The Song of the Vineyard
1 I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
and cut out a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit.
3 “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more could have been done for my vineyard
than I have done for it?
When I looked for good grapes,
why did it yield only bad?
5 Now I will tell you
what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
and it will be destroyed;
I will break down its wall,
and it will be trampled.
6 I will make it a wasteland,
neither pruned nor cultivated,
and briers and thorns will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain on it.”
7 The vineyard of the LORD Almighty
is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
are the garden of his delight.
And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;
for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
My Understanding: Isaiah is singing a song here about God, the one he loves, and about his vineyard, Israel. Since Jesus Christ came to earth in human flesh, died on the cross for our sins, rose again, triumphing over death, hell, Satan and sin, God has made Jews and Gentiles one in Christ, so that true Israel is now His church, the Body of Christ, comprising all true believers in Jesus, whether Jew or Gentile. So, we, the church, are now true Israel, as the Bible teaches us that we are Israel, not by natural birth, but by spiritual birth through faith in Jesus Christ, through which we then become heirs of the promise of eternal life with God. We are now God’s chosen people, called to be his holy ones, set apart for Him and for His service. So, we can now apply this song to the church of today, as is applicable, and I believe the Lord would have me to specifically apply it to the church in the USA today.
The vineyard is now the church. God planted his church on the earth to bear good fruit, i.e. works of righteousness in the power of the Holy Spirit working within and through us for his purposes and for his glory. These fruits are the byproduct of lives committed to God and to Jesus Christ in full surrender and obedience to him and to his will for our lives. This fruit is not a byproduct of works of the flesh nor is this speaking of works-based salvation. These fruits are what reveal the kind of trees that we are, as our fruit reveals our true character.
God, through his plan of salvation for our lives via Jesus’ blood paying the price for our sins so that we could go free, cleansed his followers of their sins and he purified us within, i.e. he dug up his vineyard, cleared it of stones, and planted it with the choicest vines. He gave us the Holy Spirit to live within us to lead, guide, convict, counsel, teach, comfort, and encourage us to walk in His ways and to live by His truth (His word). He also gave us his word, the Bible, the scriptures, i.e. God’s God-breathed word to us, his children, to teach us, to train us in righteousness, to correct us, to convict us of sin, and to encourage us how to live godly and holy lives while we are still in these fleshly bodies on this earth. His word and his Holy Spirit give us what we need to grow in our faith and obedience to God/Jesus.
He also built a watchtower in this vineyard (his church), too. A watchtower is “a high place in which sentries keep watch for the approach of an enemy” (Encarta). A sentry is “somebody who is assigned to keep watch and to warn of danger” (Encarta). To watch means to be on the lookout for danger, to keep something under observation as a protective measure, to be careful about something, etc. God, as well, has given his church “watchmen” (and women) with gifts of discernment, prophecy, knowledge, etc. to keep watch and to warn of danger of the enemy coming against the church, and to encourage faith and obedience to Jesus Christ, as we watch for Christ’s return. Some of these watchmen are in positions of leadership within the church and others are those with these specific (and other) spiritual gifts within the Body of Christ for this purpose of being sentries for God in his church.
Then, God looked for a crop of good grapes (fruit), i.e. then he looked for us to walk in his light, in his truth, to follow his ways, and to live in faith and obedience to him so that we could be fruit-bearing disciples of Christ for God’s glory and in his service as his servants and witnesses. Yet, many in his vineyard are bearing bad fruit instead of good fruit, i.e. they have followed the ways, teachings and practices of men and of the world, and have become more like the world than they are like Christ, so that is why they are yielding bad fruit instead of good fruit as a byproduct of lives surrendered in obedience to God. Many of these are in positions of leadership and as watchmen who are not watching out for the enemy but are opening the gates of the churches to the enemy to come within, and many of those who are not keeping watch over the sheep are also rejecting and discarding others who have been called as watchmen (and women) in God’s church to warn of danger and to encourage repentance and obedience to God (See Matt 21:33-44; Ezekiel 34; and John 10:1-21).
God did everything possible to provide for his church everything she needs for holy living. Yet, it appears that the majority of his church in the USA is among those counted as having yielded primarily bad fruit, instead of good fruit (of righteousness), so one day soon God is going to remove his hedge of protection from those within his church who are bearing only or primarily bad fruit, and he is going to judge her in order to cleanse her and to purify his bride to make her holy and ready to meet her husband before our Lord returns.
May we not be found to be among those in his vineyard who are yielding only (or primarily) bad fruit, because we are yielding to the control of sin over our lives and/or we are following the ways of men and of the world over and above, or in place of, yielding in surrender and obedience to God the Father and to Jesus Christ, God the Son. But, may we be found to be among those in his vineyard who are yielding good fruit (or mostly good fruit) and who are living lives pleasing to God and to his service, though not in sinless perfection. Then, we can join together in song and sing together about the one we love, and give him all our praise.
How Sweet the Sound / An Original Work / April 24, 2011
How sweet the sound of Your saints in chorus;
Oh, how we adore You, our King.
We love You so, we want You to know.
That’s why we lift our voice to sing.
Praise and adoration we bring
Just to honor God and our King.
We love You, Lord, for Your great salvation;
Freely given grace from above.
Jesus, our friend, His promise won’t end.
He gave His life out of His love.
By His blood He purchased our fee,
When He died on Calvary’s tree.
He set us free so that we can worship
Him as a living sacrifice.
We come to Him with all of our sin.
Before our God we humbly bow.
We have been forgiven our sin,
So that we might be cleansed within.
Sheet Music (with lyrics): https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B5aJQ42RLiUlZTgzZTgyNzEtZjA3My00Y2JlLWJkMzktODY4YWI1Y2NiMTFl&hl=en
Audio/Sound (without lyrics): https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B5aJQ42RLiUlNzgwMTI1MWQtNThkZS00MDYyLWE0ZDItMjIxNzZjYTI5NzQ1&hl=en
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