For thus says the high and exalted One
Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,
“I dwell on a high and holy place,
And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit
In order to revive the spirit of the lowly
And to revive the heart of the contrite,” (57:15).
How did they miss this? It wasn’t as though the Lord had hidden how they could find Him. And it wasn’t as though He kept them in the dark about what hindered them from coming into His Presence. And it wasn’t as though He didn’t provide the way to come. But as this chapter opens, He addresses their pride that had lapsed into the absence of understanding His mercy for all those who walk by faith.
The righteous man perishes, and no man takes it to heart;
And devout men are taken away, while no one understands.
For the righteous man is taken away from evil,
2 He enters into peace;
They rest in their beds,
Each one who walked in his upright way, (57:1-2).
Judgment was coming at the hands of the Babylonians; and those who had lived and died in faith would be spared, and they would be at rest in His presence and peace.
But despite His countless warnings and invitations, the religious leaders persisted in their most grievous defiance and rebellion against Holy God and His Holy Ways. And in their persistence, their vulgarity grew in their aggressive hunt to gratify self, mocking the commands of God in their wanton pursuit after the world; they exchanged the truth of God for the lies of idolatry, resorting to sorcery; they lifted themselves as high and lofty in their pride, removing themselves from the covering of God and exposing their naked shame for all to see; they never tired of prostituting themselves to gain the world; and never gave a thought to Holy God (57:3-11).
And God declares the futility and fate of placing hope in their powerless, man-made gods. And yet, even in this, He again offers His invitation to find refuge from judgment and abundant provision in the place Where He Dwells.
“I will declare your righteousness and your deeds,
But they will not profit you.
13 “When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you.
But the wind will carry all of them up,
And a breath will take them away.
But he who takes refuge in Me will inherit the land
And will possess My holy mountain,” (57:12-13).
Consider Where He Dwells
For thus says the high and exalted One
Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,
“I dwell on a high and holy place,
And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit
In order to revive the spirit of the lowly
And to revive the heart of the contrite,” (57:15).
In literary terms, this verse is considered a juxtaposition. “Juxtaposition occurs when two things are placed side by side for comparison, often to highlight the contrast between the elements; the extra emphasis given to a comparison when the contrasted objects are close together.” yourdictionary.com.
And the contrasts are unmistakable. He is so very high, we are so very low. He is exalted, we are base. He is holy, we are utterly sinful. And as unbelievable as it is, it is to the likes of us that He extends His offer to come to Him and dwell Where He Dwells.
In so many word, Psalm 113 repeats much of the same truths as Isaiah 57:15. (And oh, how we love repeats!) And we will once again see these same truths in Jesus Christ, Who is the Truth and the Only Way we can ever find our way to Where He Dwells.
The Lord is high above all nations;
His glory is above the heavens.
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
Who is enthroned on high,
6 Who humbles Himself to behold
The things that are in heaven and in the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust
And lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 To make them sit with princes,
With the princes of His people.
9 He makes the barren woman abide in the house
As a joyful mother of children.
Praise the Lord! (Psalm 113:4-9).
- He is the Eternal, Holy God Who Dwells on a High and Holy Place
- For thus says the high and exalted One
Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,
“I dwell on a high and holy place…” (57:15). - The Lord is high above all nations;
His glory is above the heavens. - 5 Who is like the Lord our God,
Who is enthroned on high, (Psalm 113:4-5).- For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens, (Hebrews 7:26).
- For thus says the high and exalted One
- He is the Eternal, Holy God Who Dwells with the contrite and lowly of spirit
- “…And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit…” (57:15).
- Who humbles Himself to behold
The things that are in heaven and in the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust
And lifts the needy from the ash heap, (Psalm 113:6-7).- And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance,” (Mark 2:16-17).
- Where He Dwells is the place Where He revives us in His image
- “…In order to revive the spirit of the lowly
And to revive the heart of the contrite,” (57:15). - To make them sit with princes,
With the princes of His people.
