Isaiah 15

I have been reading a book on Job, and it recently reminded me of something Elihu said to Job during his ordeal: “If you sin, how does that affect [God]? If your sins are many, what does that do to him? If you are righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive from your hand? Your wickedness only affects humans like yourself, and your righteousness only other people.” (Job 35:6-8)

In other words, Elihu was trying to argue that God couldn’t care less about what we do. And nothing could be further from the truth. God cares deeply about what we do! There was a little glimpse of that in today’s chapter: “My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the hill to Luhith, weeping as they go; on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction.” (vs 5)

The Moabites had long been enemies of Israel. You might remember that it was Balak, king of Moab, who tried to incite Balaam into cursing the Israelites, but God turned the blessing into a curse.

In the end, it turns out it was the Moabites who were cursed. Their idolatrous and prideful ways led them right to the place God had warned them about—a dead end. But once they were reaping the ugly harvest of the evil they had sown, we discover something remarkable about God: He doesn’t gloat. He is heartsick about what is happening to Moab. Even though they have opposed Him and His people time and time again, He laments their demise.

He could have said, “I told you so.” He could have said, “Na na na na boo boo.” Instead, He cried and said, “I’m so sorry!” Elihu was totally wrong about God. He does care about what we do, and for that reason, He doesn’t gloat when we find out that He was right and we were wrong. He doesn’t gloat when we reap the consequences of our poor choices.

Even when His enemies suffer, He hurts right along with them.

What a God.