Isaiah 32:1-2,8,15

Isaiah 32 has three sections. The first describes a coming kingdom where good kings rule, the next prophesies hard times to come, and the last section describes the end of these hard times when ‘God pours his Spirit from above upon us.’ (Verse 15).

The quotations in this are from the New Century Version.

The message I took out from this chapter is about leadership. Whether we are student leaders, family leaders, nation leaders or friend leaders, we are all leaders of some sort. And we ought to be good leaders. The first section of this chapter has something to say on leadership.

‘A king will rule in a way that brings justice,
And leaders will make fair decisions.
Then each ruler will be like a shelter from the wind,
Like a safe place in a storm,
Like streams of water in a dry land,
Like a cool shadow from a large rock in a hot land.’ (Isaiah 32:1-2)

This is about kings of Israel (or Judah), but the same principles apply to us. The leader is given two tasks: to rule in a way that brings justice, and make fair decisions. Not to be partial. That is what it is saying. The primary focus of a king or ruler is to be fair. To give everyone the same chance. To judge only against truth. Now, in our situation, most of us don’t have to judge very much. In fact, our leadership positions in the most part aren’t positions where we make too many decisions on behalf of those we lead; at least not in the way a king would. But whether you are a parent, school captain, big brother or sister, or if you have little kids look up to you, you are leading people, and the decisions you make, regarding both them and yourself, influence them. Making decisions that are fair will have this effect:

‘Then each ruler will be like a shelter from the wind,
Like a safe place in a storm,
Like streams of water in a dry land,
Like a cool shadow from a large rock in a hot land.’ (Verse 2)

The people you lead will find that they are able to find solutions to problems, to find rest from hardships, in your shadow. Is that not what a good leader is?

‘But a good leader plans to do good,
And those good things make him a good leader.’ (Isaiah 32:8)

This verse wraps it up. As all being leaders of some variety, we should be trying to be good leaders. This verse tells us that good leaders plan to do good. We should be always desiring to do good, concerning ourselves and others! For indeed, it is not the strength of our will, our how powerful we are, or our intelligence or anything else that makes us a good leader: it is the good things we do. This is virtually saying: be a good person, and make decisions according to God’s will, and you will be a good leader. Leadership does not so much depend on our earthly qualities, but our reliance on God’s heavenly qualities. So as we go out today, to lead whosoever we may, let us make good decisions, let us do good things, so that we can become a source of consolation and strength for those people.