Prayers from Amos

Amos 7:1-9

 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. ² When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”

³ So the Lord relented.

“This will not happen,” the Lord said.

⁴ This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land. ⁵ Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”

⁶ So the Lord relented.

“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.

⁷ This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb,^[a] with a plumb line^[b] in his hand. ⁸ And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?”

“A plumb line,” I replied.

Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.

⁹ “The high places of Isaac will be destroyed
    and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined;
    with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.”

We begin with two visions given to Amos of the total destruction that God is capable of bringing on His people for their sin but He won’t do it. Slow to anger, rich in mercy. The third vision is of a wall built straight with a plumb line. A plumb line acts as a measure for that which is straight and that which is crooked and needs restoring. The plumb line does not bring destruction but it shows up the difference. God is going to give His people a plumb line, His word, His Son. There can be no more excuses, no more doing as one pleases as part of God’s people. Jesus talks about the straight and narrow path and the wide crooked path. The straight path takes deliberate action and intentionality, we may not feel we travel so far, it may feel restrictive but ultimately it keeps us walking with God. He is not being vindictively restrictive. He knows what is best for us, He holds a bigger picture than we do.

Let’s walk by His plumb line. Let’s trust His ways and enjoy the freedom that plumb line ultimately gives us.

Father may each of us have receptive hearts and minds to Your plumb line and rejoice in it and be thankful that You have given us that and not the locusts and fire that can bring total destruction. In Jesus name we pray.