“Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign Lord: I am bringing you back, but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name, on which you brought shame while you were scattered among the nations. 23 I will show how holy my great name is—the name on which you brought shame among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign Lord, then the nations will know that I am the Lord. 24 For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.25 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. 28 “And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago. You will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will cleanse you of your filthy behavior. I will give you good crops of grain, and I will send no more famines on the land. 30 I will give you great harvests from your fruit trees and fields, and never again will the surrounding nations be able to scoff at your land for its famines. 31 Then you will remember your past sins and despise yourselves for all the detestable things you did. 32 But remember, says the Sovereign Lord, I am not doing this because you deserve it. O my people of Israel, you should be utterly ashamed of all you have done!” Ezekiel 36:22-32
Sovereign Lord,
What a wonderful picture of a people returning to their homelands and receiving a new start with clean hearts and spirits and a desire to live godly lives. And Ezekiel was painting pictures with his words showing one day they could be fully cleansed. In reality the priests would sprinkle water mixed with the ashes of a red heifer on the people to (Numbers 19:17) restore ceremonial cleanliness. But they could never be wholly holy. And the leper after 7 days of no sign of the disease would have to wash his clothes and body so he could be pronounced clean of disease but not sin. (Leviticus 14;90)
But You Lord give them a clear sound warning. They are not children who are sorry and repentant and willing to be good . . . rather they have been caught and dragged before You, their God. Jeremiah tells us in 44:15-17 that the women tell him they will do whatever they want and burn incense to the queen of heaven. And the men knowing they were doing it!
You, God are not going to help them because they deserve it on the contrary they feel no shame. You are defending the honour of Your holy name (v22). Every time we break bread and drink. Everytime we see running water, everytime we breathe, everytime we awake to a new day. We remember we deserve nothing from You God but in Jesus You sprinkled our hearts clean making them tender and responsive. You washed us thoroughly inside and out. You filled us with Your Spirit so we would desire to live according to Your holy decrees. So we can honour Your Holy Name.
In Jesus name we pray, Aemn
Worship Monday 8th September 2025
A thousand generations falling down in worship
To sing the song of ages to the Lamb
And all who’ve gone before us and all who will believe
Will sing the song of ages to the Lamb
Your name is the highest
Your name is the greatest
Your name stands above them all
All thrones and dominions
All powers and positions
Your name stands above them all
And the angels cry holy
All creation cries holy
You are lifted high, holy
Holy forever
If you’ve been forgiven and if you’ve been redeemed
Sing the song forever to the Lamb
If you walk in freedom and if you bear His name
Sing the song forever to the Lamb
We’ll sing the song forever and amen
And the angels cry holy
All creation cries holy
You are lifted high, holy
Holy forever
Hear Your people sing holy
To the King of kings, holy
You will always be holy
Holy forever
Your name is the highest
Your name is the greatest
Your name stands above them all
All thrones and dominions
All powers and positions
Your name stands above them all
Jesus
Your name is the highest
Your name is the greatest
Your name stands above them all (oh, stands above)
All thrones and dominions
All powers and positions
Your name stands above them all
And the angels cry holy
All creation cries holy
You are lifted high, holy
Holy forever (we cry holy, holy, holy)
Hear Your people sing holy
To the King of kings , holy
You will always be holy
Holy forever
You will always be holy
Holy forever
Lyrics: Jason David Ingram, Brian Johnson, Chris Tomlin, Phil Wickham, Jenn Johnson