Isaiah 10

ScriptureIsaiah 10:12b-13a“I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes. ¹³ For he says:“‘By the strength of my hand I have done this,and by my wisdom, because I have understanding.Observation - What does it say?God utters a prophetic word of destruction against the king of Assyria. And the reason for the coming destruction and punishment is the king’s pride. The king had accomplished much and had grown in power, but rather than giving glory to God he took all the credit for himself.Understanding - What does it mean?God refuses to share his glory and desires that all men give credit where credit is due.I’m not sure if anyone else has seen them, but I’ve come across some lumberjack competitions on ESPN where guys will compete in various timed events, cutting logs with chain saws, others with hand saws, and others with axes. When they crown the winner, they don’t put the chain saw or hand saw or ax on the podium. They don’t present the tools awards or trophies. Rather, all the credit and awards go the man who used them.Verse 15 likens the king to an ax. Although the ax accomplished much, it was only due to the power and wisdom of the one swinging it. The king, like the ax, was merely a tool in God’s hand and powerless to accomplish anything without him. And no human being is different. Each is only able to accomplish what God, by his grace, allows.Life ApplicationGive God all the glory! He deserves it!When I have shared my testimony with some people, they try to give me the credit and say something like, “Wow, you must have just finally decided that you wanted to change,” or “That’s great you worked so hard and improved your life,” or “Good for you, you were determined and broke free of your addictions.” But the truth is that any desire to change, any strength to work hard and any determination to be different all came from God to begin with. God deserves all the glory for anything good that’s come from my life.God, thank you for what you’ve done in my life. I humble myself before you and don’t want to entertain the thought for one second that I have accomplished anything good on my own. I don’t want to fall into the same trap as the king of Assyria. I praise you and recognize that you have been the source of anything good in my life. Thank you! Amen.