Isaiah

Isaiah 59: God’s own arm brings salvation

Begin in prayer

Before we hear why salvation seems far away, let us ask God to show us the truth about our sin. Pray that our family would stop blaming His power and turn to Jesus, the Redeemer we cannot provide for ourselves.

We have sinned with our fathers. We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly.

Psalm 106:6

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us the guilt that separates sinners from You. Teach us to trust Jesus and praise Your righteous power to save. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

God’s hand has not lost power to save, and His ear has not lost the ability to hear. The people’s sins have separated them from Him, as they shed innocent blood, speak lies and refuse justice. Their schemes are poisonous eggs and useless webs, and their crooked paths know neither justice nor peace. They confess their darkness, helplessness and rebellion while truth lies fallen and anyone leaving evil becomes a target. God sees the lack of justice and the absence of anyone able to intervene, so His own arm brings salvation. Clothed with righteousness, salvation, vengeance and zeal, He repays enemies until His name is feared across the earth. A Redeemer will come to Zion and those turning from disobedience, with a covenant promising His Spirit and Word through the generations.

As you read Isaiah 59, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God exposes the sins that separate people from Him and brings salvation by His own righteous power.

The opening denies that unanswered cries prove weakness or deafness in God. The separation comes from sins the following verses name, violence, lying, injustice and deliberate rebellion. Poisonous eggs show the harm their schemes produce, while spider webs cannot become clothing to cover their guilt. The confession changes from their sins to our sins, placing the speakers among those who need mercy. Fallen truth and threatened upright people show how injustice has shaped public life. With no human rescuer able to meet the need, God acts through His own strength and righteousness. His armor pictures a determined warrior who saves while repaying adversaries for their deeds. The Redeemer’s arrival and the promised Spirit and Word establish hope for those who turn from disobedience, not confidence in inherited religion.

How does Isaiah 59 show us that God exposes the sins that separate people from Him and brings salvation by His own righteous power?

God names the sin that stands between Him and His people.

Violence, lies and crooked justice explain their lack of peace. Their schemes harm others like poisonous eggs. The works they have woven cannot cover them like a garment.

God’s people must confess their own guilt.

They stumble in darkness while looking for justice and salvation. Their sins testify against them, and they know their rebellion. Truth has fallen in the street, leaving those who reject evil exposed to attack.

God alone supplies the saving strength His people lack.

His own arm brings salvation when no one can intervene. He clothes Himself as a warrior to repay His adversaries. His promised Redeemer brings hope to those turning from sin, and His covenant joins His Spirit with His enduring Word.

Memorise

A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from disobedience in Jacob,” says Yahweh.

Isaiah 59:20

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what sin am I refusing to confess while asking Jesus to hear my prayers?

God sees that no one can intervene, so “his own arm brought salvation.” The sins separating His people from Him cannot be overcome by a rescuer they appoint. He promises the Redeemer whom they need.

Paul uses this promise when speaking of the Deliverer who takes away sins (Romans 11 verses 25 to 27). Jesus’ own arms were stretched out for His people, and His death reconciled them to God. He rose, and their acceptance before God is fully secured by this righteous Redeemer, whose work sinful people cannot replace or improve.

Turn from disobedience and trust Jesus as your Redeemer. Forgiveness is the Redeemer’s gift to those who rely on Him. Confess the lies, injustice and violence you have tried to hide behind excuses. The Redeemer came to Zion for those who turn from their sin, and He saves them by His own arm.

Parent's note

Tell your children that separating sin exposes our need for the Redeemer God supplies. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that His own righteous power provides the Redeemer sinners need, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

But you go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Matthew 9:13

Righteous God, thank You for providing salvation that no human rescuer could accomplish. Please expose our excuses and bring us to trust Jesus for forgiveness. Lead us to confess our own sins honestly. Shape our family by Your Word and Spirit, and turn us from crooked ways into the peace of obedience. Amen.