Isaiah 57:15 (NKJV)
God’s Word is Alive! It breathes life into those who sincerely search for help, truth, answers, meaning, purpose, righteousness, and above all God Himself. Sometimes just a simple Scripture will rejuvenate and refill me so that my heart leaps and soul bounds in worship. My countenance goes from heavy and dark to uplifted and bright. Today’s verse Isaiah 57:15 did it for me. I just sat and stared at this verse for the longest time thinking about it. God just continues to stun me.
In this verse, Isaiah tells us that God is the High and Lofty One. He is higher than the sky you and I see. He is above all earthly kings and kingdoms, presidents, nations, and authorities. Heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain God (1 Kings 8:27). He is exalted over all others – every Hollywood actor, every political leader, every person of the year, every billionaire, every sheik, every sports star, every war hero, or every royalty. Their fame does not compare. Our God is exalted above all people and things on earth, throughout the solar system, the entire galaxy, the universe, and beyond!
Isaiah’s next words just get me. God inhabits eternity. He lives forever. He always has been and always will be. His reign had no beginning. It extends from eternity to eternity. Time is God’s creation and He rules over it. Time does not constrain Him, rather He constrains time.
The Hebrew word for “inhabit” is shekan. It is the same word used in Exodus 25:8-9 where God tells Moses, "Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” God had the Israelites make a sanctuary or a tabernacle so that He could dwell among them or shekan among. Shekan means “the idea of lodging, to reside or permanently stay. Abide, continue, dwell, have habitation, inhabit, remain, lay, place, rest, set.” The verb shekan is derived from the noun form of the word “shekinah.” It means “the dwelling presence of God.” Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia says it is “the visible divine presence.” God is omnipresent, but this presence indicates the fullness and the richness of His presence.
God desired to have a place where He could dwell among His people. Even though sin had come between the Holy God and man, God still desired to be with man, His prized creation, and to fellowship with him once again. Hebrews 8:5 tells us that this sanctuary was a shadow of the real thing in heaven where He shekans for eternity. God’s dwelling place is for all time.
Even though God dwells in this high and holy place, He also dwells with those who have a contrite and lowly spirit. In other words, He dwells with those who bend their knee to Him in adoration and repentance. Isn’t it beautiful that the God who inhabits eternity, all time, is also the God who comes close to you and me when our spirits are low and our hearts are contrite? He dwells with those who have their spirits crushed, and He revives their spirits. He restores those who don’t know how they can keep going on. He gets us on our feet again. When we are fatigued, in trouble, or broken, He revives and puts the pieces of our lives back together again. Through grief, loss, pain, sorrow, wanderings, and disbelief, our God who inhabits eternity, whose Name is Holy, will dwell with us and revive us to live for Him again and throughout eternity!
I have had some things happen lately that have crushed my spirit, brought a sick feeling to my stomach, and left me with the feeling of defeat. I have felt overcome by the enemy for seasons in my life. But GOD – oh what precious words to nullify everything that seeks to destroy me – But GOD who dwells in the high and holy place further than the farthest stretches of my mind AND with me is a contrite and lowly spirit.
He spans every dimension from His throne in the highest holy place to my heart. He covers the full range from being so close that His Spirit indwells me, to taking care of everyone and every sparrow on earth, to controlling our galaxy, our universe, and beyond. He goes from being bigger than my mind can handle to giving me the right word that I really needed. He is a great big God, but yet He is close enough to me to feel my pain. Oh, precious one, does it not just grab you, too, that the God Most High, El Elyon, is so close to you when you need to be revived and when you humble yourself before Him?
Pray with me: Oh, God, You inhabit eternity! You are the Alpha and Omega. You are the beginning and the end. Time is in Your hands. You are the King of Ages. You are just so much bigger than we can imagine. You never cease to stretch my mind. You span from Your holy throne in heaven to my heart and everywhere in between. I worship You, my God Most High, the Holy and Lofty One! Revive us! Breathe life into us! REVIVE us! It’s in the Name above all names, in Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, we pray. Amen.
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