Read | Isaiah 8:11–22
For this is what the LORD said to me with great power, to keep me from going the way of this people:
Do not call everything a conspiracy
that these people say is a conspiracy.
Do not fear what they fear;
do not be terrified.
You are to regard only the LORD of Armies as holy.
Only he should be feared;
only he should be held in awe.
He will be a sanctuary;
but for the two houses of Israel,
he will be a stone to stumble over
and a rock to trip over,
and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Many will stumble over these;
they will fall and be broken;
they will be snared and captured.
Bind up the testimony.
Seal up the instruction among my disciples.
I will wait for the LORD,
who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob.
I will wait for him.Here I am with the children the LORD has given me to be signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of Armies who dwells on Mount Zion. When they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the spiritists who chirp and mutter,” shouldn’t a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? Go to God’s instruction and testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them.
They will wander through the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged, and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. They will look toward the earth and see only distress, darkness, and the gloom of affliction, and they will be driven into thick darkness.
Click here to listen to the Scripture in ESV.
Where have you been tempted to fear what everyone else fears, instead of setting the Lord apart as holy in your heart?
What voices, practices, or false sources of guidance have you turned to for security, clarity, or comfort instead of turning to God and his word?
Focus
Read this blog on the different kinds of sin we can and should confess.
As you read, use these categories to help name your sin honestly before God:
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Sins of commission — wrong things I have done.
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Sins of omission — good things I should have done but failed to do.
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Personal sins — sins of thought, desire, speech, attitude, and action.
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Corporate sins — sins I have participated in, benefited from, or stayed silent about in my family, church, workplace, or community.
Pray
Ask God to search you deeply and help you confess specific sins, not vague failures. Pray that he would show you sins of commission, omission, personal sin, and corporate sin.
Going Deeper
If you are also following the BibleProject’s One Story That Leads to Jesus reading plan, complete today’s reading.
