I will not be confounded

"For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed" Isaiah 50:7.

Are you thankful for the many folks you meet in life who put their hand to the plow and never look back. In a sense Isaiah expresses this same attitude in this verse. Contextually it is considered by commentators to be part of a Messianic prophecy concerning Christ, but I also find an application for all who steadfastly follow Christ. Let us consider four phrases with each building on the preceding:

  

1) "For the Lord God will help me." Have you accepted this truth in your life? Are you living with the peace that such knowledge brings? The underlying Hebrew word for "help" has a root meaning which is "to surround, i.e. protect or aid."  A foundational assurance we have as God's children is that of His constant help and care. Psalm 121:1 states, "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth."

2) "Therefore shall I not be confounded." "Confound" is a word rarely used in our vocabulary today. It's an old word that means to become confused or perplexed. It has an underlying meaning of being wounded and other versions translate it insulted, disgraced, ashamed. There's a lot about life that can be confounding and as we face a new year this is a powerful proclamation

3) "Therefore have I set my face like a flint." What a proclamation of determination based on the preceding two truths! There are far too many weak-kneed, wavering, wimpy professing followers of Christ. The word "flint" conveys hardness. Jesus demonstrated this in a passage Luke records, "As the time approached for Him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem" (9:51).  Though the "people there did not welcome Him" and He had "no place to lay His head" He was resolute in doing the complete will of His Father. He never looked back to His pre-incarnate state but "for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising its shame..." (Hebrews 12:2). Likewise, we too must set our affection and sights beyond our present difficulty to the eternal joys of heaven if we are to remain firm and stay the course.

4) "I know that I shall not be ashamed." Now that's a faith statement. Notice the confident assurance Isaiah expresses in the words, "I know". He indicates that this attitude is not only for the present (I am) but for the future (I shall not be), no matter the circumstances. An interesting word study is the various uses of the word "ashamed" in Paul's letters:

• "For I am not ashamed of the gospel" (Romans 1:16).

• "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed" (Philippians 1:20).

• "So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord" (2 Timothy 1:8).

• "A worker who does not need to be ashamed" (2 Timothy 2:15).

Today, I encourage you as we enter the second full week of 2016 that the Lord God will help you; therefore you will not be confounded, as you set your face like a flint, you will not be ashamed. 

A Guilt Trip

Be not angry with yourselves for selling me.  Genesis 45:5 

Imagine the guilt that the brothers must have felt as they stood before their brother Joseph. But Joseph said: "Be not angry with yourselves or God did send me before you to preserve life" Genesis 45:5. Why do we guilt trip others? Because we've forgotten the grace we ourselves received when we didn't have a leg to stand on.

Our forgiveness is worthless unless it makes it possible

for others to forgive themselves. Self-forgiveness was Paul's hurdle! Listen: "I wasted the church" Gal. 1: 13). After imprisoning and beheading Christians he now preaches to them. And who's in the audience? The widows! The orphans!

The ancient Persians punished murderers by strapping the victim to their back. It dragged them down, identified them with their past, the smell of it drove others away and eventually it robbed them of their very life. Was this what Paul had in mind when he said: "Who will rescue me from this body of death?" Romans 7:24  Nothings heavier than guilt It will: 

(1) Drag you down and turn living into merely existing; 

(2) Cause you to leave a bad taste wherever you go. Even your friends will become exhausted and say, "Get over it;" 

(3) Destroy every new relationship you've got. Who wants a person having an affair with a corpse? You would only be using the new to numb the pain of the old; 

(4) Shorten your life because you aren't built to carry it. Cut it loose! Cry if you need to, but when the grieving is over bury it and move on. And that is what real forgiveness does for others!