October 14. God heals by humbling. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him. I will lead him

and restore comfort to him and his mourners, creating the fruit of lips, peace, peace to the far

into the near, says the Lord, and I will heal him. Isaiah 57, 18 and 19. In spite of the severity of

man's disease of rebellion and willfulness, God will heal. How will he heal? Isaiah 57, 15 says that

God dwells with the crushed and humble. Yet the people of Isaiah 57, 17 are not humble. They are

brazenly pursuing their own proud way. So what will healing be? It can only be one thing.

God will heal them by humbling them. He will cure the patient by crushing his pride.

If only the crushed and humble enjoy God's fellowship, Isaiah 57, 15, and if Israel's sickness is a proud

and willful rebellion, Isaiah 57, 17, and if God promises to heal them, Isaiah 57, 18, then his healing

must be humbling and his cure must be a crushed spirit. Isn't this Isaiah's way of prophesying

what Jeremiah called the new covenant and the gift of a new heart? He said,

Behold, the days are coming declares the Lord when I will make a new covenant with the house of

Israel. I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts and I will be their

God and they will be my people. Jeremiah 31, 31 and 33. Isaiah and Jeremiah both see a time coming

when a sick, disobedient, hard-hearted people will be supernaturally changed. Isaiah speaks of

healing. Jeremiah speaks of writing the law on their hearts and Ezekiel puts it like this,

I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you and I will remove the heart of

stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36, 26. So the healing of Isaiah 57,

18 is a major heart transplant. The old, hardened, proud, willful heart of stone is taken out

and a new, soft, tender heart is put in which is easily humbled and crushed by the memory of sin

and the sin that remains. This is a heart that the lofty one whose name is holy will dwell with forever.