You Have Tasted That The Lord Is Good

YOU HAVE TASTED THAT THE LORD IS GOOD

ISAIAH 66:10—14 JULY 27, 2003

ISAIAH 66:10-14

10"Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her.

11For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance."

12For this is what the LORD says: "I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees.

13As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem."

14When you see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass;

the hand of the LORD will be made known to his servants, but his fury will be shown to his foes.

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Dearest Fellow-Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:

What is your favorite food? Each one of us might have different kinds of food that we like more than others because they taste better to us. Each one of us has different and individual tastes. We cannot and do not know what our favorite food is until we at least taste it. The Lord reminds us today in 1 Peter(and in our text) that we have tasted that the Lord is good. Peter writes in his letter, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good"(1 PETER 2:2,3). No matter what our favorite food on earth might be, the Lord reminds us that in the scriptures we have the Bread of Life. In the scriptures, you and I have tasted that the Lord is good and we are to taste it day after day so we can grow up in our salvation. That’s really why we are here today – to once again grow in the knowledge of the mystery of our salvation. We want to consider what the Lord has placed before us through the prophet Isaiah with that thought from 1 Peter.

YOU HAVE TASTED THAT THE LORD IS GOOD

I. Drink deeply of God’s Word

II. Rejoice in God’s blessings

I. Drink deeply of God’s Word

As you heard our text this morning, you probably noticed the feeling that Isaiah had as he wrote this to the people. It was one of joy and excitement. The reason this was full of joy and excitement was because of many of the chapters before chapter 60. In those first chapters of Isaiah you would be reading a lot about judgement. Isaiah had to come to the people and tell them, ‘you are rebels, you’re wicked. You’ve turned away from God so God is going to cause your enemies to rise up and destroy you.’ Not only was Isaiah proclaiming God’s judgement against God’s people but also in some of the chapters he proclaimed it against the rest of the world. This goes on chapter after chapter. When Isaiah comes to these portions where he’s able to pronounce to them, not only God’s judgement but also His forgiveness, we easily hear the joy that is there.

Our text begins, 10"Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her.” Certainly, Jerusalem was the center of their worship. They looked at it as the focus of their faith. Isaiah says they can rejoice because Jerusalem would be protected. It was true that Jerusalem would face judgement, so Isaiah says, ‘all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her.’ Yes, there would be times when the children of Israel would see Jerusalem under attack. There would be times when Jerusalem would even be destroyed – more than once! Yet, Isaiah says, ‘You who care for her so much that you mourn over her, rejoice!’ Rejoice because the Lord is not going to entirely forsake her (Jerusalem) and the Lord is not going to forsake His people.

Our text goes on: 11For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; this gives us the picture of the ‘mother church’ and her children. What a beautiful picture he presents of a nursing child – the care and the love that a mother has for that infant. He says the Lord is going to take care of His church in the very same way. The Lord will not just provide for His church and believers in a very meager fashion but very abundantly. “You will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance." The believers would come time and again to the church and drink deeply of God’s spiritual bread. They would taste of His goodness and have a great abundance – blessing upon blessing upon blessing.