April 15, 2011 (Isaiah 9-12, 2 Chronicles 27)

Interesting passage in today's reading. God is talking about His upcoming judgement on Jerusalem and He will use Assyria to accomplish it.

^{Isaiah 10:6} I am sending Assyria against a godless nation,
      against a people with whom I am angry.
   Assyria will plunder them,
      trampling them like dirt beneath its feet.
 ⁷ But the king of Assyria will not understand that he is my tool;
      his mind does not work that way.
   His plan is simply to destroy,
      to cut down nation after nation.
 ⁸ He will say,
      ‘Each of my princes will soon be a king.
 ⁹ We destroyed Calno just as we did Carchemish.
      Hamath fell before us as Arpad did.
      And we destroyed Samaria just as we did Damascus.
 ¹⁰ Yes, we have finished off many a kingdom
      whose gods were greater than those in Jerusalem and Samaria.
 ¹¹ So we will defeat Jerusalem and her gods,
      just as we destroyed Samaria with hers.’”

But after He does that, He will then turn on Assyria for their pride and lack of understanding that they were only a tool in God's hand.

^11:12 After the Lord has used the king of Assyria to accomplish his purposes on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, he will turn against the king of Assyria and punish him—for he is proud and arrogant. ¹³ He boasts,

   “By my own powerful arm I have done this.
      With my own shrewd wisdom I planned it.
   I have broken down the defenses of nations
      and carried off their treasures.
      I have knocked down their kings like a bull.
 ¹⁴ I have robbed their nests of riches
      and gathered up kingdoms as a farmer gathers eggs.
   No one can even flap a wing against me
      or utter a peep of protest.”

 ¹⁵ But can the ax boast greater power than the person who uses it?
      Is the saw greater than the person who saws?
   Can a rod strike unless a hand moves it?
      Can a wooden cane walk by itself?
 ¹⁶ Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
      will send a plague among Assyria’s proud troops,
      and a flaming fire will consume its glory.
 ¹⁷ The Lord, the Light of Israel, will be a fire;
      the Holy One will be a flame.
   He will devour the thorns and briers with fire,
      burning up the enemy in a single night.
 ¹⁸ The Lord will consume Assyria’s glory
      like a fire consumes a forest in a fruitful land;
      it will waste away like sick people in a plague.
 ¹⁹ Of all that glorious forest, only a few trees will survive—
      so few that a child could count them!

As I read that, I wondered how much different are we? If/when God uses us, do we take the credit, or do we turn right around and give the glory back to Him, knowing that without Him, we can do nothing.

And again we see that we are to praise Him - now and always:

 ^12:1 In that day you will sing:
      “I will praise you, O Lord!
   You were angry with me, but not any more.
      Now you comfort me.
 ² See, God has come to save me.
      I will trust in him and not be afraid.
   The Lord God is my strength and my song;
      he has given me victory.”

 ³ With joy you will drink deeply
      from the fountain of salvation!
 ⁴ In that wonderful day you will sing:
      “Thank the Lord! Praise his name!
   Tell the nations what he has done.
      Let them know how mighty he is!
 ⁵ Sing to the Lord, for he has done wonderful things.
      Make known his praise around the world.
 ⁶ Let all the people of Jerusalem^[a] shout his praise with joy!
      For great is the Holy One of Israel who lives among you.”