Today’s Reading: Isaiah 55

For you shall go out in joy and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Isaiah 55:12

With your mind’s eye, see the hills bursting into song and the trees clapping their hands. 

I feel as though I see it all the time lately as autumn dawns on the Appalachians of western North Carolina. If l look beyond these mountain vistas, I see the opening scenes of The Sound of Music with the lyrics, “the hills are alive with the sound of music.” 

These beautiful, poetic, words in Isaiah come to a people weary and worn. They are in exile, and here in chapter 55, God promises them that their return will be joyous, easy, filled with awe and wonder. Nature will praise their return. This would be remarkable enough, but then consider they will cross a desert, the proverbial “wilderness” of scripture, to get there. In the desert, this barren wasteland, the hills and the trees will burst into praise. 

These words promise provision, and provision in abundance, in a dry and weary land. God makes such promises throughout scripture, as famously put by Jesus in the gospel of John when he says he came to bring “life and life abundant.” But when life lacks abundance, when we are in the dry and weary land, it can be challenging to see such abundance. Where are the trees clapping, the hills singing, for us? 

Consider that such provision for the ancients came after decades of exile. In the right time, God provided. While we may not know provision now, when it comes, God not only meets our needs but provides with abundance. For today, hope comes from knowing that there will be a future where “the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

Think
How has God provided abundantly for you today?

Pray
Use Lectio Divina with verse 12. 

Do
Give out of the abundance you identified to someone in your life today.

Think, Pray, Do. As we respond in faith to scripture, God moves in power through our minds, hearts, and bodies. We are the people of God. Thanks for reading today. Go in peace. Amen.

Think, Pray, Do devotionals by Ted Goshorn follow the suggested bible reading plan from his website and book, Prayer Changes Us. Find this Bible reading plan at tedgoshorn.org/biblereading. If you have found today’s devotion helpful, don’t forget to subscribe for daily emails at tedgoshorn.org and share with others that we may think, pray, and do faithfully.