isaiah 57:11, 13

So often, there are people who hear the Lord’s voice and want to draw near to Him, but when they think of their “friends” who reject the Lord, they shrink back from following Jesus. The Lord promises a better inheritance to one who follows Him than those “friends” do.

“For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose Name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isaiah 57:15

In Isaiah 55:1, the Lord offered water, food, wine and milk to us who have no money. He only requires from us contrition and humility. We need to repent of thinking so poorly about God and so highly of ourselves. When we acknowledge and give Him the honor that He is due, He revives our hearts and spirit.

“I create the fruit of the lips: peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near, says the Lord, and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.” Isaiah 57:19-21

Here we have another miracle. Peace coming from our lips due to the inner healing that God has done in our hearts. To live without a relationship with God is not like that. Apart from God, a soul is troubled, restless, unpeaceful, and produces mire... defilement.

“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to release bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.” Isaiah 58:6-12

Jesus referred to this kind of lifestyle in the parable of the sheep and goats which is recorded in Matthew 25:31-46. The sheep were doing the kind of services described above while the goats were too busy lavishing all their blessings upon themselves. The sheep were gathered to the Lord, but the goats were cast into eternal punishment. The root of the blessing was the sheep reflected the life of Jesus because they abided in Him. The root of the curse was the goats wanted to be far from the Lord and serve only selfish interests.

“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 58:13-14

May it be so! That each of us will delight in honoring the Lord during a Sabbath (a rest day) each week. Not doing our own ways! Not gratifying the selfish nature! But speaking God’s Word one with another! Delighting in Jesus! He abundantly satisfies our soul with an open heaven.