Sing!
Opening Prayer
I lift my voice to You today, Abba Father. I praise You for who You are! You have done great things for me.
Read Isaiah 12:1–6
In that day you will say:
“I will praise you, Lord.
Although you were angry with me,
your anger has turned away
and you have comforted me.
2 Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation.”
3 With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.
4 In that day you will say:
“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim 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.
6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
If you can, put on some praise and worship music and sing with it. Allow it to focus your mind.This chapter contains two songs: one for individuals (1,2) and one for groups (4–6). Isaiah’s fear, purification and offer of obedience in God’s throne room (chapter 6) were personal moments that had far-reaching implications: his words are still read by millions today. Likewise, Ahaz made a personal decision to ignore God’s command, and a whole nation suffered (7:12).
God’s anger has turned to comfort (1), but not because God is capricious and “changed his mind.” The anger and the comfort are inextricably linked. We are saved by throwing ourselves on the mercy of the God who hates sin. He is the only one with the power and the motivation to do anything about it.
How will he do that? Isaiah will give more detail in the Servant Songs later in his book, but an early clue is “the Holy One of Israel among you” (6). God can be among us because he is God-in- the-flesh, Jesus the Christ. Jesus is the procurer and dispenser of “living water” (compare verse 3 to John 4:10; Revelation 22:1,2).
When God’s people understand all he has done for them, they can’t help but bubble up into witnessing about him in the world (4).
Apply
It may not be in a song, but how can you share the Good News with someone you know today?
Closing prayer
Ask God to show you how to sing this song of praise in your daily life, in relationships with both believers and unbelievers.
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