August 27, 2023: A Resting Place For God

"Thus says the Lord: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest?" (Isaiah 66:1, ESV)

Isaiah writes these words as part of a judgment, but he offers a way out of this problematic spot with God if we only respond well to Him. What God is looking for is a resting place. It is not that God is tired and wants to sleep. He is tired of Israel's wayward ways. He is tired of their sinful patterns. He is tired of not having the praises of His people to inhabit. The very people He has chosen to walk with are those found rejecting Him, which is wearisome. 
    
God makes a statement followed by a question. "I created the heavens and the earth. The heavens are my throne, and the earth my footstool. What could you possibly build for me that I would want to rest in it?" God is still asking us that question today. If you are the Creator, and He is, what could we, the created, build for God that would serve as a worthy resting place? God gives us the answer—“... But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word." (Isaiah 66:2, ESV)

God wants our hearts to be His resting place. And this is the kind of heart He is looking for—one that is humble and trembles at His Word.