9 He makes the barren woman abide in the house
As a joyful mother of children.
Praise the Lord! (Psalm 113:8-9).- Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit, (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).
- “…In order to revive the spirit of the lowly
How do we respond to Where He Dwells?
His invitation to come and dwell with Him Where He Dwells is beyond belief. But there is preparation to be made.
And through His prophet, Isaiah, He calls us to make ourselves ready.
And it will be said,
“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
Remove every obstacle out of the way of My people,” (57:14).
But only God can remove every obstacle. Only God can lift us to His Presence; for He is High, we are so very low; He is Holy, we are completely unrighteous. And only the righteous can ascend to Where He Dwells.
Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
And who may stand in His holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood
And has not sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive a blessing from the Lord
And righteousness from the God of his salvation, (Psalm 24:3-5).
And if we look to ourselves, we are left without hope. But when we acknowledge we are sick in our sin and we need the healing only Jesus can give, He will bring us to Where He Dwells.
…“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance,” (Mark 2:16-17).
And as we consider His call through Isaiah, that we are to prepare the way, it will be helpful to consider His call in the original language.
And it will be said,
“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
Remove every obstacle out of the way of My people,” (57:14).
From Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance:
build up: 5549. סָלַל sālal: A verb meaning to build up, to lift up; to exalt. It means to hold someone or something in a position of a high or excessively high reputation or worth… a roadway for God’s people (Isa. 57:14).
prepare: 6437. פָּנָה pānāh: A verb meaning to turn… to turn toward… to turn from, away… to turn with the goal, intention of doing something… to take a specific direction… to turn, remove, or put something out of the way…
the way: 1870. דֶּרֶךְ Derek: A masculine noun meaning path, journey, way… this word is most often used metaphorically to refer to the pathways of one’s life…
remove: 7311. רוּם rûm: A verb… removing something, abolishing it
obstacle: 4383. מִכְשׁוֹל miḵšôl: A masculine noun meaning a stumbling block, an obstacle.
God calls us to build up the roadway to the place Where He Dwells by exalting Him and lifting His Name as the Only Name that is worthy. He calls us to prepare the way to Where He Dwells by intentionally turning away from our sin and turning to Him as our only desired goal, and to be earnest in removing any obstacle or stumbling block that might threaten to encroach upon our way of life in Him.
We will be made fit to answer His call as we draw near to Him in humble repentance, contrite and lowly of spirit, where He will lift us to Where He Dwells.
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you, (James 4:8-10).
This call to prepare the way and remove the obstacles in order to be enabled to make our way to Where He Dwells was repeated by John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ. So we know, we best pay attention!
Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight!'” (Matthew 3:1-3).
Jesus told us He is the door by which we are granted access to Where He Dwells.
So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture, (John 10:7-9).
He is High and Exalted, we are so very low. We prepare the way through contrite humility as we confess our sin and need for His healing; for we can only enter into Where He Dwells through faith in Jesus Christ.
“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way where I am going,” (John 14:1-4).
He is preparing our eternal Dwelling with Him in Heaven, but let us not be troubled by the difficulties of this life; for He told us how we can live here on earth in the place Where He Dwells. It is in that place of juxtaposition, where we, the contrite and lowly are placed side by side with Him the High and Exalted.
And when we live side by side with Him in faith, exalting Him and lifting His Name as worthy, intentionally turning away from our sin and turning to Him as our only desired goal, earnest in removing any obstacle or stumbling block that might threaten to encroach upon our way of life in Him, we will find ourselves revived in His image and prepared by Him to dwell Where He Dwells, today and tomorrow and forever.
Oh, may we never succumb to pride and lapse into the absence of understanding His mercy. Let us choose to daily walk in the fear of the Lord, that He would grow us in humility, faith and dependence on His mercy to lift us to Where He Dwells.
The fear of the Lord is the instruction for wisdom,
And before honor comes humility, (Proverbs 15:33).
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted,” (Luke 14:11).