Isaiah 48:17-18 Thus said the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD your God which teaches you to profit… How beautiful and impressive are the "I am's" of God; so different from the proud and empty boastings clearly discernible in the "I am's" of man. We are never nearer to misleading others and deceiving ourselves, than when we utter sentences beginning with "I am." For, after all, what are we in ourselves that is worth mentioning? When we yield to the constraint of the Bible and conscience, and come to know something of our own hearts, we shall not dare to speak aloud to those about us; but, like Job, our words will be for God, and into His ears we shall whisper, "I am vile." Or, if beneath the influence of the blessed Spirit we come to realise that our nature is changed, then shall we temper our assertion with humility, and, like Paul, say, "By the grace of God, I am what I am." Only on God's lips has the declaration, "I am," its full meaning. This is God's great name. (W. J. Mayers.) Parallel Verses KJV: Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. |
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