“Thankful for God’s Provision” – Isaiah 55:1-5

Have you ever had or heard a meal prayer that thanks God for everything but the food? It’s somewhat embarrassing to remember after you’ve concluded the prayer to remember that the whole reason for the prayer was to thank God for the food. We may be serving our plates when we remember, but by then it’s too late. I suppose you could make an additional prayer specifically to address the omission, but most people simply say something to the effect of, “Oh, yeah. Thanks for the food.”

In this thanksgiving season, we have considered the need to thank God for sustaining us, for securing us and for delivering us. Maybe it’s time we thank God for the food. After all, Thanksgiving is a season of celebrating the harvest and God’s provision of that harvest.

In today’s passage, we consider God’s invitation to join Him in a meal that He alone can provide.

Background

When God called Isaiah to be a prophet, God told him, “Go and tell this people: ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed” (Isaiah 6:9-10). When Isaiah asked how long God wanted him to preach this sermon, God’s response was, “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, until the Lord has sent everyone away and the land is utterly forsaken” (Isaiah 6:11-12).

As a result, Isaiah’s messages were delivered as God inspired him, messages of the need to repent and turn from their wicked ways. The messages spoke of pending judgment and warning against going against God’s will.

That is, until Chapter 40. From this point to the end of the book, there are messages of hope and encouragement. The messages center around God’s patience and grace, of His mercy and intent to restore the wayward people of Israel. Chapter 40 begins with the words, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” What follows are messages of hope and reconciliation.

In today’s passage, the focus is on the day of salvation being today: “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near” (55:6). Towards that end, God extends an invitation to any and every one. It is an invitation to find food and drink enough to satisfy. More than satisfy, the meal promises to be delightful (v.2).

It doesn’t take long in reading the verses to realize that God is not speaking of a literal, physical meal, but one of spiritual dimensions and intent. It is God’s way of inviting us to find fellowship with Him.

Nonetheless, in reading these verses, we are reminded that all good things, including a good harvest, come from God. Because Israel was an agrarian society (as was most of the world for most of history), God used the rains so needed in an arid region of the world to reward and punish Israel, depending on their devotion to Him. The offering of the first fruits was a reminder to Israel that the bounty of their harvest is a gift from God.

Tradition tells us the first thanksgiving meal offered in the New World was given because the Pilgrims had survived a harsh winter and made it to the fall with a good harvest. (Never mind that a strong argument can be made that the first thanksgiving meal in the present-day United States was along the banks of the Rio Grande where the city of El Paso now stands.) The native people were instrumental in making the crop successful, showing the Pilgrims not only what native plants were edible, but also how to plant and tend the crops and how to harvest them.

This tradition carries on to our world today. Like most holy days, Thanksgiving is being overtaken by a day of NFL football and planning and plotting on how to survive Black Friday. That’s when Thanksgiving is considered at all. Many people jump from Halloween straight to Christmas, with Thanksgiving as an afterthought.

Rather than being an afterthought, though, we set aside this day, and this time of the year, to remember all that God has done for us, and to dedicate a specific day to give Him thanks. One of the ways we thank God is to enjoy a feast in His presence. ]

God offers a free feast to all people in these verses we look at today.

Central Truth: We thank God because He gives us our daily bread.

God provides for our:

1. Thirst (1)

“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money come,

Have you ever woken in the middle of the night with a mouth so dry that it’s almost difficult to swallow? If you sleep with allergies, or during cold season, it’s not unusual to sleep with one’s mouth open. As a result, the mouth dries out and the sleep is disturbed until a drink of water is provided.

Maybe you’ve been out in a field working hard under a summer sun. Such labor can work up a thirst. In such times, there is nothing quite like a nice tall, cool glass of sweet tea to quench that thirst.

In this verse, God invites anyone who is thirsty to quench that thirst with drink that He Himself provides. There is a commonality to God’s invitations. Every invitation from God or Jesus in the Bible is universal in its nature—it is open to everyone (cf. Matthew 11:28). The reason is that God’s desire is for everyone to come to salvation. His love is so full and real that God’s heart is for all to come to Him.

Yet, though the invitation is universal, it is only effective for those who respond. The response must be faith in Christ. He is the living water sent from the Father (cf. John 7:37-38). It is the water that is promised to those who thirst for righteousness, and it is the living water that gives eternal life to all who drink of it.

