1 Isaiah 12 The Inhabitants of Zion: Heart-Felt Reactions to God s Grace in Christ With chapter 12 we come to the end of the first section of Isaiah. In cp. 1 we see the unfaithfulness of Judah. According to v. 4 they are laden with iniquity. They are religious on the outside, but empty in their hearts toward God. In cp. 2 we see idolatry. In cp. 3 we see bad, corrupt, leadership. In cp. 5 Isaiah gives 6 woes against greed, excess, mockery of God, redefining of truth, false wisdom and a drunken, corrupt justice system. In cps. 7-10 we see God using unjust nations to judge both Israel and Judah. So, when we get to cp. 11 and 12, and Isaiah describes the kingdom of the Messiah, and its inhabitants, we are amazed at God s grace, upon what he calls in 12:6, the inhabitants of Zion. Today, that s us! And the reason is this: V. 6 says, Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. Over and over in these first 12 chapters God reminds the entire nation of Israel that He will be with them: Immanuel, God with us! In Christ, we are the remnant, of God s grace and mercy, the inhabitants of Zion! And chapter 12 is all about our heart-felt reactions to God s grace in Christ! Let s look at 4 of these today! 1. We are a thankful people. This chapter is really a song of praise as Isaiah as considers the present and the future for God s people. This is the already, but not yet aspect of the grace of God. In his context, judgment was upon them (especially for the northern kingdom), and judgment was on the way (Babylon for the southern kingdom). During these VERY difficult days, God will be with Isaiah and the small remnant whose hearts were turned to the Lord. But, Isaiah looks to a new day, a time when the Messiah will reign as king over his people. Look at v. 1: You say in that day: I will give thanks to you, O Lord... Let s consider for a moment the way in which the world gives thanks. I think of the movie, It s a Wonderful Life. We watch it every year at Christmas time. Throughout the movie, Jimmy Stewart, the main character, is a bit of a grump. He is not that thankful for the lot he has in life. He wants to travel the world, but can never leave his hometown because of the family business, which ends us being pretty successful. Near the end, his business misplaces a large sum of cash and He is threatened with jailtime, fines, loss of business, etc. Well, in the movie, an angel from heaven comes to help him. And he shows him what the town would be like if he had never lived. And in the end, his friends in the town and other places donate money and his business is saved. And, he becomes a very thankful man; everything he sees he is thankful for, his kids, his family, his house (even the broken knob going up his steps), his friends, and especially Clarence the Angel. Brothers and sisters, the world gives thanks. But, it can only go so far. There is something missing. Notice why God s people give thanks in v. 1: I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. As brothers and sisters in Christ, you give thanks because of something much deeper; the anger of God no longer rests upon you. The world can not give thanks for something they have never experienced. This week, as I thought about this truth in my quiet time, I gave thanks for all the physical things I could recall (I did not exhaust the list). And I was thankful, but then when I considered the gospel of Christ, my level of thanks soared to the heavens. Why? Because Christ has taken my sins upon himself. And a holy, righteous, God is no longer angry with me. He poured his anger upon his Son, whom Isaiah calls a suffering servant. The King of chapter 11 is now the humiliated servant upon a cross in cp. 12.
2 Brothers and sisters, we are a thankful people. We are thankful for God s mercy, grace, kindness, longsuffering, love, etc. And by way of application, these are the things that sustain us in this life, not the physical things, not our circumstances. Notice the end of v. 1: your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. As Isaiah s readers (those with faith) endured all the anger and wrath of God upon a nation, they sailed through the storm with comfort in their hearts. I think of Isaiah 40:29-31: He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31 but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. 2. We are a people of faith in God. Really, this verse is about salvation. For true faith in the living God is the means to salvation. For by grace you have been saved through faith... (Eph. 2:8) Lok at v. 2: Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my son, and he has become my salvation. In their context they were trusting in the wrong things, the things of this world. Do you remember back in cp. 7 when God sent Isaiah to the wicked King Ahaz? Israel (10 tribes in the north) had formed an alliance with two other kings and were threatening war against Judah and Jerusalem. And 7:2 says the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. And Isaiah met Ahaz as he was looking at the city s water supplies. Isaiah told Ahaz, Trust God. In fact, God held has hand out to Ahaz and said, Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven (v. 11). He was saying, Trust me! I am your salvation. But Ahaz chose to trust the things of the world; walls of the city, good water supply, political alliances and negotiations. The people chose to continue looking to their wealth, their own supplies, and even went so far as to continue their idolatry. And if they would have been repentant, and believed God, they would have been saved. Brothers and sisters, Isaiah was pleading with Judah and Israel, as the physical inhabitants of Zion to look to the God who established Zion. And he says, God is my salvation. And for us, essentially, nothing has changed. Faith is the means to salvation. And we look back upon the ONE of whom Isaiah prophesied: King Jesus. And those who have believed in Christ are established in Zion, which is also called the New Jerusalem (one of Isaiah s big themes). In Acts 4:10-12 Peter proclaimed: Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead-- by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Jesus told his disciples, Believe in God, believe also in me (John 14:1). If you ve seen me you ve seen the father (14:9). Brothers and sisters, Christians look to Christ, with all their heart. This is the mark of a Christian: faith in Christ! And the application of v. 2 is no fear. We do not fear life s troubles; the seemingly endless circumstances of the effects of sin in this world, the threats of doom upon cultures as they rise and fall, the instability in world politics, sickness and death in our own families. Why? God is our salvation, in Christ! Trust him today!
