Roots and shoots
Peace at Last
Like a branch that sprouts
from a stump,
someone from David’s family will someday be king.
The Spirit of the LORD
will be with him
to give him understanding,
wisdom, and insight.
He will be powerful,
and he will know
and honour the LORD.
His greatest joy will be
to obey the LORD.
This king won’t judge
by appearances
or listen to rumours.
The poor and the needy
will be treated with fairness
and with justice.
His word will be law
everywhere in the land,
and criminals
will be put to death.
Honesty and fairness
will be his royal robes.
Leopards will lie down
with young goats,
and wolves will rest
with lambs.
Calves and lions
will eat together
and be cared for
by little children.
Cows and bears will share
the same pasture;
their young will rest
side by side.
Lions and oxen
will both eat straw.
Little children will play
near snake holes.
They will stick their hands
into dens of poisonous snakes
and never be hurt.
Nothing harmful will take place
on the LORD’s holy mountain.
Just as water fills the sea,
the land will be filled
with people
who know
and honour the LORD.
We had some ivy on our back fence. When we moved in it was a quite attractive covering and something to have in a difficult corner. But being ivy, it took over, and we have ever since been trying to get rid of it! You cut it back, think you’ve got all the roots, and still it manages to spring back to life from somewhere.
God has not forgotten us. The stump may look dead – but a new shoot will grow. Not a weed, not a nuisance – but strong new growth, new life. However hopeless the situation, God is still living in it. We might not see the growth today, but it will come.
The branch that shoots from this stump brings hope and restoration. Because the roots are of God, filled by his Spirit.
The effects will be there for all to see.
