Acceptable Worship (Isaiah 1, Isaiah 58, Amos 5, Micah 6)

 There are a couple of things that catch my attention in today’s scripture reading. Was there anything there that caught your attention? What words or phrases stood out to you?

Sodom and Gomorrah.

Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

The prophet begins with a bit of poetic name-calling. “You rulers of Sodom! You people of Gomorrah!” This is obviously not a compliment. 

Long ago, God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sin. By invoking those names, the prophet here is implying that the sins of the people in his own time are just as bad as the sins of those ancient cities.

But what was the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah? Many modern Christians believe that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was homosexuality. But that’s not what the Bible says.

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is found in Genesis 19. In the story, a man named Lot welcomed two travelers into his home.  These two travelers appeared to be immigrants on a journey, but really, they were angels in disguise.

Lot offered them hospitality and refuge; a safe place to spend the night. Showing hospitality like this to travelers and immigrants was a sacred duty; people of faith were obligated to provide protection to travelers and immigrants, because of the vulnerable situation they were in. Lot fulfilled his sacred duty by doing just that: offering hospitality and protection.

But others in Sodom didn’t look so kindly on foreigners and immigrants. They arrived at Lot’s house and demanded that Lot turn the men over to them, so they could attack and rape them. Lot refused, because he had promised the two men his hospitality and protection.

Now: would the crime of the city be any less if the two travelers were female? Would it be OK to attack and rape them if they were women instead of men? Of course not. So the story is not about homosexuality. It’s about the sacred duty to provide hospitality and protection to immigrants and other vulnerable persons.

To use the story of Sodom and Gomorrah as a weapon against homosexuality is to mis-use and abuse scripture, to pervert the meaning of God’s word so that the Bible appears to support one’s own prejudice and bigotry.

As if the story in Genesis 19 isn’t clear, Ezekiel 16 addresses the topic, and says:

This was the sin of Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.

In Genesis 19, the “poor and needy” happened to be these immigrants; these foreigners; these “angels in disguise.” So the sin of Sodom is specifically failing to show care and hospitality to immigrants and foreigners, and generally failing to show care and hospitality to anyone who was poor or vulnerable.

So when the prophet in Isaiah 1 mentions Sodom and Gomorrah, he’s making a comparison to those who neglected to show hospitality and provide protection to the poor and needy.

When Ezekiel talks about Sodom and Gomorrah, he doesn’t say anything about sex. When Isaiah talks about Sodom and Gomorrow, he doesn’t say anything about sex. 

What Isaiah talks about - and what all the other prophets talk about - is the sin of not caring for the poor, of not providing justice for the most vulnerable segments of the population.

“I hate your festivals.”

The next thing that catches my attention in Isaiah 1 is the declaration that God hates the religious festivals of the people. Worship is the people’s gift to God, but here, God rejects that gift. 

This is a startling declaration - as startling as being compared to the people of Sodom. The people offer God their sacrifices, they make their offerings to God, they observe the festivals and religious holidays - and now God says that God will not accept their sacrifices and offerings, and that God hates how they observe the festivals!?!

But that’s exactly what God is saying. None of their acts of worship are acceptable.

This isn’t the only place where God makes this declaration. 

God says the same thing in Isaiah 58, which - even though it’s the same book of the Bible - was likely written by a later prophet. There, in Isaiah 58, God says:

Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day, and oppress all your workers…Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high.

All your acts of worship, God says, are not acceptable; but then, God goes on to say what is acceptable. God says:

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loosen the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

That is worship that is acceptable to God.

Amos is another prophet who talks about worship that is - and is not - acceptable to God. In Amos 5, God says:

I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and grain-offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

No festivals, no offerings - not even songs of praise - are acceptable to God… unless there is justice and righteousness in the land.

Micah is another prophet who talks about these things. In Micah 6, the prophet is wondering what kind of worship he can offer, that would be acceptable to God. 

The prophet asks:

‘With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with tens of thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?’

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Worship must consist of justice, kindness, and humility, to be accepted by God.

“Your hands are full of blood.”

Here’s a third thing from Isaiah 1 that catches my attention: When God says to the people: “your hands are full of blood.”

This is poetic metaphor, but it’s a very vivid metaphor. We hear it read, and the image is there: hands covered in blood.

It’s the blood of the poor. It’s the blood of those who have been denied justice. It’s the blood of the vulnerable who have not been offered protection. It’s the blood of those who have been attacked, abused, and raped by a greedy society that cares more about income and profits than it does about people and human lives.

It’s the blood that covers our hands when corporations are given rights as persons, while actual people have their rights taken away from them.

It’s the blood that covers our hands when we care more about for-profit healthcare companies than we do about actually providing health care to those who need it.

It’s the blood that covers our hands when we neglect any public service that the poor depend on, from public schools to public transportation to food assistance, while subsidizing private schools and private transportation for the wealthy.

It’s the blood that covers our hands when we spend more on weapons of war than on tools for peace.

It’s the blood that covers our hands when we refuse to fund mental health care and refuse to regulate guns and then offer only thoughts and prayers every time there’s a mass shooting.

And when our hands are covered in blood, no act of worship will be acceptable to God. No songs of praise will lift God’s heart. No offerings or sacrifices will be pleasing to God. 

Washed Clean.

So how do we wash this blood from our hands? How do we make ourselves clean?

Through Isaiah, God tells us:

To wash yourselves, to make yourselves clean: remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.

Cease to do evil. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Rescue the oppressed. Defend the orphan. Plead for the widow.

In other words, do what is right for those who are vulnerable. Those in need of protection. Those who are suffering. Those who have been victimized by unjust legislation. 

Do what is right for those who have had their rights taken away.

Do what is right for those who have been attacked, abused, and raped - literally and figuratively.

Do what is right for the poor.

Do. What. Is. Right. 

Because the most important part of worship is what you do outside of worship.

Jesus said the most important commands are to love God and love one’s neighbor. That’s not something one does one hour a week. It’s something one does every day. It’s something one does with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength.

What all this means is that there are people who work for justice but who never attend a worship service, whose lives are more acceptable and more pleasing to God than many who do attend worship, but who neglect to work for justice in the world. 

And I find myself wanting to learn from people who spend their lives working for justice for the poor, doing their best to love them, even if they never go to church, because their lives seem closer to Jesus than the lives of many who do go to church every week. 

But it doesn’t have to be an either/or. We can sing God’s praises and we can offer to God our sacrifices and our offerings, and such things will be immensely pleasing and acceptable to God, because we have worked for justice. Because we have voted for justice. Because we have communicated with our elected leaders about justice. Because we have loved our neighbors.

That is the ideal we are called to pursue. It’s what Jesus did. He went to the temple, but he also worked for justice. What he learned in the temple inspired him to work for justice, and the work he did for justice shaped how he interpreted the scriptures and applied them to his life.

And if we are able to follow that path, the scripture says, then our light shall rise in the darkness. Our gloom shall be like the noonday. The Lord will guide us continually, and satisfy our needs in parched places, and make our bones strong; and we shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. Our ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; we shall raise up the foundations of many generations; we shall be called the repairers of the breach, the restorers of streets to live in.

Imagine a World With More Justice (Isaiah 58)

  Like many of you, I’ve been overwhelmed by the news of yet another mass shooting - this one, at an elementary school in Udalve, Texas, where a young man with an AR-15 rifle entered a fourth-grade classroom and killed 19 students and two teachers.

And I don’t really know that I can start my sermon today without acknowledging this - yet another sign of brokenness and sorrow and sin in our world. 

And I am angry at politicians who have done nothing to control and regulate guns in America. Regulation won’t prevent all mass shootings, but it will prevent most of them, and many innocent lives would be saved.

Instead, we’re left to mourn, yet again, another tragic loss of life.

This is not just. This is not right. Now, more than ever, we need to imagine a world with more justice.

Because there is no justice when innocent children are paying the price for our nation’s addiction to guns, and politicians’ addiction to the money the gun industry gives them. 

Primary responsibility for these acts of gun violence belongs to the shooters. But those who make it easy for shooters to acquire weapons - even assault weapons - without any sort of regulations or background checks are also guilty of committing violence against the innocent. 

My original plan this morning was to talk about poverty, and the lack of justice for those who are poor. And in fact, that issue is related to the issue of gun violence. 

Allowing gun violence to persist, and allowing poverty to persist, are both acts of violence committed against those who are innocent and vulnerable. 

The high level of gun violence, and the high level of poverty, in our country, are not inevitable. 

The high level of gun violence, and the high level of poverty, are the result of policy decisions.

The high level of gun violence, and the high level of poverty, are both offensive to God. And anyone who worships God, but who does not act to prevent such acts of violence, fails to offer to God a worship that is acceptable. 

That is precisely the point of today’s scripture reading.

In today’s reading, the prophet Isaiah has in mind those who go to worship, and who say all the right things, those who offer their thoughts and prayers… but who fail to do what is right.

