I Am The Lord

Isaiah 45:5-12, 18-24
English Standard Version (ESV)


5 I am the LORD, and there is no other,
besides me there is no God;
I equip you, though you do not know me,
6 that people may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is none besides me;
I am the LORD, and there is no other.
7 I form light and create darkness,
I make well-being and create calamity,
I am the LORD, who does all these things.
8 “Shower, O heavens, from above,
and let the clouds rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;
let the earth cause them both to sprout;
I the LORD have created it.
9 “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,
a pot among earthen pots!
Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
or ‘Your work has no handles’?
10 Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’”
11 Thus says the LORD,
the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:
“Ask me of things to come;
will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?
12 I made the earth
and created man on it;
it was my hand that stretched out the heavens,
and I commanded all their host.

¹⁸For thus says the LORD,
who created the heavens
   (he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
   (he established it;
he did not create it empty,
   he formed it to be inhabited!):
“I am the LORD, and there is no other.
¹⁹ I did not speak in secret,
   in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
   ‘Seek me in vain.’
I the LORD speak the truth;
   I declare what is right.

 ²⁰ “Assemble yourselves and come;
   draw near together,
   you survivors of the nations!
They have no knowledge
   who carry about their wooden idols,
and keep on praying to a god
   that cannot save.
²¹ Declare and present your case;
   let them take counsel together!
Who told this long ago?
   Who declared it of old?
Was it not I, the LORD?
   And there is no other god besides me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
   there is none besides me.

 ²² “Turn to me and be saved,
   all the ends of the earth!
   For I am God, and there is no other.
²³ By myself I have sworn;
   from my mouth has gone out in righteousness
   a word that shall not return:
‘To me every knee shall bow,
   every tongue shall swear allegiance.’

 ²⁴ “Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me,
   are righteousness and strength;
to him shall come and be ashamed
   all who were incensed against him.

Traveling Wilburys

"Handle with Care" is the first track from the Traveling Wilburys 1988 album, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1. Writing credits are shared by all five band members, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, and Bob Dylan.
What a line up of great musicians. 
Hearing this group made me think back to a John Piper blog post on Dylan with the song "Got To Serve Somebody" from the album Slow Train Coming one of my favorites albums.