The Servant Our LORD: Isaiah 61, 62(4)

Pray Psalm 48.1-3.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised
In the city of our God,
In His holy mountain.
Beautiful in elevation,
The joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion onthe sides of the north,
The city of the great King.
God is in her palaces;
He is known as her refuge.

Read Isaiah 61.10, 11.

Reflect.
1. Why does Isaiah rejoice in the Lord?

2. How does Isaiah encourage us to have confidence in the Word of the Lord? To what does He compare God’s faithfulness?

Meditate.
The Servant finishes His words in verse 9, and Isaiah responds. His response is one of joy – joy in the Lord and not in any circumstances. As the people of Judah and Jerusalem prepared to be taken captive in Babylon, Isaiah was showing them the way to joy that would sustain them: Keep your eyes on the promises of God!

Isaiah describes the promised salvation which the Servant will accomplish as being clothed with garments. We have heard it said that “Clothes make the man,” and when the clothes are the garments of salvation, that is really the truth. Forgiveness, a new heart, joy, hope, Kingdom-building work, righteousness, peace, love: These are the garments and adornments that accompany salvation, and we should put them on daily, and live as witnesses to Christ.

In verse 11, Isaiah does two things, both important for holding fast to the promises of God and His salvation. First, he says that the promises of God are as sure and certain as the growth of plants from a seed. And they’re very much like a growing plant as well. Righteousness and praise increase the longer we grow in the Lord. We can count on the Lord to fulfill His promise.

The second thing he does is connect the promises of God with a familiar sight – growing plants. Here Isaiah introduces a bit of creational theology, teaching the people of God to remember Him and His promises by contemplating the world of creation around them.

Isaiah’s response to God’s promised salvation is to rejoice in Him (worship), embrace His gift of salvation and all that goes with it (sanctification), and encourage His fellow believers to do the same (witness). We should do the same every day.

Prepare.
1. Do you practice these three responses every day? Can you give some examples?

2. What is “creational theology,” and why is it important that we make use of this?  

3. What steps do you take each day to “put on” the Lord’s salvation and all that goes with it?

Here the person of the church is introduced full of joy as it sounds forth, “May my soul rejoice in the Lord, for he has clothed me in a cloak of salvation and a tunic of rejoicing.” The tunic of rejoicing means our Lord Jesus Christ. … They who have him like a garment gain not only salvation but also happiness and many joys. Cyril of Alexandria (375-444 Ad), Commentary on Isaiah 5.5.61.10-11

Clothe me with joy and with the garments of salvation today, O Lord, and go with me as I…

Pray Psalm 48.
Claim the promises of this psalm for yourself and your church – beauty, joy, holiness, praise extending to the ends of the earth, joy in the Lord’s judgments, glory in His presence with us. What a glorious raft of promises the Lord has provided!

Sing to the Lord.
Psalm 48 (Cwm Rhondda: Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah)
Great is God, now greatly praise Him in the city of the Lord. 
Holy she, His lovely mountain, great and glorious by His Word! 
God her King is great within her, He, her Stronghold ever sure! 
He, her Stronghold ever sure! 

Earthly kings, amazed and wond’ring, look upon the Church with fear. 
See them flee in dread and anguish, knowing that the Lord is near. 
For the city of the Savior God will keep forevermore! 
God will keep forevermore! 

For Your grace and lovingkindness we proclaim Your matchless worth! 
As Your Name is, great and boundless, let Your praise fill all the earth. 
Let Your people sing rejoicing for the judgment of Your truth; 
for the judgment of Your truth. 

Walk about the blessèd city, see her beauty, see her power. 
Count her ramparts, filled with glory, look on ev’ry mighty tower. 
Tell her glory to the nations: God will guide her evermore; 
God will guide her evermore!

T. M. Moore

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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).