(REFLECTIONS ON Hosea 14:1-9)

9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; Whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous will walk in them, but transgressors will stumble in them.

The words of Hosea are to serve as God’s wisdom for those that understand and discern His heart leading them back to the Lord in alignment with His path of righteousness.

What are then the things that we are to take away from Hosea, especially highlighted in this last chapter? We should hear a call to return to the Lord. Return to the Lord implies that we have gone astray, that we are again not aligned with God’s path of righteousness.

Also, if we listen carefully to the words of Hosea, we are to return to the Lord, not with anything specific in our hands, but rather with words in our mouth. In today’s Scripture we read,

2 Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips.”

We are to come back to the Lord, return to Him, align ourselves again with His righteousness in repentance, with words in our mouth confessing our sins, saying “Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously so that we can glorify you with clean lips.”

We are then reminded that no one else can save us or help us. For Israel it was Assyria, Egypt, other nations and other gods, what is it for us? What other gods have we placed where God should be in our lives?

May we come to the Lord, return to the Lord, confess our shortcomings with our lips, so that we can glorify His name with clean lips. The Lord is our healer, and as He promised in today’s Scripture, so that is our promise today that if we confess our sins, He will heal us.

He will heal us, we will be rooted in Him and blossom, take root, be beautiful and fragrant, and from our lives will come fruit, blessing, and the glory of the Lord in this dark and broken world. So, let us return to the Lord, with words of confession in our mouths, so that we can glorify Him with all we say and all we do.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Hosea 14