Longing for a Holiday at Sea

This passage struck me tonight:

See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,
and he rules with a mighty arm….
He tends his flock like a shepherd:
 He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young. Isaiah 40: 10a, 11 NIV

It reminds me of this passage where the Apostle John weeps in his vision because no one is worthy to open the scroll:

Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”  

Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. Revelation 5: 5-6 NIV

The word translated lamb in Revelation is really “baby lamb,” or “lambkin.”

So, in Isaiah, the sovereign, powerful Lord is also the loving, caring, gentle shepherd.

And in Revelation, the triumphant Lion of Judah is also the Lambkin that was slain.

Oh, what a God we serve!!! Oh, what a God who serves us!!!

Amen!

An aside…

I took a walk down memory lane tonight.

Isaiah 40: 25ff has had SO MANY PRAISE songs written from it, that I had to dig to find the two that I remember from my “youth.”

Here’s one I learned in my late 20s: Do You Not Know? (this is the only version I could find). We sang it in my New York City church in the late 80s, early 90s.

And  I learned another version in high school via YoungLife – but can’t find it anywhere online.

I loved that song:

Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their faith, they shall… mount up like eagles with wings of great faith.

They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. He gives strength to the weary and powowower to his saints.

budumpbudubump  budumpbudubump budumpbudubump

If anyone finds a recorded version of this, would you kindly post it in comments??

Today’s Readings: Isaiah 39:1-40:31, Psalm 109:21-25, Proverbs 26:2, Galatians 2:1-21. See About for what I’m up to with these daily posts. Your daily blogger, Holiday Longing (Reproduce with permission only)