Many of them are in positions of leadership. They’re the ones Jesus said like to pray on street corners with a loud voice, so that everyone can see how holy they are. And when they fast, or make any 

sort of religious sacrifice, they make a big show of it. 

God loves worship, but worship must be tied to justice. 

Without justice, without action, all our words, and all our acts of worship, are not only meaningless; they’re offensive to God.

In the book of Amos, God says: “I hate, I despise your [religious] festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and grain-offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon.

“Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

Emily Ewing, a pastor on twitter, paraphrased Amos like this:

"I hate, I despise your vigils, and I take no delight in your school shooter drills. Even though you offer me your thoughts and prayers, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your collection plates I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your lament; I will not listen to the melody of your tears. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."

When you pray to God, those prayers are

offensive to God if you do not work for justice in the world. When you give money to the church, that act of giving is offensive to God if you do not work for justice in the world. When the church uses the money that has been given, that use of money is offensive to God if the church is not working for justice in the world.

Both gun violence and poverty are acts of violence committed against the innocent. In order for our acts of worship to be acceptable to God, we must work to create a society where people are free from gun violence and free from the devastating effects of poverty.

The other day, I was listening to a story on NPR, about a company in Illinois called CHI that manufactures overhead garage doors. As reported by Allison Aubrey, what makes the company unique is that every employee has equity, a small ownership stake. And one day a few weeks ago, managers called all 800 employees into a meeting, where they were told that, thanks to their productivity, they were each getting a check. The exact amount varied based on seniority and salary, but all the checks had six figures, and the average was almost 200,000 dollars. 

According to the report, part of the reason productivity was high was because seven years ago, the company invited employees to have a say in how to make the company better. Employees made suggestions, and each year they voted on the suggestions, and the company spent one million dollars each year implementing their suggestions. 

Based on these suggestions, they’ve built an onsite cafeteria which sells affordable, healthy food, and they’ve added an onsite health clinic. The workers are healthier, happier, and productivity is up - and now they’re being rewarded for that.

And that is justice. Someone took the time to imagine a company with more justice, and this is the result.

And it really did require a lot of imagination, because this is not how most companies are. Most companies do not treat their employees well, do not value their employees opinions, and do not share profits with their employees. In most companies, the profits go to people who don’t even contribute to the company’s productivity - the shareholders. And so many workers - especially those supporting families - live in poverty, or are one emergency away from bankruptcy.

And as I thought about it, that model - where shareholders get rewarded instead of employees - is not a justice-oriented model. One group of people does all the work, but another group of people reaps the rewards. 

And it’s not very biblical. In the vision of a just world that the Bible presents, workers and laborers enjoy the fruit of their own labor. 

In the book of Micah, and 1 Kings, and Zechariah, the vision of people sitting under their own vines and their own fig trees is presented. And in Psalm 128, it talks about how, in a world of justice, people will eat the fruit of the labor of their hands, and shall be happy. 

Because the biblical prophets knew that to deny workers a just and living wage is an act of violence against them, as devastating to a just society as the proliferation of gun violence.

Yet in almost every big company today, the goal is to pay workers as little as possible, to maximize profits and reward the shareholders. The “fruit of the labor of their hands” is going to someone else.

Can we imagine a world with more justice?

The Poor People’s Campaign, that you may have heard about, is helping people imagine a world with more justice. Led by William Barber and Liz Theoharis, the Poor People’s Campaign is a revival of the original Poor People’s Campaign organized by Martin Luther King, Jr.

In a few weeks, on June 18th, the Poor People’s Campaign will welcome people from all across the country in Washington, D.C. for a “Moral March on Washington.” 

According to the Poor People’s Campaign website, they’re gathering “because any nation that ignores nearly half of its citizens is in a moral, economic and political crisis. There were 140 million people who were poor or one emergency away from economic ruin before the pandemic. Since March 2020 - while hundreds of thousands of people have died, millions are on the edge of hunger and eviction, and still without health care or living wages - billionaire wealth has grown by over $2 trillion.”

This is immoral and sinful.

Among those who will be marching will be our own General Minister and President, Terri Hord Owens, as well as many other leaders from our Disciples denomination. And they are encouraging all Disciples to attend the March on June 18.

Now, that’s a long way to go, and a short time to get there. If any one of you here today can go - great! For most of us, that’s not feasible.

But we can educate ourselves about the injustices of our world, especially where the poor and vulnerable are concerned. We can support companies that really do help create a world of justice. We can vote for politicians that also work for justice, especially as far as the poor are concerned. 

