God longs to bless us! Isaiah 29-33

Isaiah 30:18 - God Is Gracious and Just Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him. This verse is such a wonderful statement of God's redeeming grace. If it were written alone, in a book by itself, it would be more than wonderful to behold and empowering to believe. It stands as a marker of God's character, mission and purspose toward us. However, the verse does not stand in solitary. It is planted in the midst of warnings and judgement and condemnation of Israel for her sins and her silence toward God. What makes these words about God so powerful is that they stand in contrast to the context in which they are written. Like a white mark on a black wall God's grace and love and forgiveness is painted agains the black, dark and rebellious sin of Israel. To find this verse in the midst of chapters 29-33 is like finding an osasis. Like a lilly pad in a stinky swamp we read about God's grace and His compassion. For the believer today it is 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." What a blessing to know that God, in the middle of pronoucing judgement demonstrates His love toward His people. If you read 30:18 you should be struck by God's love. If you read the verses before it and after you have to stand in amazement of who He is toward us and what we really deserve. We don't deserve His compassion. We don't deserve His blessing. Praise God for His character toward us.