Read: Isaiah 33:2–6

Bible in a Year: Numbers 12–14; Mark 5:21–43

[The LORD] will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.—Isaiah 33:6

For many years, people in our city built and bought homes in areas subject to landslides. Some knew about the risk of the unstable land, while others were not told. “Forty years of warnings from geologists and city regulations created to ensure safe homebuilding” were unexplained or ignored (The Gazette, Colorado Springs, April 27, 2016). The view from many of those homes was magnificent, but the ground beneath them was a disaster in the making.

Many people in ancient Israel ignored the Lord’s warnings to turn from idols and seek Him, the true and living God. The Old Testament records the tragic results of their disobedience. Yet, with the world crumbling around them, the Lord continued reaching out to His people with a message of forgiveness and hope if they would turn to Him and follow His way.

The prophet Isaiah said, “[The LORD] will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure” (Isaiah 33:6).

Today, as in the Old Testament era, God has given us a choice about the foundation on which we will build our lives. We can follow our own desires, or we can embrace His eternal principles revealed in the Bible and in the person of Jesus Christ. “On Christ, the solid rock, I stand—all other ground is sinking sand” (Edward Mote). —David C. McCasland

Father in heaven, we acknowledge You as our sure foundation. Our security and hope are in You.

The Lord Himself is our strong foundation in life.

INSIGHT: This brief section of Isaiah comes immediately after the prophet has pronounced six “woes” (contained in chapters 28 through 33:1). Now, beginning with 33:2, Isaiah prays in expectancy, despite the Assyrian forces threatening Jerusalem. He looks not to the city’s military strength or diplomatic skill for deliverance, but to God. “At the uproar of your army, the [invading] peoples flee” and “scatter,” said Isaiah (v. 3). The loot left behind when the Assyrians fled would be “harvested as by young locusts” (v. 4)—the citizens of Jerusalem themselves. No wonder Isaiah saw God as “the sure foundation” and the “rich store of salvation” (v. 6).

Isaiah’s original audience expected a Messiah, and Isaiah prophesied of Him in 28:16—“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.” In Matthew 21:42, when Jesus told His critics, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” He was referring to Himself as that Messiah.

What tempts you to panic today? Christ is our deliverer. He provides a sure foundation and a rich store of salvation to all who turn to Him. Tim Gustafson

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Read: 1 Samuel 20:30–34
Bible in a Year: Numbers 9–11; Mark 5:1–20

So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David.— 1 Samuel 20:16

“A weed is any plant that grows where you don’t want it,” my father said, handing me the hoe. I wanted to leave the corn plant that had “volunteered” among the peas. But Dad, who had grown up on a farm, instructed me to pull it out. That lone cornstalk would do nothing but choke the peas and rob them of nutrients.

Human beings aren’t plants—we have minds of our own and God-given free will. But sometimes we try to bloom where God doesn’t intend us to be.

King Saul’s son, the warrior-prince Jonathan, could have done that. He had every reason to expect to be king. But he saw God’s blessing on David, and he recognized the envy and pride of his own father (1 Samuel 18:12-15). So rather than grasping for a throne that would never be his, Jonathan became David’s closest friend, even saving his life (19:1-6; 20:1-4).

Some would say that Jonathan gave up too much. But how would we prefer to be remembered? Like the ambitious Saul, who clung to his kingdom and lost it? Or like Jonathan, who protected the life of a man who would become an honored ancestor of Jesus?

God’s plan is always better than our own. We can fight against it and resemble a misplaced weed. Or we can accept His direction and become flourishing, fruitful plants in His garden. He leaves the choice with us. —Tim Gustafson

Lord, please forgive us for those times when we act as if You have planted us in the wrong place. Help us see what You have for us to do today.

God invites us to participate with Him in taking the gospel to our world.

INSIGHT: Do you ever wonder whether you are in the place God wants you to be? David and Jonathan help us ask a different question. When combined with the story of Jonathan’s father, Saul, they give us reason to ask not about our place in life but about the condition of our hearts.

When Israel rejected the God who delivered them, they asked for the kind of king they saw ruling other nations. So God gave them Saul, a handsome man, head and shoulders above any other man in the land (1 Samuel 9:2). He seemed to be the ideal match for a nation that wanted to be led by men rather than God (8:1-5).

Saul’s successor, David, was also a good-looking man (17:42). But when the personal and family lives of Saul, Jonathan, and David are considered together, they show us that while man looks on the outward appearance, God looks at the heart. By trusting his eyes rather than the Lord, Saul became a bitter, violent man. David, though far from perfect, knew what it meant to trust the Lord. As a result, Jonathan learned that being loyal to David and trusting David’s God was far better than being next in line for the place of his father’s ruined life and throne. Mart DeHaan

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Read: James 2:1–13

Bible in a Year: Numbers 7–8; Mark 4:21–41

Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom.—James 2:12

When my children were squabbling and came to me to tattle on one another, I took each child aside separately to hear their account of the problem. Since both were guilty, at the end of our chat I asked them each what they felt would be an appropriate, fair consequence for their sibling’s actions. Both suggested swift punishment for the other. To their surprise, I instead gave them each the consequence they had intended for their sibling. Suddenly, each child lamented how “unfair” the sentence seemed now that it was visited upon them—despite having deemed it appropriate when it was intended for the other.

My kids had shown the kind of “judgment without mercy” that God warns against (James 2:13). James reminds us that instead of showing favoritism to the wealthy, or even to one’s self, God desires that we love others as we love ourselves (v. 8). Instead of using others for selfish gain, or disregarding anyone whose position doesn’t benefit us, James instructs us to act as people who know how much we’ve been given and forgiven—and to extend that mercy to others.

God has given generously of His mercy. In all our dealings with others, let’s remember the mercy He’s shown us and extend it to others. —Kirsten Holmberg

Lord, I’m grateful for the great mercy You’ve shown me. Help me to offer similar mercy to others as a measure of my gratitude to You.

God’s mercy prompts us to be merciful.

INSIGHT: Growing up under Roman oppression and the religious legalism of Israel’s rulers, James valued mercy and forgiveness, which was the fruit of his relationship with Christ.

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