The cost of such water is free. This water is a gift from the One who knows how to give good gifts (cf. Luke 11:11-13; James 1:17). The living water is the free gift of God (cf. Ephesians 2:8-9).

God’s invitation is for anyone who is thirsty to come to Him, free of charge, and receive from Him the water that gives life and satisfies our thirst.

This is a cause for thanksgiving.

2. Hunger (2)

“Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.”

In John 6, Jesus fed the 5000. Afterward, He went to the other side of the lake to get away from the crowd. The crowd followed Him, though, and there asked Him to fill their stomachs again. When the crowd caught up to Jesus again, they asked Him what God required of them. Jesus’ response was that they should believe in “the One He has sent” (John 6:29). In response, the people asked for a miracle, a sign that Jesus was the One sent by God. They suggested that their forefathers had manna from heaven, a subtle suggestion that Jesus feed them again. Jesus then told them that He was the bread of life. Jesus told the crowd, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (John 6:32-34). He then said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35).

The bread that God offers here is the living Word that nourishes the soul and fills the spirit of each believer. The promise is that not only will the believer be fed, but he or she will delight in the meal and in the food received.

There are certain meals that are filling, but they are not satisfying. I took Kim, Laura and Mel to a local steak restaurant once. Laura ordered a chicken dish and Mel ordered a sirloin. I ordered a rib eye. We were eating our meal and enjoying our food, when we began to ask if we wanted to try a bite of each other’s dishes. All of us agreed the food was very good, but when Laura and Mel took a bit of the rib eye, their eyes lit up and they both exclaimed how good it was. There’s nothing wrong with a sirloin, but if you really want a good steak, get a rib eye.

God offers us even better than a rib eye. He offers to satisfy our hunger with a meal from His Word that nourishes and pleases the palate. Remember the response to the wine Jesus created at the wedding in Cana? They proclaimed it to the best wine available. That’s what God offers us—the best there is to have.

When we come to Jesus, we find nourishment and we find satisfaction. This is a cause for thanksgiving.

3. Salvation (3-5)

“Give ear and come to Me; hear Me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, My faithful love promised to David. See, I have made Him a witness to the people, a leader and commander of the peoples. Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know You will hasten to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for He has endowed You with splendor.”

Melissa had a thanksgiving meal with one of her friend’s and her family several years ago. When she got home, Mel told us that her friend’s family didn’t talk very much at meal time. She said the conversation was limited to things like, “The gravy is really good, Mom.”

That amazes me. I cannot imagine a family sitting around the table, enjoying food together, and not talking. It’s at the table that we relax and enjoy the time together. A meal with loved ones sharing and laughing makes the meal all that more special.

It is in that vein that God offers the last part of His providence. Having invited everyone to enjoy the free food and drink, He bids them to listen to His message and to find salvation for their souls.

God promises a new covenant, the covenant that God had planned from before the creation—a covenant relationship between God and those who become His children through the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. This covenant seals and finalizes the other previous covenants, those with Abraham and with Moses. The covenant God speaks of here is the promise made to David that his throne would be an eternal throne, with David’s descendant reigning forever.

Here, the chapter shifts from a calling to the people to a word with God’s promised Savior, a new king in the line of David. This new king is described as a witness to the people. That is, the testimony of this king will speak the Word of God directly to us, a message of faith and hope and love, fulfilled in the Word made flesh.

He is also a leader and a commander. As a leader and commander, He will gain victory of death and over Satan. He will extend that victory to all who believe in Him.

And He will be able to bring all nations to His throne and extend the promise of eternal life to all the world, or at least to those who hear the voice of God and receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

God’s provision ultimately leads to salvation to all who respond to His invitation and who listen to His voice. This salvation is the very heart of thanksgiving.

Conclusion

This week, many of us will either journey to other’s homes, or we will be hosting others coming to our homes. We will join together for a huge meal with different meats and side dishes. We will enjoy fellowshipping and catching up and sharing and laughing together. We’ll watch football and we’ll recall fond memories that continue to bind us to our past and to each other.

As we gather around the tables this Thursday, let us remember always that it is God that provides. He provides the food we eat, the means to purchase that food and the other blessings we enjoy in this nation in which we live. As we enjoy the bountiful blessings of God, let us remember to give Him thanks for His provision, His security and His