Woe is Me
The sight of the Holy, exalted, enthroned Lord causes Isaiah to cry out in despair, “Woe is me…” Backing up to Isaiah chapter five we discover that this isn’t Isaiah’s first use of the word “woe.” But the way it is used is distinctly different. In chapter five Isaiah’s woe’s were directed toward others. “Woe to those…” was his catchphrase there (verses 8, 11, 18, 20, 21, and 22 twice).
When Isaiah sees the Lord, his woe is no longer “to those,” but “is me.” This is not to say that anything Isaiah had said about the sins of others was inaccurate or unfair. He was speaking as a prophet of God, under the divine authority of the Spirit. What it does say is that we, like Isaiah, have to be cautious about only pointing the finger at the sins of others. We must, as Jesus said, pull the plank out of our own eye before working on our brother’s splinters.
The best remedy for incautious self-righteousness is a clear-eyed vision of God’s holiness. When we see the Lord for who He is, we can see ourselves for who we are. There is nothing wrong with a solid, “Woe to those,” as long as it is accompanied by a strong, “Woe to me.”
Thank you , a good reminder.