“HEARKEN”

PART TWO

(Part Two of a Five Part Series)

To the seekers of righteousness

ISAIAH 51

“Hearken to me,
ye that follow after righteousness,
ye that seek the LORD:
look unto the rock whence ye are hewn,
and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.
Look unto Abraham your father,
and unto Sarah that bare you:
for I called him alone,
and blessed him, and increased him.
For the LORD shall comfort Zion:
he will comfort all her waste places;
and he will make her wilderness like Eden,
and her desert like the garden of the LORD;
joy and gladness shall be found therein,
thanksgiving, and the voice of melody”
ISAIAH 51:1-3

This is a “Hearken” spoken to those in the early stages of their spiritual life who are pursuing righteousness; there is a seeking of the Lord and vitality to their walk. It is a healthy walk. The Hebrew word for “hearken” used here is one that is best translated hear and obey; to take notice. It is translated 88 times in different forms of the word OBEY (obeyed, obeys, obeyeth…). This is spoken to people who intuitively know there is a righteousness to be known that far exceeds a positional truth. There is, within their hearts, a cry for something greater than a doctrinal righteousness and they are in pursuit of it.

To them the Word of the Lord is gracious and filled with strong encouragement as they run after HIS righteousness. This is a stage of great struggles filled with victories and defeats; a stage of great personal development as with each victory strength is garnered for new battles ahead. We see here a great word of comfort as they are encouraged to look back unto the rock from whence they have been cut and the pit from where they have been rescued. The Great Shepherd wants them to see their progress and that they have indeed made strides in their growth and walk with Him! How good and gracious our God is.

He directs them to look unto Abraham their father whose life was a journey of Obedience; to Sarah who by faith received strength to deliver a child in her old age. He seeks to remind them that Abraham was CALLED, and in Abraham’s obedience he was BLESSED, and INCREASED in the goodness and the faithfulness of HIS GOD.

Within the heart of God is an understanding that in the lives of these precious ones is a perplexity they cannot articulate and questioning as they see the lack of reality around them. We see here a God who gives the promise that once again HE will comfort the waste places of Zion, that the wilderness they have known will BLOSSOM like Eden, and that the desert places will be even as the garden of the LORD. There will be JOY and GLADNESS and the melody of song. In spite of where we are, or the secret questions we may harbour in our hearts, HE has promises of good for all those that follow (pursue) after righteousness.

Brian Troxel