THE JOY OF SALVATION
Opening Prayer
Lord, this New Year’s Eve, I look back over all the ups and downs of 2021. What a good God You are. You have seen me through the year.
Read Isaiah 12
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[a];
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.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 12:2 Or song
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
How has this year been for you? Good, bad, indifferent? Thank God for bringing you through it.What a wonderful passage with which to end the year! Is there any better way to step over the threshold of the year than proclaiming, ‘Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid’ (2)?
The Lord alone is our source of strength. Too often we look to other ‘wells’ in search of the water of life, but God, the well of our salvation (3), is the only place where that living water can be found. And He gives not only gritted-teeth endurance, but bubbling-over joy. Some versions of the Bible translate the second part of verse 2 as ‘the Lord God is my strength and my song’ (ESV). Let us enter the New Year singing songs of His goodness.
‘For Christ is the first and the last; His Spirit will guide us safely home; we’ll praise Him for all that is past and trust Him for all that’s to come’.*
Whatever joys or trials lie behind or before us, our salvation is secure and we can praise Him for it, if nothing else. And, as verse 4 of our reading reminds us, we should tell the world of God’s goodness.
Apply
You may not have a way to tell ‘the nations’ what God has done, but – however you are spending New Year’s Eve – consider making time to tell at least one person of the glorious things God has done.
Closing prayer
Heavenly Father, standing on the threshold of a new year, I renew my trust and confidence in You. Impress upon me the vision You have for me in 2022.
*Joseph Hart, 1712–68, ‘How good is the God we adore’
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