But this is the one to whom I will look, he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at My Word.
– Isaiah 66:2
Wow. Let that soak in. Memorize this verse. Let’s try to do that even right now, Isaiah 66:2, “But this is the one to whom I will look. But this is the one to whom I will look.” This is God saying, “This is the person I look to, I look with favor upon. This is what I’m looking for in the world.” What is God looking for in people in the world today? This is the one to whom I will look. He who is, and it’s two things.
Isaiah 66:2 teaches us God does not look to the proud.
The first, he who is humble and contrite in spirit. So a humble, contrite spirit. God does not look to the proud. He looks to the humble. He does not look to those who defend themselves, assert themselves, and live to advance themselves.
Those who are humble and contrite in spirit, broken in spirit before him. He who is humble and contrite in spirit, that’s the first thing, and trembles at my Word, that’s the second thing, he who trembles at my Word, who doesn’t just hear my Word and move on, who doesn’t just listen to my Word and check off a box for the day and move on, but who hears it with trembling, with fear, with awe, with reverence, with longing for obedience to it.
So this is the one to whom God looks according to Isaiah 66:2, “He who is,” What’s the first thing? “Humble and contrite in spirit,” And the second thing, “And trembles at my Word.” And just ask the question, “Is this a description of your life? Are you humble and contrite in spirit? And do you tremble at the Word of God?” Let’s just pray for these things in our lives.
God, we want your eyes, your face to fall upon us. Lord, we think about earlier chapters in Isaiah when you talked about speaking and no one answering, no one hearing, no one listening to you as you indicted your people for not being humble and contrite in spirit and not trembling at your Word. God, we pray for each of our lives.
Isaiah 66:2 encourages us to be humble and contrite in spirit.
God, I pray this over my life. I pray this over every single one of us who’s listening to this right now. God, help us to be humble and contrite in spirit. Please remove all pride from us. Rid us of our pride. We pray of all our desires to assert ourselves, advance ourselves to think that we know better than you what is best for our lives to live for our own names. God, we pray, remove all pride from us. We pray for humility and contrition of spirit.
God, we pray that that would be true of our lives. We would be humble and contrite, and that we would tremble at your Word. God, even now as we’re praying according to your Word, help us not just to go through a routine of hearing your Word and moving on with our lives like we just haven’t heard from you the almighty, all-sovereign, all-powerful, all-loving, all-wise, God who created us, our Judge and Savior and Redeemer, and Lord and King, we praise you for speaking to us. Thank you for your Word.
Oh God, help us to tremble at it. God, we pray, deliver us from casual approaches to your Word, from treating your Word lightly, and from hearing your Word and not doing it, not obeying it by your grace and by your power in us. Lord, we pray that you would make us people who tremble at your Word in our lives, our families, our friendships, our communities, our churches.
Prayer for the Kannada Brahmin People
God, help us to tremble at your Word, and God, we pray, Isaiah 66:2 over our lives today. May this be true of us. May your eyes fall upon us, we pray. Lord, even as we pray this, we pray that you would help us be faithful stewards of your Word, to share it, to spread it to others, particularly to people who’ve never heard it around us. God, help us to speak your Word to others around us today and to people around the world. Lord, we pray for the Kannada Brahmin people of India, half a million of them in this elite higher caste, people who have many priests who practice yoga and chanting and make offerings to different gods and worship Shiva, Vishnu, and Ganesha.
God, we pray that your Word would spread to them, that the gospel of Jesus would spread to them. They would tremble at it and receive it. God, we pray that you would give them humility and contrition of spirit when they hear your Word. God, we pray that you would raise up laborers with humility and contrition of spirit and trembling at your Word that take your Word to them, that the Kannada Brahmin people of India might be reached with your Word, tremble at your Word, and enjoy your favor, your salvation upon them. I pray all this according to your Word in Isaiah 66:2, in Jesus’ name, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