And we can imagine - really imagine - a world with more justice. A world free of gun violence. A world where the poor are treated with justice. A world where life is cherished and valued. 

The Fast God Chooses (Isaiah 58)

1. Hard to be Humble

Today we have, for our scripture, the 58th chapter of the book of Isaiah. This chapter presents in such concise form so much of what the Bible teaches, and of what Jesus teaches; that, in order for our worship to be pleasing to God, we must engage in acts of justice, acts of compassion, acts of love to those who are the least of these: the poor, the oppressed, the victimized.

In this passage, God directs the prophet to proclaim loudly to the people their rebellion, how they have strayed from the way of God, how they have turned their back on God’s teachings, God’s laws. 

The worst thing is, the people don’t even realize what they have done. They think all is well. They’ve convinced themselves they are doing what is right. 

They think they are worshiping faithfully, doing exactly what God wants them to do. They claim God’s favor. They delight to draw near to God. They bask in the assumption that God is on their side; and they are baffled that God hasn’t taken more notice of their “righteousness.”

They cry out, “Why do we fast, but you, O God, do not see? Why do we humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” They don’t even see the contradiction in their own words. They don’t even see what is so obvious, that humbling yourself in order to be noticed isn’t humbling yourself. 

We know that their blindness was common to other people in other times. Centuries later, Jesus had to deal with this exact same issue. People were making a spectacle of fasting, making a spectacle of public acts of prayer, making a spectacle of their humility. People would stand in conspicuous places in the city to pray just so others could see how humble they were and admire them for their humility. They would come right out and brag about how humble they were.

It was all for show.

And many people were fooled. 

But God wasn’t fooled.

And even today, in our own time, we have people doing the same thing. They are fooling the people with their pretend piety and their false displays of faith. They are making a show of faith. They are praying very public prayers, then going out and doing the exact opposite of what God so clearly demands. 

And too many are led astray. Too many are given a false idea of what it means to truly follow God, of what it means to truly worship God, of what it means to truly serve God.

As Isaiah says, on your fast day, on your day of worship, your day of prayer, all you are concerned about is what’s good for you. You make a show of praying to God, and then you go out and oppress God’s people. You make a show of praying to God, and then you exploit the poor. You make a show of praying to God, and then you do the exact opposite of what God requires.

You pray in public and you say, “look at how faithful we are! Look at how humble we are! There has never been anyone more humble than us! Look at our worship, at our service to the people.”

2. Look!

And this is when the prophet says, “Look.” 

I like it when the prophet uses that word, “Look,” which he actually says two times here in the New Revised Standard Version of Isaiah 58. It’s a word that people use a lot today, when they are about to drop some real truth on you. 

“Look.”

The word “look” also echoes the people’s demands that God look at them, look at how they are fasting, at how they are praying, look at how humble they are. And that’s their whole problem, isn’t it? They want everyone to be looking at them, including God, but the prophet says, “Stop trying to get everyone to look at you, and instead, LOOK AT GOD!”

“Look at God!”

“Do you even see God? Have you ever turned your attention away from your own selfish interests to direct your attention to God and what God wants? … the kind of worship, the kind of fasting, the kind of living that God demands?

“Look. This is the type of worship God demands. 

God demands that you loose the bonds of injustice, that you undo the thongs of the yoke, that you let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke. God demands that you share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, cover them, and do not separate yourself from your own brothers and sisters.”

But because you do not do these things, God says, I will NOT look at you. I will not bless your so-called acts of worship. I will not look favorably upon your prayers and your fasting.

3. Chorus of Prophets

What’s going on here in the 58th chapter of Isaiah is the same thing going on in the book of Amos. The people boast about how faithful they are, how humble they are, how dedicated they are to acts of prayers and worship… But God sees all the injustice committed by them, and God says to them: “I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and grain-offerings, I will not accept them; the offerings you make to me, I will not look upon. Even though you lift up very public prayers in my name, I will not listen.

“Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. Instead, let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

What’s going on in the book of Isaiah and the book of Amos is the same thing in the book of Micah. In fact, this was one of our readings last week, wasn't it? Someone comes before God, and offers God everything they can think of. “Here it is, God. Everything I can think of. Burnt offerings? Year-old calves? How about a thousand rams from my flock? How about ten thousand rivers of precious oils? How about my firstborn son? What? What do you want from me, God?”

And then the prophet replies, “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

What’s going on in the book of Isaiah and the book of Amos and the book of Micah is the same thing in the gospels. Some had come to Jesus, hoping to justify themselves before him. They had fasted, they had prayed, they had prominently worshiped God. But Jesus said to them, “I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.”

And they said, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” And Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. Yet this is what you should be doing. This is how you can serve me, honor me, worship me…”

God has no patience for people who are quick to raise holy hands in worship, but slow to extend a helping hand to their neighbors in need. God has no patience for people like that, and God's favor is not upon them.

And yet, many of our leaders in Washington who like to boast about their faith and pray in public continue their attacks on the poor. They are taking from the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, and the sick.

They’re cutting and eliminating welfare and food stamps and health care and so many services that the poor depend on. They’re doing this so that they can instead spend that money on themselves, on tax breaks for the wealthy, and on welfare for corporations instead of people.

4. American Pie

CBS This Morning recently did a segment in which they visualized all of America's wealth as a pie. And they asked people: If Americans were divided into five segments based on wealth, how much pie would each segment get, in order for it to be an accurate display of how wealth in America is distributed? 

They divided the pie into 10 slices. The wealthiest group of Americans got 9 of the 10 slices. 

The next wealthiest segment - the upper middle class - got most of the last remaining slice. 

The third wealthiest segment of the population - the middle class - got about one bite. 

The fourth segment - the lower middle class - got a crumb.

And the fifth segment - representing the poor - got no pie, but they did get the bill. That's right: the bill for the pie that the wealthiest are eating goes to them. 

That’s how our leaders have shaped the economic system to favor those who have 90% of the pie, while the poor - those with no pie - are being forced to pay more and more while services that might benefit them continue to be slashed.

So when the government says the economy is doing well, you have to ask yourself, who's it doing well for? The poor, and even the middle classes, are struggling. Only the super rich are enjoying the pie.

   This is immoral, and contrary to the will of God. It is the number one concern of the biblical prophets. Some religious leaders today are saying that the most offensive thing to God this past week was the Super Bowl halftime show, but the prophets would tell you otherwise. The prophets would tell you that the most offensive thing to God is how we treat the poor. 

So it doesn't matter how many times the president is photographed with his court priests praying over him. When our leaders neglect the poor, they are forsaking God's ways. They are acting in ways that are immoral, and contrary to the will of God.

5. A Light Breaks Forth

But do you know, there is a movement of people - a faith-based movement - that is paying attention to the word of God, and paying attention to what’s going on, and they are holding our leaders accountable for their sins just as the prophets held the leaders of their time accountable. 

The Poor People’s Campaign, led by Disciples pastor William Barber and Presbyterian pastor Liz Theoharris, is leading the way. The campaign is pushing to make poverty an issue of conversation leading up to this year’s elections, and is calling for greater discussion on issues related to poverty and justice among the presidential candidates.

This is why when William Barber speaks and when the Poor People’s Campaign acts, I pay attention.

Week of Compassion, which we are highlighting this month, is also working to bring justice to those who are poor and vulnerable. For those who don’t know, Week of Compassion is the name given to our church’s disaster relief and recovery ministry, and all month long, a portion of our offering is going to Week of Compassion. 

A story sent out by Week of Compassion describes how, more than twenty years ago, a group of young men were living in a refugee camp in southern Mexico. Their families were preparing to return to their home village in Guatemala, and these boys had the opportunity to go to school in Guatemala City. With support from Week of Compassion, they completed high school, and then university.

These young men made a commitment to give back, using their education not only to make a living but also to improve conditions for others. Now, more than twenty years later, some of them work as human rights attorneys; some provide agronomy services; and some are teachers. They serve in leadership roles in their village of Santa Maria Tzeja, where one of them is even in local government.

Recently, a group from Central Christian Church in Indianapolis traveled to Guatemala for a visit. Pastor Linda McCrae said, “I wish all Disciples could see the impact that these scholarships have made. One of the men, Emiliano, is the oldest of five children. When he finished his studies and began to work, he paid for the education of the next oldest brother. They continued that practice until all five had completed college.

In addition to supporting their siblings, this group of former students has contributed about $5,000 to educate eight other young people in the community who are not related to them.”

Now, two decades later, 50 members of this community are now going to college. As one of the men says to the Disciples of Christ church: “We are the fruit of the sacrifices that you have made.”

This is the kind of work that brings joy to God. Acts of justice. Helping the poor. Empowering the powerless.

This is why we do what we do.

The prophet says that when you engage in acts like these, through prayer, through financial support, and through hands-on participation, then “your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly. You shall call, and the Lord will answer.

“If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil; if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted; then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. 

“The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.”