‘And He Touched My Mouth’

‘And He Touched My Mouth’

So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.”

Isaiah 6:5-7

As we consider further the method by which God prepared Isaiah to do a work for Him, we come to consider the passage before us where Christ deals with Isaiah’s personal, spiritual life. When Isaiah received a clear sight of Christ, his response was, ‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.’ A clear sight of Christ has a humbling, convicting effect. Isaiah confessed what may have been his besetting sin. He does not elaborate, but we do clearly see that Isaiah was deeply convicted about his language, and confessed it freely. When Christ is preparing us to do a work for Him, He begins to change our life. When Isaiah confessed his sin, and even confessed the sin of the people in the midst of whom he dwelt, God changed his life. We find that next, ‘Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.”’ So, we may expect that Christ will do with us, when He prepares us to do a work for Him. He will deal with the things in our life that must change before we can be effective in His service. Christ dealt with Moses at the burning bush, with Jacob at Peniel, with Peter beside the sea of Tiberius, and with Saul on the Damascus road. Perhaps today, Christ is dealing with you in your personal life. Perhaps He, in showing you Christ clearly, is also beginning to address the things in your life which He must change before you can do His work effectively. He will make no mistakes with you.

Our Great and Gracious God,
we praise You, that You deal so thoroughly with our sins for Jesus’ sake.
We rejoice that You will conform us to His Image
and use us to accomplish Your Divine Purpose.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning