"For thus says the High and Lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a broken and cast down spirit, to grant life to the spirit of the cast down, and to grant life to the heart of the broken ones." [Isa 57:15]

It seems natural to men, to desire to be around those who are like them. Whether that is poor, rich, athletic, smart – in this world, most desire to spend their time around those who are most like themselves. In the realm of wealth and fame, this seems especially true in most cases: those who enjoy such high and lofty pleasures of this life, are often high and lofty themselves, not wanting to step down into the lower depths of society as it were, and muddy their feet; rather, those who experience vast wealth and fame often reject those beneath them and accept those equal or higher.

But this is not what God is like. Take for instance the verse for today, where God declares,

“Thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a broken and cast down spirit.” [Isa 57:15a]

God Almighty who is “high as heaven,” [Job 11:8] and Jesus Christ, who is “made higher than the heavens,” [Heb 7:26] are above all; as David writes, “Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwells on high[?]” [Psa 113:5] But even though God is so high above all of us, yet He desires to dwell with us. He desires not to dwell with those who are exactly like Him; He does not desire an equal, or someone who enjoys such vast glory and riches as Himself; no, but our glorious and awesome God desires to dwell with those who are “of a broken and cast down spirit,” that is, those who are lowly and humble.

Praise God who desires not to dwell and interact with those just as Himself, for then He would never look to us; but we serve and love such a God who is very unlike men, “who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!” [Psa 113:6] With God there is hope for those who are cast down, those who are broken, those who are humiliated. These are the men and the women whom God delights in and desires to interact with; these are the ones to whom God looks, for they, knowing they are altogether unworthy and incapable, look not to themselves or another but to Jesus Christ. For it is in Jesus Christ alone that we find strength, hope, life, and forgiveness. So then it is to those who are broken in spirit and low who shall inherit God’s kingdom, for they seek it not through their own merit, but through Christ Jesus’; as He says, “blessed are the destitute in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” [Mt 5:3]