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Isaiah 24:16 "From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise, of glory to the Righteous One. But I say, 'I pine away, I pine away. Woe is me! For the treacherous deal treacherously, the treacherous deal very treacherously.'"

 

Isaiah hears the songs of praise that represent right worship of God, but those are juxtaposed against the wickedness of the world he is living in. Isaiah knows "[t]he earth lies polluted under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed its laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant" (Isaiah 24:5), and he knows that because of this "the Lord will lay waste the earth and make it desolate" (Isaiah 24:1).

 

The sudden change to hearing songs of praise in this otherwise desolate chapter of Isaiah is meant, I think, to remind us that the song will always go on, there will always be those who praise God, even when the world seems unredeemable. But as I read it this morning, I thought of the people who use hypocritical praise to cover their own treachery. I thought Isaiah is probably hearing some of those voices, as well, and finding it hard to know a deserved punishment is coming, yet still having to listen to songs of "praise" from people blind to their own sin. There are people who drown out God's warnings with parroted praise, while people who try to speak to them, like Isaiah, are left pining away in woe, knowing that the only thing that will possibly change their hearts is suffering and destruction. The treacherous continue to deal treacherously, seemingly without reprimand. As God allows them more time to repent, they often just sing their cover songs of praise louder, and feel emboldened to continue their treachery.

 

In our times, it seems most people don't bother with the show of praise, they just ignore God completely. At least those people are not being hypocritical, and if they don't know about God, there is room for evangelization and change of heart. The worse danger are those who are treacherous from within the Church. They loudly sing God's praises, but continue to justify their own sin; lead others astray; and/or profess harmful, false ideas, all the while drowning out anyone who might try to correct them with loud proclamations of virtue and judgment.

 

These treacherous ones cause great woe. They are damaging the Church. God will not allow His Church to be destroyed, and the true voices of praise we can hear, much like Isaiah did, are the faithful who will see the Church through. But the Church has to go through her passion in order to be cleansed of the treachery within. Meanwhile, destruction and chastisements for the earth seem not only assured, but to have already begun. These are not only meant to bring those far from God back to Him, they are also a part of the Church's passion, and will ultimately strengthen her, while silencing the hypocritical songs of praise once and for all.