Exodus 14:14 KJV
The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
2 Samuel 22:33 KJV
God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.
Psalms 68:35 KJV
O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.
Psalms 73:26 KJV
My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
When I Lay My Isaac Down
Abraham prayed for the day
God would give him a son
Blessed Isaac was his name
The greatest gift he’d ever known
Then came the day, who would have dreamed
God would say “You gotta give him back to me
And on this mountain you will prove,
That it’s you and Isaac, or it’s me and you”
So when I lay my Isaac down
With a broken heart but my Fathers proud
And on this altar where he lays
Just to find it wasn’t him, God wanted me
Now most of us I’d dare to say
We've got an Isaac standing in God’s way
But it's on this altar you too can prove
That it’s not your Isaac that God wants
But He wants you
And when I lay my Isaac down
With a broken heart but my Fathers proud
And on this altar where he lays
Just to find it wasn’t him, God wanted me
And when I lay my Isaac down
With a broken heart but my Fathers proud
And on this altar where he lays
Just to find it wasn’t him, God wanted me
And on this altar where he lays
Just to find it wasn’t him, God wanted me
All to Jesus I surrender;
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust him,
In His presence daily live.
I surrender all,
I surrender all,
All to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
And when I lay my Isaac down
With a broken heart but my Fathers proud
And on this altar where he lays
Just to find it wasn’t him, God wanted me
And on this altar where he lays
Just to find it wasn’t him, God wanted me
I cannot imagine being Abraham or how he felt when God called on him to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. The Bible says nothing about Abraham's emotions, only of his obedience. God called and he answered, "here am I". God gave him instructions and he immediately began to pack for the journey to the mountains of Moriah. No questions. No arguments. Just obedience. Just faith. Just strength and power from God to do what He'd asked of him. Exodus tells us that God will fight for us, we must only hold our peace, be still, keep quiet, and let God work. Abraham did not have the faintest idea of what God was doing when He told him to offer his only son as a burnt offering but he held his peace because he knew God was fighting for him. And when Isaac questioned him about the missing sacrificial lamb on the way up the mountain, he simply said that God would provide. God gives His strength and His power to His people, and Abraham surely needed it in that moment. It took that God-given strength and power not to jerk Isaac up against him and run like mad down the mountain toward home. That is almost assuredly what Sarah would've done had she been in Abraham's place. It's what I'd have done, if I'd ever finished arguing with God about going in the first place. But Abraham didn't. They traveled on until they reached the top and then they built the alter. Abraham bound Isaac...and Isaac let him...more obedience, more faith, more strength, more power. Isaac could've run, he could've fought, he could've done everything in his will to try to escape his father when he realized that he was to be the sacrifice. But he didn't. He willingly let Abraham bind him and lay him on that alter. And as he laid there he watched Abraham raise the knife above his head. My flesh and heart would've failed in that moment, but not Abraham's. God's strength and power made Abraham's way perfect and just before he brought the knife down, the angel of the Lord called out to him, stopping him. The Bible doesn't tell of it, but I can just see Abraham's knees sagging with relief, I can see him cutting the binding on Isaac's body and hugging him tight, I can see him crying out to God with thanks for sparing his son and sending the ram.
Three times was Abraham called upon in Genesis 22, by God, by Isaac, by the angel. And each time he answered, "here am I." How do we answer when God calls upon us? Do we answer with obedience and faith? Do we answer with strength and power? Or do we answer in fear? I am guilty of answering in fear more often than not, that is if I'm not trying to hide from Him completely. But God may be calling on me to see if I'll lay my Isaac down, if I'm willing to surrender all to Him. Because if I'm not, if I've got an Isaac standing in my way, then I can never reach God's full potential for me. I'll never be given the full strength and power meant for me without my faith and obedience.
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