Praise God

Isaiah 12:1-6

As we look at this passage of scripture together, we will see a

theme of praising God. We can notice a few different things as we

read. The first is that this echoes the book of Psalms in language,

in the sense of the praise and poetic theme. The second pays

homage to the book of Exodus 15:2. The idea of praising and lifting

up the name of God because of the deeds that He has done. But

there is a secret that this passage is holding on to. It is not

something that is talked about in the passage, but you may see it

as the layers unfold.

Isaiah 12:1 “You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.”

V1

The passage states that God‘s anger was turned away so that he

could comfort them. This is a reminder of God‘s judgment that has

preceded this passage, as God has led the people and judged them

for their unbelief and iniquity. Another aspect that is interesting is

that the verse starts out with the phrase “in that day’ which can

allude to further events that would happen. This means that this

statement is twofold; there is reason to praise God now in the time

of Isaiah and will be in the future.

We know, because we have the power to look back in time to

Isaiah's time frame, that there was something bigger coming that

would give God's people a reason to praise him all the more. And

of course, we know that the person who was foretold as the figure

that Isaiah spoke about was Jesus of Nazareth. But as we look at

things from Isaiah's standpoint, God's people must wait in

anticipation for that person to come.

Question: Was there a time you felt comforted by God?

Isaiah 12:2 ““Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.””

V2

In verse two, we see that God is a source of salvation, and because

of this, the people are put into a situation where they need to

trust him and not fear him because of the judgment or

punishment. When I say the term punish I do not mean in the

sense of being mistreated or abusing somebody. But God does

offer correction for those he loves. We also see the same concept

in Scripture (Proverbs 3:11-12; Hebrews 12:6).

Proverbs 3:11–12 “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.”

Hebrews 12:6 “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.””

This means that

God's correction is not to be mean or cruel but with a purpose.

God becomes their source of strength in their time of need. This is

not a New concept to be holy, reliant upon God. We see the same

concept throughout scripture of other individuals who have been

completely reliant upon God to the point where they surrender

themselves to God's will. This may be the point that Isaiah is

trying to make in this passage is that he is trusting God and he's

not going to fear him, but he's going to trust him to be his

strength, regardless of what God's will is.

Question: Do you trust God?

Isaiah 12:3 “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”

Isaiah 12:4 “And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.”

V3-4

Because of what God has done in the salvation that he has given

us, we will rejoice. This salvation will flow like a never-ending

river from Him. The action of God leads the people to rejoice

because of the salvation that they have received. Also, Isaiah

identifies the son of man whom he prophesied about being the

source of salvation for the future of God's people. This verse has

Similarities to a passage in John 4:11-14 where Jesus encounters a

woman at the well. Where Jesus states to the woman who is trying

to get water from the well, but the water is too low to draw from.

Jesus states, “that the water that He gives will be like a spring

welling up to eternal life”. And in a few verses before that,

identifies himself as the source of Living Water (John 4:10).

John 4:10 “Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.””

Question: Is Jesus the source of your living water?

Isaiah 12:5 ““Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.”

V5-6

V5

Because of God’s faithfulness, this leads people to praise Him.

This even gives an example of how to praise God with singing.

This verse also proclaims to the whole earth the works of God due

to His greatness. We can also see that this is a call to praise God for

His works in all the earth. We can also see in the book of Psalms

98:1 that there is a call to praise God for the salvation that God

gives to the people.

Isaiah 12:6 “Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.””

V6

V6. It is a reminder to God’s people why they’re rejoicing, because

the holy one is in their midst. Also, there is some significance to

the use of the word Zion in this passage. When we see the

reference to Zion in the bible, it is talking about the temple where

God resides along with His people. This serves as a reminder that

God is not in some faraway place. God is right there in the midst of

the people.

As we examined this passage of scripture together, we saw a

theme of praising God throughout it. As Isaiah and the nation

were moved to praise God for the works that he had done. And for

the hope of salvation from God in the time of Isaiah, and for the

future coming of Jesus. This may lead us to the question of how

this passage applies to us in the here and now.

We see another aspect of this passage, the secret that I spoke

about when we started. It isn’t just simply that God‘s people are

rejoicing and praising Him. It is also that God’s faithfulness has

always been there for His people. In other words, God has not

given up on His people when he has had the right to. But God has

shown faithful loyalty to the people by giving signs of his

presence. Even when the nation refused to believe that God was

with them. Likewise, in our time, that same faithful loyalty is

extended to us because we are adopted into the family of God.

This means that we can rest assured that salvation is also in our

future for those of us who trust in Jesus as Lord.