Look!

"Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else." (Isaiah 45: 22 KJV)

Salvation is in a look of faith. Men naturally look to many things, other than Lord God, for their source of deliverance, and safety, and hope for the future. They do not naturally look to God, to their Creator and Governor. Rather, they either look to themselves, or to some other creature.

No one will be saved who has not looked to the Lord for deliverance from sin and damnation, and for forgiveness and pardon. Isaiah knew this, and so did all believers under the Old Covenant (testament). The Psalmist knew this too, for he said, in words similar to Isaiah - "Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always." (Psalm 105: 4 NIV)

From one perspective, "looking" is the easiest thing in the world to do, without really "doing" anything! Men are not saved because they work and sweat spiritually in good works, but because they have "looked" and continue to "look" by faith to the Lord and his Christ.

On the other hand, "looking" can be the hardest thing in the world!

"Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see!" (Isaiah 42: 18 NIV)

Why does the Lord call upon the blind to look and to see? Why does he call upon the deaf to hear? Is he not calling upon men to do what they cannot do? Is this mockery?

The reason is 1) so that the spiritually blind and deaf sinner will be brought to confess to God his inability to do what the Lord commands, and 2) so that the spiritually blind and deaf will be further led to seek ability outside of themselves, yea, from the Lord himself.

This command to look will be successfully heeded to salvation when the blind and deaf seek ability to see and hear from the Lord, and not from themselves or from some other creature.

"These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time." (Psalm 104: 27 & 145: 15 NIV)

So depraved and spiritually stubborn and hard-headed is sinful man, so spiritually blind and deaf, that he is worst than the animals, for these all, according to the Psalmist, "look to" their Creator to provide for them, but the sinner does not!

"As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy." (Psalm 123: 2 NIV)

How do employees "look to" their employers? How do servants and slaves "look to" their masters? How do subjects "look to" their kings and queens? How do beggars "look to" the hands of others? How do animals "look to" divine providence? How do citizens today "look to" their governments? How do patients "look to" their physicians? Is it not a look of dependence? A look of desire? A look whereby one "gives attention to" to something?

Sinful men do not see the evil of their behavior in this regard! They are so quick to "look to" man, and to creatures, and to themselves, and are so reluctant "to look" to their God and Creator, and to the Lord Jesus Christ!

"Your choicest valleys are full of chariots, and horsemen are posted at the city gates; the defenses of Judah are stripped away. And you looked in that day to the weapons in the Palace of the Forest; you saw that the City of David had many breaches in its defenses; you stored up water in the Lower Pool. You counted the buildings in Jerusalem and tore down houses to strengthen the wall. You built a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the Old Pool, but you did not look to the One who made it, or have regard for the One who planned it long ago." (Isaiah 22: 7-11 NIV)

Picture the situation with Israel as described by the Lord through the prophet Isaiah! Israel is being invaded and attacked by a foreign army! Already the enemy has "breached" the wall of the "City of David," and already their "defenses" were "stripped away"! So, what do they do in their desperate plight?

Yes, they do not surrender, but what do they do for their protection and survival from siege? They "stored up water" and "built a reservoir"! They also "strengthened the wall" and "looked to" their remaining armaments.

Obviously they were "trusting in" and "looking to" creatures and created things, and to their own ability to improvise, fight, and survive, rather than to the Lord their God!

Obviously too they were thinking that because their city had the title "City of David" that this insured them against any defeat!

But, the sad story is, they "looked to" the water, but not to the One who gives water! They "looked to" their own hands but not to the One who gave them hands! They "looked to" their armaments, but not to their God! How foolish! How tragic!

"But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you." (Psalm 39: 7 NIV)

Such a question could have been uttered by those in Israel's situation, as described by Isaiah. Will they keep looking to things rather than to God? Will they quit looking to their own strengths, and to their own wisdom, and to their own skills? When will they "look to" God and to him alone?

"Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD." (Isaiah 31: 1 NIV)

Again, how often do men look in all the wrong places for salvation! Notice how "relying upon" and "seeking help from" is what it means to "look to."

"I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God." (Psalm 69: 2, 3 NIV)

What a "fitting metaphor" for the situation of cursed and sinful man! He is like one who is sinking in quicksand and has nothing upon which to stand or which to grab! He is also like one who is drowning and without a life-line! He is like men in these situations who cry out for a rescuer and yet none are around to hear their cries for help! A picture of desperation indeed!

The sinking one! Crying till he becomes hoarse and cannot any longer cry for help! Now, he is even in worse shape! Now he is sinking and cannot even cry for help! They cannot even see any longer!

They have so long "looked for" a rescuer, that they have not only lost voice, but sight too! Now, the man is still sinking, but he has lost voice to cry out for a rescuer, and has lost vision to even see anyone coming! But, praise God, this is when the Lord, the true and only rescuer of the souls of men, "comes to rescue"!

When Peter had sunk in the water, to the point of drowning, is precisely when the Lord Jesus, walking on the water, lowered his arm to uplift Peter from his desperate situation!

"All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; I looked for him but did not find him." (Song of Solomon 3: 1 NIV)

Even Christians, those who have truly in faith "looked to" the Lord and to his salvation as provided in Christ, sometimes "lose sight of" the Lord, and they feel as if he has departed from them, and they will begin to look afresh for him, and sometimes they will fail in their search, but before long they do find him again!

Recall how Mary and Joseph both "lost sight of" Jesus when he was twelve years old and had to go and look for him, and did not find him till three days later!

"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD : Look to the rock from which you were cut and (look) to the quarry from which you were hewn; look to Abraham, your father, and (look) to Sarah, who gave you birth. When I called him he was but one, and I blessed him and made him many." (Isaiah 51: 1-3 NIV)

"In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles and the incense altars their fingers have made." (Isaiah 17: 7, 8 NIV)

"My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the nations. The islands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm." (Isaiah 51: 5 NIV)

"I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles." (Psalm 34: 4-6 NIV)

Oh friend, will you look to the Lord Jesus Christ? Will you call upon him for strength to do so? For eyes to see? For ears to hear?