Monday, September 7, 2020

You Can Have Joy Always



BIBLE MEDITATION


“Hide Thy face from my sins and blot out all mine iniquities….Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation.” Psalm 51:9, 12

 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT


Do you want to find out whether you’re backslidden or not? Let's take your spiritual temperature with the joy test. Do you have joy in your heart all the time? “Joy unspeakable and full of glory”—whatever may happen?


You say, “Pastor, no, I don't have joy that kind of joy. Nobody is supposed to be joyful all the time. I've had some tough times.”


I think you’re thinking about happiness, not joy.


True joy doesn’t depend upon your circumstances. Happiness depends on circumstances—what “happens” to you. We’re not talking about happiness. Joy, on the other hand, is an inside job. True joy shines best in tough times. You can radiate joy in spite of circumstances or what happens.


Did you know that the New Testament book that radiates the most joy—Philippians—was written by Paul from a Roman prison? He said (Philippians 4:4), “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice.” And you rejoice not in your circumstances but in the Lord.


ACTION POINT


Paul didn't say “be happy always.” He did say, “Rejoice always” (1 Thessalonians 5:16). You can’t be happy always, because your circumstances change. Joy comes from your relationship with Jesus. You can have joy all the time because you can have Jesus all the time. Remember, “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:1). Turn your eyes upon Jesus and away from your circumstances, and in Him you can “rejoice always.”



LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

God-Given Foes and God-Given Faith


Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ . . . not frightened in anything by your opponents. . . . For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake. (Philippians 1:27–29)


Paul told the Philippians that living worthy of the gospel of Christ meant fearlessness before enemies. Then he gave the logic of fearlessness.


The logic is this: God has given you two gifts, not just one — faith and suffering. That’s what verse 29 says. “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.” Granted to you to believe, and granted to you to suffer.


In this context that means: Both your faith in the face of suffering, and your suffering are gifts of God. When Paul says, don’t be frightened by your opponents, he had two reasons in his mind why they don’t need to be frightened:


One reason is that the opponents are in the hand of God. Their opposition is a gift from God. He governs it. That’s the first point of verse 29.


And the other reason not to be afraid is that your fearlessness, that is, your faith, is also in the hand of God. It too is a gift. That is the other point of verse 29.


So the logic of fearlessness in the face of adversity is this double truth: Both your adversity and your faith in the face of adversity are gifts of God.


Why is this called living “worthy of the gospel of Christ”? Because the gospel is the good news that Christ’s blood of the covenant infallibly obtained for all his people the sovereign working of God to give us faith and to govern our enemies — always for our eternal good. That’s what the gospel secured. Therefore, to live that way shows the power and goodness of the gospel.


Therefore, fear not. Your adversaries can do no more than God grants. And he will grant all the faith you need. These promises are blood-bought and sealed. They are gospel promises.



John Piper 

A Particular Love


And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. - Romans 8:27


29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. - Romans 8:29-30


but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. - 1 Thessalonians 2:4


9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 

10 "I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds."  - Jeremiah 17:9-10

September 7

14 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him.
15 And he said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."
17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves.
18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."
19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."
20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
21 But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table.
22 For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!"
23 And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this. - Luke 22:14-23

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. - Hebrews 4:12-16

17 Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich. 
18 The wicked is a ransom for the righteous, and the traitor for the upright. 
19 It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman. 
20 Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling, but a foolish man devours it. 
21 Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor. 
22 A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust. 
23 Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble. 
24 "Scoffer" is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride. 
25 The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. 
26 All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back. 
27 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more when he brings it with evil intent. 
28 A false witness will perish, but the word of a man who hears will endure. 
29 A wicked man puts on a bold face, but the upright gives thought to his ways. 
30 No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the LORD. 
31 The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the LORD.  - Proverbs 21:17-31

