Hope Lost and Found:
Insights on God’s Plan of Salvation, Revival and Restoration

Part 15 — Hope Rests in the Grace of God's Covenant Word and Spirit

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by Harvey L. Diamond

People often question whether or not God is able so deliver His people. Isaiah 59 starts off with God addressing this topic.

Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened,
That it cannot save;
Nor His ear heavy,
That it cannot hear.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will not hear.

From His perspective, the question is not if He can. It is a matter of why He won't, and when He will. In Psalm 75:2 He declares, "When I choose the proper time, I will judge uprightly." God waits for certain conditions.

For one thing, He waits for us to set our hearts on a course He defines as "broken and contrite." He looks for penitent and humble hearts desperate for His grace. He also looks for intercessors who will stand in the gap and tenaciously pray for others.    

No one calls for justice,
Nor does any plead for truth.
They trust in empty words and speak lies;
They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity....
Therefore justice is far from us,
Nor does righteousness overtake us;
We look for light, but there is darkness....
In transgressing and lying against the LORD,
And departing from our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
Justice is turned back,
And righteousness stands afar off;
For truth is fallen in the street,
And equity cannot enter.
So truth fails,
And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey....

In His mercy, He offers grace. His grace is found in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who has defeated the enemy of our soul. He, therefore, offers us the grace found in His new covenant, which is found in His Holy Spirit and the confession of His Word set in our hearts.

Then the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him
That there was no justice....
"The Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,
"Says the LORD.

"As for Me," says the LORD, "this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants' descendants," says the LORD, "from this time and forevermore."