SONGS OF JOY
Play Audio
If you prefer listening to today’s Bible guide reading, play this audio file.
If the audio bar is not appearing, click here to play the audio.
Opening Prayer
Loving Lord, thank you for your faithfulness, for keeping your every promise as you have been at work in and through me. Thank you for using your Word and gifting me with your Spirit, enabling me to grow closer to you.
Read ISAIAH 12
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Songs of Praise
12 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.”
Reflect
Write a prayer or hymn of praise, giving thanks to God for who he is and all he’s done for us. It doesn’t need to be in iambic pentameter or rhyme—simply heartfelt.This section of Isaiah began with the song of the vineyard, a poem about God’s disappointment and anger with his people for their unfaithful and unfruitful lives. It ends with a song of praise and thanksgiving that makes me weep with wonder and incomprehension. Given all we’ve seen about our behavior, how can God still love his people? We are now little different from God’s people then.
In place of God’s anger, we are comforted (v. 1). In place of fear is trust (v. 2). God is our strength, our defense, our salvation (v. 2)— the wells of which are deep and joyous. This is the song of the ‘remnant,’ those who have passed through the fire of God’s judgment, purified and made holy to be his people. For God’s people, then, this meant geopolitical turmoil. What does it mean for us?
This holy remnant will finally fulfill the original mission of God’s people: taking the light of God’s salvation, his might, all he has done, to the nations (vv. 4, 5).
How might you take that mission into the new year?
Apply
Read verse 6. And again. I’m going to write it down and stick it somewhere I can see it because I need a daily reminder: God is great, he is holy, and he is with us (me), whether or not I feel full of joy. What about you?
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, you were present in creation and continued to be with your people, sustaining them throughout history. Thank you for abiding with me each day. Help me to bring you glory, to be a living testimony for the joy that is mine because of you.
Book and Author Intros
Extras
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2026 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.