“Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone do we honor.” Isaiah 26:13 NIV
This chapter is actually part of a 4 chapter section of the book that Isaiah has devoted to the end times and what God’s judgement will be like. In this section of the chapter, verses 12-15, Isaiah has stated that many other rulers have been in charge of the Israelites’ lives over the years but the Lord alone is Who they will honor, not the other rulers.
The prophet Isaiah is saying that their confidence is in the Lord for their future, not the rulers who oppressed them over the many years. Isaiah has this confidence because everything they have ever accomplished that was good has come from God. While we have not been in captivity for any period of time by foreign rulers, we have experienced other ‘lords’ in our lives.
How many things in our lives have ruled over us that are not our Lord and Savior? We are a society that rewards people for being busy all the time and for not resting, so the idea of always moving and doing something can become a ruler over us. The idea of needing to have more money can become a ruler over us, demanding that we keep going because we never have enough. None of those ‘rulers’ will bring us prosperity according to the Lord, only He does that. Only when we decide to listen to Him and let Him rule over us will we be successful in moving to a path in our lives that is pleasing to God.
Who do we want to honor this day? God or whatever society has told us should be what we are obeying and honoring.