O come, all ye faithful
Angels, from the realms of glory
Hail to the Lord's anointed
As with gladness men of old
Joy to the world
Hark, the glad sounds
Hail, the heaven born Prince of peace
You will say in that day:
“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
that you might comfort me.
2 “Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.”
3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day:
“Give thanks to the Lord,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.
5 “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known in all the earth.
6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
As a child our hearts get filled with excitement and joy. Big events in our lives do that.
This chapter in Isaiah is just that... Excitement. The chapters before this one talk about what is going to happen.... The shoot of Jesse.... Peace.. A child leading them... The promised Messiah. In that day this is what it will be like.
The Jewish folk tended to think in the here and now. Restoration to Israel. A good leader. Enemies scattered.
But Isaiah pointed the way to the differences in joy that would be presence.
- children playing deadly snakes with no fear
- prey and predator being together with no fear
This chapter is divided into two sections
A) to the individual who trusts in the Lord vv1-2
- Each person will give thanks
- Each person will trust him
- Each person will not be afraid
- Each person will see God's anger turned away from them
- Each person will receive God's comfort
- Each person will know that God is their salvation
- Each person will know that God is their strength and their song
- This will be the joy of each person
Fully aware that it is not our action that saves us, but God and God alone.
B) to the group vv3-6
- Will give thanks to the LORD
- Will make his deeds known
- Will proclaim that his name is exalted
- Will sing praises to the Lord
- Will shout and sing praises
- Will be filled with joy
- Will know that the Lord has done gloriously
- Will be an inhabitant of Zion
- Will draw water from the well of salvation.... Picture the need in the dry middle east for water.. This is a picture of the constant provision of the Lord.
- Will be an encouragement to each other as we speak of God's goodness.
God provides grace for us over and over and over again.