“Ah, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add year to year; let the feasts run their round” (29:1). Isaiah prophesies concerning Ariel, or Jerusalem, where the people just go on and on doing all their religious things but without truly knowing God. The Lord declared, “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden” (29:13,14).
How stubborn were the people, how they added sin to sin (30:1). How desperate their situation, and they looked for help in all the wrong places, for instance, Egypt (30:2; 31:1). But it happens, again! The Lord shows his faithfulness and his love: “the Lord of hosts will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill. . . . the Lord of hosts will protect Jerusalem; he will protect and deliver it; he will spare and rescue it” (31:4,5). Two biblical texts jump out at me, here: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8) and “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-- by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4,5).
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary's mount out-poured–
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.
Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin! --Julia Johnston