3 3. We are people of joy. Look at v. 3: With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. It is likely that Isaiah is thinking about the children of Israel in the dessert. Right after they crossed the Red Sea (over a million people with no water), they came to a barren dessert with no water for three days. But God provides the water they need. First, he turns the bitter water at Marah into drinkable water. Then, at a place called Elim, they find 12 springs of water and seventy palm trees. Later, God will provide water from a rock. Joy is like this, it is given by God as the heart attitude of those who have been saved. It flows from the depths of our hearts; something miraculous has been given to us, and it meets our most fundamental need. While we were living in Africa, I remember going to a place called Tsavo National Park. And it was during the dry season, everything was dead, nothing green, no water. And we stayed at a huge lodge. I remember looking out toward Mt. Kilimanjaro at a dry and thirsty land. And there were really no animals, because there was no water. Late in the afternoon, we all piled into a van and headed about 10 minutes away. Up ahead, I was surprised to see green, lush trees. As we got closer, it was amazing! We were all of a sudden in the middle of paradise, trees, flowers, bushes, vegetation, birds singing, etc. Why? Right out of the ground was a natural spring. And the water was gushing. And as it flowed downhill, everywhere it went, there was life. It was amazing the contrast. In the same kind of way, our joy is not like the happy, sad, happy, sad, ups and downs of this life. It is something deeper and more fundamental. And, this joy is one that never ends. Why? Because it flows from an eternal well, from an eternal city. Jesus told the woman at the well, Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:13-14). Ultimately, Isaiah is referencing joy found in the Messiah. Twice he says In that day, In that day (v. 1, 4). Brothers and sisters, our joy comes as we draw from the well of Christ! When you think your sin is too great, consider Christ. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). When you think no one understands, consider Christ. He had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people (Heb. 2:17). When you feel like you can t go on, consider Christ, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil. 2:6-8). When life s troubles overwhelm you, consider Christ... who says, my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matt. 11:30). These are the things the world cannot grasp and certainly cannot understand. This morning, look unto Christ!
4 4. We are a people who sings. Look at vv. 5-6: Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. Let s not forget this chapter is a song! In the first Exodus, Moses sang a song describing how God brought them out of Egypt and how he will take care of them and establish them in the land. Let me read just a small bit of that song. (Look with me there) In Exod. 15:1-2 we read: Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, "I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. 2 The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. Then in 11-13: Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them. You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode. Then in 17-18: You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, the place, O LORD, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established. 18 The LORD will reign forever and ever. Now we come to Isaiah, many years after the first Exodus, at time when judgment is looming and the nation is falling apart. Yet, he still praises! In this song, he looks forward to a 2 nd Exodus, which will be much greater than the first. For this Exodus isn t led by a sinful man, but instead the Son of Man, the Messiah, King Jesus. And all the things Moses sang about find their fulfillment in Him! As the Lord triumphed over the armies of Egypt, Christ has triumphed over sin and death. He died as a perfect sacrifice. He took the wrath of God in the place of sinners. He rose from the dead. As God was their salvation, it is the same with the Son of God. We have been redeemed, purchased by the blood of Christ, and He will take us to heaven. As the people of Israel were planted on Mt. Zion, the mountain of God, so we are planted in the heavenly places in Christ. And, He will lead us to heaven one day. Brothers and sisters, the world sings songs. But, not like us! As the inhabitants of Zion, to which Isaiah prophecies, we don t sing like the world. We sing the songs of the gospel! For these are the glorious works of God (v. 5). Brothers and sisters, I cannot sing! But, when I consider the ways of our God in Christ, my heart soars, and I love to proclaim his works and his name and his praise with God s people in song. What we do here on Sunday mornings and in our home groups with singing is not like the ways in which the world sings. It is different. It is different because it is a powerful proclamation of the truth of the Gospel that has changed our hearts. Why? V. 6: The Holy One is in our midst. How is this? It is by the power of the Holy Spirit! A few applications about singing: Words Are Important! We may get excited and praise God for giving a good musician wonderful talents. And we clap and we think, great job, and we also give thanks to God for giving US musicians with wonderful talents. We are blessed at Grace! We clapped for Owen last week. God has given him a talent (as with others) and it was beautiful. But, there is nothing like a group of Spirit filled sinners who are saved by the grace and mercy of God in Christ, singing together the praises due his name. This is why we sing differently than the world! God made us this way! Good singing comes from the heart.
5 Also, it is not primarily the music that stirs our hearts. God gave us words...! This is why our elders review all our songs. Our songs are a big part of our teaching ministry. They proclaim the promises of God. And since we are on this side of the cross, most of our songs clearly contain the gospel of Christ in his death and resurrection. A good rule of thumb is this: we should not sing what we would not also be willing to preach. With this in mind, how you sing is an indication of your heart. Now, I know some Sundays, you simply don t feel like singing. The week has been so bad. The fight with your spouse or your child right before the service causes your mind to race. I get it! But, over a period of time, consider how you react to the truths of the gospel in song. If your heart does not ever leap within you about the goodness of God in Christ, then maybe you don t have the Holy Spirit. If so, repent, turn to Christ! Look to him! There is more to this Psalm than what I have covered. One big truth and application is this: The inhabitants of Zion (today, Christians) are a people of proclamation. We tell others about the greatness of God in Christ (v. 4). So, as you go out from here today, tell someone. We are a thankful people, a people of faith, a people of comfort, and a people who sings from the heart. May God be with us this week as we go!