1 An oracle concerning Damascus. Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins. 
2 The cities of Aroer are deserted; they will be for flocks, which will lie down, and none will make them afraid. 
3 The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the children of Israel, declares the LORD of hosts. 
4 And in that day the glory of Jacob will be brought low, and the fat of his flesh will grow lean. 
5 And it shall be as when the reaper gathers standing grain and his arm harvests the ears, and as when one gleans the ears of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. 
6 Gleanings will be left in it, as when an olive tree is beaten- two or three berries in the top of the highest bough, four or five on the branches of a fruit tree, declares the LORD God of Israel. 
7 In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel.
8 He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the Asherim or the altars of incense.
9 In that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the wooded heights and the hilltops, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation.
10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; therefore, though you plant pleasant plants and sow the vine-branch of a stranger, 
11 though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and make them blossom in the morning that you sow, yet the harvest will flee away in a day of grief and incurable pain. 
12 Ah, the thunder of many peoples; they thunder like the thundering of the sea! Ah, the roar of nations; they roar like the roaring of mighty waters! 
13 The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm. 
14 At evening time, behold, terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us, and the lot of those who plunder us.  - Isaiah 17

1 Ah, land of whirring wings that is beyond the rivers of Cush, 
2 which sends ambassadors by the sea, in vessels of papyrus on the waters! Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide. 
3 All you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth, when a signal is raised on the mountains, look! When a trumpet is blown, hear! 
4 For thus the LORD said to me: "I will quietly look from my dwelling like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest." 
5 For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks, and the spreading branches he lops off and clears away. 
6 They shall all of them be left to the birds of prey of the mountains and to the beasts of the earth. And the birds of prey will summer on them, and all the beasts of the earth will winter on them. 
7 At that time tribute will be brought to the LORD of hosts from a people tall and smooth, from a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide, to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the LORD of hosts.  - Isaiah 18

1 An oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. 
2 And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, each against another and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom; 
3 and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their counsel; and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers, and the mediums and the necromancers; 
4 and I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master, and a fierce king will rule over them, declares the Lord GOD of hosts. 
5 And the waters of the sea will be dried up, and the river will be dry and parched, 
6 and its canals will become foul, and the branches of Egypt's Nile will diminish and dry up, reeds and rushes will rot away. 
7 There will be bare places by the Nile, on the brink of the Nile, and all that is sown by the Nile will be parched, will be driven away, and will be no more. 
8 The fishermen will mourn and lament, all who cast a hook in the Nile; and they will languish who spread nets on the water. 
9 The workers in combed flax will be in despair, and the weavers of white cotton. 
10 Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed, and all who work for pay will be grieved. 
11 The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish; the wisest counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel. How can you say to Pharaoh, "I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings"? 
12 Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you that they might know what the LORD of hosts has purposed against Egypt. 
13 The princes of Zoan have become fools, and the princes of Memphis are deluded; those who are the cornerstones of her tribes have made Egypt stagger. 
14 The LORD has mingled within her a spirit of confusion, and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit. 
15 And there will be nothing for Egypt that head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do. 
16 In that day the Egyptians will be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand that the LORD of hosts shakes over them.
17 And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose that the LORD of hosts has purposed against them.
18 In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction.
19 In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border.
20 It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them.
21 And the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the LORD and perform them.
22 And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the LORD, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.
23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
24 In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth,
25 whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance." - Isaiah 19

1 In the year that the commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought against it and captured it-
2 at that time the LORD spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, "Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet," and he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
3 Then the LORD said, "As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,
4 so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt.
5 Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast.
6 And the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, 'Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?'" - Isaiah 20

Sunday, September 6, 2020

Your Accuser Won't Stop

BIBLE MEDITATION


“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him.” Zechariah 3:1

 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT


Do you like people talking behind your back? You have someone who not only talks behind your back, he'll also accuse you to your face. He’s constantly accusing you before God, pointing the finger of accusation. His name is Satan. He’s your adversary.


The very word Satan means “adversary.” Here he stands before the Lord like a prosecuting attorney. Revelation 12:10 makes it clear: Satan is our accuser.


Listen to me. Satan is constantly accusing you. He wants you to sin, encourages you to sin, then he wants you to suffer the consequences. He points out your sin so you’ll get into the guilt trap. He rejoices in your suffering. Satan wants to cripple you, and then blame you for limping! That's what he does!


