P’s and Q’s : Isaiah 55

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. ‘Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance.’” (verses 1 & 2)

• What is the significance of the three metaphors used for knowing God & His Word?

• “Everyone who thirsts” – Thirst indicates an intense desire, but also an intense need. This is an invitation to those who, experiencing the dryness of the world, are looking for something more and are open to the salvation of God.
• “You who have no money…” – God’s offer is absolutely free. No amount of money, power, position, or prestige can purchase what God has to offer us.
• “Listen carefully…and eat” – Where do we listen to God? In His Word. The idea is, that by attending to God’s Word and by feeding upon its truth, men will find, without money or price, that which they were seeking on their own.

• What does it mean to “delight yourself in abundance?”

God offers an invitation for us to know Him. God is limitless and He causes us to overflow. We can never “feast” enough on God’s Word!

“Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, according to the faithful mercies shown to David. ‘Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, And a nation which knows you not will run to you, because of the Lord your God, even the Holy One of Israel; for He has glorified you.’” (verses 3-5)

• What is God’s message to the church? To you & to me?

God invites us to sit at his feet and listen. He tells us of His covenant which promises everlasting for all who listen and embrace His offer of salvation.

“Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” (verses 6 & 7)

• What is God saying to you personally in these verses?

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“F’or My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.’” (verses 8-11)

• What three things do you hear God saying about His Word (the Bible)?

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“For you will go out with joy and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. ‘Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up, and instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up, and it will be a memorial to the Lord, for an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.’” (verses 12 & 13)

• What is God’s promise in these verses?

These two verses paint a picture of the abundance God desires to give us, an abundance of peace and joy.

• How is your thirst for Jesus and His Word?

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• What is God asking you to do to quench your thirst?

To spend time in His Word and get to know Him.