Good News!: Isaiah 51.1-52.12 (6)

Pray Psalm 93.1.
The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty;
The LORD is clothed,
He has girded Himself with strength.

Read Isaiah 52.7-12.

Reflect.
1. What is the good news, and what are its effects? 

2. What does receiving the good news require?

Meditate.
We are approaching the “high water mark” of the book of Isaiah. Facing years of captivity in Babylon, the people of Jerusalem and Judah are called to “wake up” to their sin, and repent, and to “wake up” to the Good News that God is preparing for them “in that day.”

What is the Good News? It is that “Your God reigns!” Not Nebuchadnezzar. Not even Cyrus. The Lord God reigns and this is Good News of peace, salvation, and abundant good things (v. 7). The Good News is not just that we’re going to heaven when we die. It is that God reigns, that His rule is coming on earth as it is in heaven, to bring righteousness, peace, and joy to the world (Is. 9.6, 7; Rom. 14.17, 18).

Watch for it (v. 8). Sing in glorious anticipation of it. Strain with the eye of the heart to see it, and encourage one another by the promises of the LORD (v. 9). Bask in the comfort such a glorious prospect affords, and wait with eager anticipation and prayer to see the LORD bare His Arm and bring His salvation to the ends of the earth (v. 10). This word is as truly spoken to believers today as to the people of Isaiah’s time.

But remember: Leave your wickedness and all uncleanness behind in Babylon, in the realm of darkness. Repent of all your sin; be cleansed throughout your soul; go out from the darkness into the light, and know as you do that the LORD leads your way and guards you from behind (vv. 11, 12). The Good News toward which you are moving includes a call to touch not the unclean thing, that you might be holy, as your Redeemer is holy.

But how? How can this be possible? How will such glorious Good News ever be accomplished?

Prepare.
1. How would you explain the Good News to an unbelieving friend? What does that Good News accomplish in us?

2. Why are the feet of those who bring this Good News described as “beautiful”? Do you have such beautiful feet?

3. Where do you need to increase in bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7.1)?

Here [Isaiah] says very particularly that it is the feet of those who publish the good news of Christ that are beautiful. For how could they not be beautiful, which in so small, so short a time have run over the whole earth and filled every place with the holy teaching about the Savior of the world? Eusebius of Caesarea (260-340 AD), Proof of the Gospel 3.1

Lord, help me to have beautiful feet and a tongue ready with the Good News as I…

Pray Psalm 93.
The Lord is reigning; His Kingdom has come. As you pray this psalm, meditate on the implications for us of the fact that “our God reigns!”

Sing to the Lord.
Psalm 93 (Trinity: Come, Thou Almighty King)
The Lord in majesty reigns, girded and clothed in strength! 
Earth stands secure: Nor shall it e’er be moved;
God on His throne above set it in place with love –
His reign is sure!

What, though the floods arise, raising their voice to the skies? 
Strong though they be, God on His mighty throne,
drowns out their fearsome drone, hasting to save His own, 
eternally.

Almighty God on high, Your Word can never lie! 
Your truth is sure – holy and just are they
who tread Your holy way; Yours shall they ever stay, 
Lord, evermore.

T. M. Moore

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Forward today’s lesson to some friends, and challenge them to study with you through this series on Isaiah. Each week’s lessons will be available as a free PDF download at the end of the week. Get a copy for yourself and send the link for the download to your friends. Plan to meet weekly to study Isaiah’s important message.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006).All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).