Warren Wiersbe said, “Before you sin, Satan whispers, ‘You can get away with it.’ And after you sin, he shouts, 'You'll never get away with it.’” That's just the way he does.


ACTION POINT


Every soldier will tell you: you have to know your enemy. Satan, your adversary, accuses you to drive you to despair. Know your adversary. But the Holy Spirit, your Comforter, convicts you in order to draw you to Jesus Christ, to forgiveness, freedom, and liberty. Recognize the difference.



LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Present and Powerful Love


Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? (Romans 8:35)


Notice three things in Romans 8:35.


1. Christ is loving us now.


A wife might say of her deceased husband: Nothing will separate me from his love. She might mean that the memory of his love will be sweet and powerful all her life. But that is not what Paul means here.


In Romans 8:34 it says plainly, “Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” The reason Paul can say that nothing will separate us from the love of Christ is because Christ is alive and is still loving us right now.


He is at the right hand of God and is therefore ruling for us. And he is interceding for us, which means he is seeing to it that his finished work of redemption does in fact save us hour by hour, and bring us safely to eternal joy. His love is not just a memory. It is a moment-by-moment action by the omnipotent, living Son of God, to bring us to everlasting joy.


2. This love of Christ is effective in protecting us from separation, and therefore is not a universal love for all, but a particular love for his people — that is, those who, according to Romans 8:28, love God and are called according to his purpose.


This is the love of Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” It is Christ’s love for the church, his bride. Christ has a love for all, and he has a special, saving, preserving love for his bride. You know you are part of that bride if you trust Christ. Anyone — no exceptions — anyone who trusts Christ can say, I am part of his bride, his church, his called and chosen ones, the ones who, according to Romans 8:35, are kept and protected forever no matter what.


3. This omnipotent, effective, protecting love does not spare us from calamities in this life, but brings us safely through them to everlasting joy with God.


Death will happen to us, but it will not separate us. So when Paul says in verse 35 that the “sword” will not separate us from the love of Christ, he means: even if we are killed, we are not separated from the love of Christ.


So the sum of the matter in verse 35 is this: Jesus Christ is right now mightily loving his people with omnipotent, moment-by-moment love that does not always rescue us from calamity but preserves us for everlasting joy in his presence even through suffering and death.



John Piper 


September 6

1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover.
2 And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people.
3 Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve.
4 He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them.
5 And they were glad, and agreed to give him money.
6 So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.
7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.
8 So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it."
9 They said to him, "Where will you have us prepare it?"
10 He said to them, "Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters
11 and tell the master of the house, 'The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?'
12 And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there."
13 And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. - Luke 22:1-13

1 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.
2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.
3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, "As I swore in my wrath, 'They shall not enter my rest,'" although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 
4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all his works."
5 And again in this passage he said, "They shall not enter my rest." 
6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience,
7 again he appoints a certain day, "Today," saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." 
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.
9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,
10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. - Hebrews 4:1-11

1 The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. 
2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart. 
3 To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. 
4 Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin. 
5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. 
6 The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death. 
7 The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, because they refuse to do what is just. 
8 The way of the guilty is crooked, but the conduct of the pure is upright. 
9 It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. 
10 The soul of the wicked desires evil; his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes. 
11 When a scoffer is punished, the simple becomes wise; when a wise man is instructed, he gains knowledge. 
12 The Righteous One observes the house of the wicked; he throws the wicked down to ruin. 
13 Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered. 
14 A gift in secret averts anger, and a concealed bribe, strong wrath. 
15 When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers. 
16 One who wanders from the way of good sense will rest in the assembly of the dead.  - Proverbs 21:1-16

