“The Lord answered his people, “Behold, I will send you grain, new wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied with them; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.”

The justice of the Lord is slow to strike and His mercy is quick to bless. The people of God have turned and been forgiven and they know this because the Lord now promises to bless them. The Lord will remove the reproach of His people and renew their vigour before the nations. He will not require them to be constantly regaled and looked upon as pariahs, but rescue them from the blaming gaze of the ungodly nations around them. 

The gross sins of the people of God have been atoned for, and God is willing to forgive them all their moral debt and set them free to live and serve Him in great joy. He will pour in the oil and the wine of blessing and healing and give the grain of sustenance for the fainting hearts of the nation. 

This is the gracious answer of the Lord to a sinful and destitute people, who are His people, whom He loves. The Lord is kind to the unlovely and saves those who are in peril of death. He loves to be kind and to exercise His mercy and compassion to the broken hearted. The Israelites nation has severely tested His patience, and has tried His grace sorely, but repentance brings salvation and healing to the nation. It is the same for us also. We fall into sin and get caught up in persistent wrong-doing and cannot get free of it. It holds us like a vice and we are trapped in the sin of our hearts and minds. Only the mercy of the Lord can free us from the grip of sin and bring us to the state of repentance and faith. 

When we come to Him, we accept the remedy for our sin, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and the price He so willingly paid to set us free. The path of humility is the only way. There is no other Saviour and we can never save ourselves. We throw ourselves on the mercy of the Lord and we are safe to do so, for He will fully pardon us. 

“… let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

Isaiah 55:7

Only the death of Christ could satisfy the demand of God’s holy law and He has fulfilled all righteousness for our sake. Only God can deal with us and forgive us and satisfy our weary hearts and save our wretched souls. This is what He did for His people and He will do for us when we also repent and believe.