What do you do when your problems overwhelm you? Do you rely on your own resources, trying to do the best you can, even though your best efforts seem hopeless? Or do you resign yourself to defeat, collapsing into depression or discouragement?

God’s Old Testament people tried both tactics. Seven hundred years before Christ, the Assyrian Empire conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and overran the southern kingdom of Judah. In their frenzy to protect themselves, some of the people of Jerusalem prepared for battle by gathering their weapons and armaments (verse 8). They tore down their own houses to get more wood and stones to shore up their city walls. And they made sure their water supply would be available during a long siege (verses 9 and 10). They did the best they could to fend off the powerful coalition of forces arrayed against them.

Of course, others took a different tack. Because they were convinced that they would soon be destroyed, they decided to have a big blowout of a barbeque. As the wine flowed freely, they proclaimed in their fear and despair, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die” (verse 13).

But God calls all of us to a better way. Instead of medicating our sorrows with food and drink, God calls us to a sober acknowledgment of the ways in which we have rebelled against Him (verse 12). And instead of relying on our own obviously insufficient resources, God insists that we can depend on Him, even when our problems seem to be impossible to solve. After all, there is nothing that exists that He did not create. And nothing that happens to us falls outside His sovereign plans (verse 11).

Yes, God’s Old Testament people had been blessed with prophets like Isaiah, who continually confronted them with their sin and urged them to repentance and faith in God. But instead of listening to God’s call and turning back to Him, they descended into a valley of vision, cutting themselves off from the only real source of life and light. Will we follow their example, which leads only to death (verse 14)? Or will we step out into the light of God’s truth and love, bowing before His sovereign majesty and receiving His gracious pardon?

Isaiah 22:1-14 (NASB)

The oracle concerning the valley of vision. What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops?
2 You who were full of noise, You boisterous town, you exultant city; Your slain were not slain with the sword, Nor did they die in battle.
3 All your rulers have fled together, And have been captured without the bow; All of you who were found were taken captive together, Though they had fled far away.
4 Therefore I say, “Turn your eyes away from me, Let me weep bitterly, Do not try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
5 For the Lord God of hosts has a day of panic, subjugation, and confusion In the valley of vision, A breaking down of walls And a crying to the mountain.
6 And Elam took up the quiver With the chariots, infantry, and horsemen; And Kir uncovered the shield.
7 Then your choicest valleys were full of chariots, And the horsemen took up fixed positions at the gate.
8 And He removed the defense of Judah. In that day you depended on the weapons of the house of the forest,
9 And you saw that the breaches In the wall of the city of David were many; And you collected the waters of the lower pool.
10 Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem, And you tore down houses to fortify the wall.
11 And you made a reservoir between the two walls For the waters of the old pool. But you did not depend on Him who made it, Nor did you take into consideration Him who planned it long ago.
12 Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts, called you to weeping, to wailing, To shaving the head, and to wearing sackcloth.
13 Instead, there is gaiety and gladness, Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, Eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”
14 But the LORD of hosts revealed Himself to me, “Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you Until you die,” says the Lord God of hosts.