1 For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob.
2 And the peoples will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them in the LORD's land as male and female slaves. They will take captive those who were their captors, and rule over those who oppressed them.
3 When the LORD has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve,
4 you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: "How the oppressor has ceased, the insolent fury ceased! 
5 The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers, 
6 that struck the peoples in wrath with unceasing blows, that ruled the nations in anger with unrelenting persecution. 
7 The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing. 
8 The cypresses rejoice at you, the cedars of Lebanon, saying, 'Since you were laid low, no woodcutter comes up against us.' 
9 Sheol beneath is stirred up to meet you when you come; it rouses the shades to greet you, all who were leaders of the earth; it raises from their thrones all who were kings of the nations. 
10 All of them will answer and say to you: 'You too have become as weak as we! You have become like us!' 
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, the sound of your harps; maggots are laid as a bed beneath you, and worms are your covers. 
12 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! 
13 You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; 
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' 
15 But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit. 
16 Those who see you will stare at you and ponder over you: 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, 
17 who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who did not let his prisoners go home?' 
18 All the kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb; 
19 but you are cast out, away from your grave, like a loathed branch, clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a dead body trampled underfoot. 
20 You will not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land, you have slain your people. "May the offspring of evildoers nevermore be named! 
21 Prepare slaughter for his sons because of the guilt of their fathers, lest they rise and possess the earth, and fill the face of the world with cities." 
22 "I will rise up against them," declares the LORD of hosts, "and will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, descendants and posterity," declares the LORD.
23 "And I will make it a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction," declares the LORD of hosts.
24 The LORD of hosts has sworn: "As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand, 
25 that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains trample him underfoot; and his yoke shall depart from them, and his burden from their shoulder." 
26 This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. 
27 For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back? 
28 In the year that King Ahaz died came this oracle:
29 Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you, that the rod that struck you is broken, for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder, and its fruit will be a flying fiery serpent. 
30 And the firstborn of the poor will graze, and the needy lie down in safety; but I will kill your root with famine, and your remnant it will slay. 
31 Wail, O gate; cry out, O city; melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you! For smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks. 
32 What will one answer the messengers of the nation? "The LORD has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge."  - Isaiah 14

1 An oracle concerning Moab. Because Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night, Moab is undone; because Kir of Moab is laid waste in a night, Moab is undone. 
2 He has gone up to the temple, and to Dibon, to the high places to weep; over Nebo and over Medeba Moab wails. On every head is baldness; every beard is shorn; 
3 in the streets they wear sackcloth; on the housetops and in the squares everyone wails and melts in tears. 
4 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out; their voice is heard as far as Jahaz; therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud; his soul trembles. 
5 My heart cries out for Moab; her fugitives flee to Zoar, to Eglath-shelishiyah. For at the ascent of Luhith they go up weeping; on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of destruction; 
6 the waters of Nimrim are a desolation; the grass is withered, the vegetation fails, the greenery is no more. 
7 Therefore the abundance they have gained and what they have laid up they carry away over the Brook of the Willows. 
8 For a cry has gone around the land of Moab; her wailing reaches to Eglaim; her wailing reaches to Beer-elim. 
9 For the waters of Dibon are full of blood; for I will bring upon Dibon even more, a lion for those of Moab who escape, for the remnant of the land.  - Isaiah 15

1 Send the lamb to the ruler of the land, from Sela, by way of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Zion. 
2 Like fleeing birds, like a scattered nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon. 
3 "Give counsel; grant justice; make your shade like night at the height of noon; shelter the outcasts; do not reveal the fugitive; 
4 let the outcasts of Moab sojourn among you; be a shelter to them from the destroyer. When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land, 
5 then a throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it will sit in faithfulness in the tent of David one who judges and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness." 
6 We have heard of the pride of Moab- how proud he is!- of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence; in his idle boasting he is not right. 
7 Therefore let Moab wail for Moab, let everyone wail. Mourn, utterly stricken, for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth. 
8 For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah; the lords of the nations have struck down its branches, which reached to Jazer and strayed to the desert; its shoots spread abroad and passed over the sea. 
9 Therefore I weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah; I drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; for over your summer fruit and your harvest the shout has ceased. 
10 And joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field, and in the vineyards no songs are sung, no cheers are raised; no treader treads out wine in the presses; I have put an end to the shouting. 
11 Therefore my inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab, and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth. 
12 And when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail.
13 This is the word that the LORD spoke concerning Moab in the past.
14 But now the LORD has spoken, saying, "In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all his great multitude, and those who remain will be very few and feeble." - Isaiah 16