Isaiah 12:1-6 Song of Salvation
4/29/01e D. Marion Clark
Introduction
It is delightful to come upon a hymn of unabashed praise to God. Isaiah has been presenting a vision of the day when God’s kingdom will usher forth. We’ve seen how Jesus in his first coming fulfilled the prophecy initially by bringing a spiritual kingdom. That day, in a sense, has arrived. It will be completely fulfilled at Christ’s second coming. This song of praise celebrates that day, which again includes both Christ’s first and second coming. This evening, let’s “sing” the song to celebrate our present salvation achieved by Jesus’ coming.
Psalm 32 provides an excellent “Call to Worship” for our hymn.
Blessed is he
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
2 Blessed is the man
whose sin the LORD does not count against him
and in whose spirit is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night
your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer. Selah
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the LORD”—
and you forgave
the guilt of my sin. Selah
6 Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you
while you may be found;
surely when the mighty waters rise,
they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you and watch over you.
9 Do not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you.
10 Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the LORD’s unfailing love
surrounds the man who trusts in him.
11 Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!
Let us heed that final command to rejoice in the LORD and sing his praise.
The Hymn
I begin with personal praise because God is reconciled with me.
“I will praise you, O LORD.
Although you were angry with me,
your anger has turned away
and you have comforted me.
My problem is not that I am not in tune with God, that I am deficient in my spirituality. Nor is my problem life’s troubles that make it difficult for me to experience God’s love. My problem is that God is justly angry with me for my sin. But the glorious gospel proclaims to me that though the Lord was angry with me, his anger has turned away. He comforts me with the very message of the gospel.
The gospel teaches that God himself is my salvation.
2 Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.”
“Behold,” as the King James translates it, God is my salvation. How? God the Father chose me and prepared the means of my salvation; God the Son carried out the work of my salvation by taking upon himself God’s righteous anger; that is why he is no longer angry with me. And God the Holy Spirit has applied that salvation to me. He has regenerated me; he has given me a new heart so that I might believe in Jesus Christ; he has given me faith.
Therefore I will trust and not be afraid. If God has done the work, then I need not fear losing his salvation. I have no one to fear. How can I now fear God, i.e. be afraid of his anger, when he himself has done the work to remove that anger. The LORD may be a scary god to the unredeemed, but he is a wonderfully comforting god to the redeemed.
Again, the LORD, the LORD, has done all the work. Therefore, he is my strength. It is not my own strength that achieves my salvation, nor do God and I work together. The sovereign LORD is my strength.
He is also my song, i.e. he is my glory, the one to whom I give praise. He is the theme of joyous songs, specifically my songs of redemption. Again and again God is praised for his saving work.
1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation (Psalm 95:1).
2 Sing to the LORD, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day (Psalm 96:2).
14 The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation (Psalm 118:14).
In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city;
God makes salvation
its walls and ramparts (26:1).
23 Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this;
shout aloud, O earth beneath.
Burst into song, you mountains,
you forests and all your trees,
for the LORD has redeemed Jacob,
he displays his glory in Israel (44:23).
Is there a more wonderful theme to sing than the salvation of our God? As a Christian it is to such wells that I return to again and again to be refreshed. As Isaiah attests:
3 With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.
Salvation, salvation, is what nourishes my soul and my spirit.
And it is a theme that we cannot keep to ourselves. We must make it known to the world.
4“Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done,
and proclaim that his name is exalted.
5 Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things;
let this be known to all the world.
We must thank and praise the LORD for his redemption before all the nations. We must call on his name, i.e. call on him to come and reveal himself, so that people of every nation might join in the wonderful song. Let them also know God’s glorious redemption that they might join in worship of him
John Piper is right about missions.
Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.
Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal in missions. It’s the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God’s glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. “The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!” (Psalm 97:1. “Let the peoples praise thee, O God; let all the peoples praise thee! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!” (Psalm 67:3-4).
Redemption both makes us able to worship and gives us our theme for worship. It is what makes the different peoples one people, for we are one in Christ Jesus.
So,
6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”
Interpret the “people of Zion” anyway you want. They may be the people of Israel and Judah in Isaiah’s day; they may be the Church of Christ; or they may be the redeemed nation of Israel of the future. It may be true of all three (if the third exists), but surely we all agree: great is the Holy One of Israel among us. The holy God who can tolerate no sin, took on sin upon himself as God the Son and dwells within sinful people through God the Spirit. This God now turns aside his just wrath and comforts his people who encompass the elect from all peoples. Truly we have reason to “shout aloud and sing for joy”!
Application
There is a simple application to make from this song, and that is we ought to sing! The words, “sing” and “song,” occur 335 times in Psalms and Isaiah, the great majority of which have to do with thanking and praising God. Singing ought to characterize God’s people. Indeed, we of all people ought to sing because we have the greatest reason to sing – the salvation of our God. Whether we have good voices or poor singing voices, we ought to feel compelled to sing.
Singing, even if only singing within our spirits, is an activity of praise and thanksgiving. It is also an activity to strengthen ourselves in the Lord.
7 You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah (Psalm 32:7)
Singing comforts us when we are troubled and gives us courage when we are afraid. It exhorts us when we would stray or become discouraged.
But then, and this is the second application, we must sing about God’s works. We are not as New Age or Eastern religionists who use songs as musical mantras to create a spiritual feeling. Our songs ought to do as Isaiah’s song – turn our focus on the greatness of God and his works, especially his work of redemption.
They ought to show that he alone is our strength, that he alone ought to receive glory. Their intent are not to “keep us singing a happy song” so we can have a positive attitude. Their intent are to ground into us the truths of God and his works that we might have the right attitude towards God and how he would have us to live. Our hymns and songs should teach us good doctrine and teach us right attitudes to have.
Let me explain what I mean. Here are two hymns from the same section in our hymnbook entitled “Grace, Mercy, and Forgiveness.”
“Thank God for the Promise of Spring” (110)
Though the skies be gray above me
And I can’t see the light of day,
There’s a ray breaking through the shadows,
And his smile can’t be far away.
Chorus:
Thank God for the promise of springtime,
Once again my heart will sing;
There’s a brand new day that is dawning,
Thank God for the promise of spring.
Though the earth seemed bleak and barren
And the seeds lay brown and dead,
Yet the promise of life throbbed within them,
And I knew spring was just ahead.
“Rock of Ages” (108) I use the version from the Trinity Hymnal, which I believe to be closer to the original words of the author. I don’t know how the abbreviated version came to be.
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee;
let the water and the blood, from thy riven side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure, cleanse me from its guilt and pow’r.
Not the labors of my hands can fulfil thy law’s demands;
could my zeal no respite know, could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone; thou must save, and thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress; helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the Fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.
While I draw this fleeting breath, when mine eyelids close in death,
when I soar to worlds unknown, see thee on thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee.
Do you see the difference? The first is a nice song that might make me feel good when I am feeling down; the second is a song that grounds me in the true hope of the Christian. Indeed, the first song could be sung by anyone; the latter would be offensive to anyone but a Christian.
But to us who believe, it speaks great truths to our hearts, great truths that convey real comfort, real peace and joy, that gives to God true praise. And such praise is what we are called to do.
