So, I picked up my Bible and began reading where I had left off reading last in Isaiah. I prayed, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening,” and when I got to Isaiah 26, it became abundantly clear to me that this passage of scripture went with these three songs, for it was titled, “A Song of Praise,” and it begins, “In that day this song will be sung…”
A Song of Praise
In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city;
God makes salvation
its walls and ramparts.
Open the gates
that the righteous nation may enter,
the nation that keeps faith.
You will keep in perfect peace
him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you.
Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.
He humbles those who dwell on high,
he lays the lofty city low;
he levels it to the ground
and casts it down to the dust.
Feet trample it down—
the feet of the oppressed,
the footsteps of the poor.
The path of the righteous is level;
O upright One, you make the way of the righteous smooth.
Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws,
we wait for you;
your name and renown
are the desire of our hearts.
My soul yearns for you in the night;
in the morning my spirit longs for you.
When your judgments come upon the earth,
the people of the world learn righteousness.
Though grace is shown to the wicked,
they do not learn righteousness;
even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil
and regard not the majesty of the LORD.
O LORD, your hand is lifted high,
but they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame;
let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them.
LORD, you establish peace for us;
all that we have accomplished you have done for us.
O LORD, our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us,
but your name alone do we honor.
They are now dead, they live no more;
those departed spirits do not rise.
You punished them and brought them to ruin;
you wiped out all memory of them.
You have enlarged the nation, O LORD;
you have enlarged the nation.
You have gained glory for yourself;
you have extended all the borders of the land.
LORD, they came to you in their distress;
when you disciplined them,
they could barely whisper a prayer.
As a woman with child and about to give birth
writhes and cries out in her pain,
so were we in your presence, O LORD.
We were with child, we writhed in pain,
but we gave birth to wind.
We have not brought salvation to the earth;
we have not given birth to people of the world.
But your dead will live;
their bodies will rise.
You who dwell in the dust,
wake up and shout for joy.
Your dew is like the dew of the morning;
the earth will give birth to her dead.
Go, my people, enter your rooms
and shut the doors behind you;
hide yourselves for a little while
until his wrath has passed by.
See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling
to punish the people of the earth for their sins.
The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her;
she will conceal her slain no longer.
My Understanding: This song in Isaiah, as well as these other three songs, is a song about our salvation and of the gospel of Jesus Christ, i.e. God’s grace to man. Yet, they are also songs of proclamation, i.e. they all talk of singing this gospel story, i.e. this is speaking, too, about our witness for Jesus Christ and for his gospel. So, the message is two-fold: 1) To share the gospel, and 2) To encourage and to give courage to those who are sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and who are telling others about God’s saving grace through Jesus Christ, His Son; especially to encourage those who are being oppressed by the enemy of their souls (even through human instruments) because of their testimony for Christ.
Isaiah began his song of praise to God by telling his readers about the future. The strong city he was speaking of, though, was not a physical city with physical walls that we can see. He was speaking of spiritual city yet to come through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, i.e. the city of God, the new Jerusalem, the city on a hill, the bride of Christ, the true church, the saints of Almighty God, the city of the oppressed, and the nation that keeps faith, etc. God made salvation its walls and fortification. The gates to this city will be open to those who keep faith, not to those who just proclaim faith with their lips. And, God will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast on God/Jesus Christ, because they place their trust in God, and not in men. Our Lord is the Rock eternal. He is completely trustworthy. So, we have no reason to ever fear our oppressors.
There is a message here of God’s divine protection over this city, yet the protection being promised is not necessarily a physical protection from harm or foe, as the book of Revelation makes clear that the beast will trample down the true bride of Christ and he will kill the saints of Almighty God who are followers of Jesus Christ. This divine protection is a spiritual protection – a promise of peace with God (an inward peace), a promise of eternal life with God in heaven, and a promise of salvation from sin – the penalty of and the control of sin over our daily lives. Even when things are totally bonkers all around us and our enemy comes out of his lair to devour us, he may kill the body, but he can’t kill our souls. That is what is divinely protected by these walls of salvation around this city.
Yet, those who come against God’s holy people - who are walking in fellowship with the Lord and who are being lights for the gospel of Jesus Christ - will ultimately face the hand of divine judgment and will be brought low for their pride and arrogance. In fact, Isaiah pictures here that the oppressed saints of God will take part in trampling their oppressors, which may merely mean that they will share in the victory over their enemies. I don’t picture this as gloating over the demise of others, but rather the victory is that over human arrogance and pride which leads those bit by that snake to oppress those who are truly following the Lord Jesus, and who are being his witnesses in sharing the gospel. So, this is a victory for the continuous spread of the gospel message, as well. Yet, I see hope here, too, for the salvation of the wicked, which is yet another way in which God’s righteousness will prevail and evil will not prevail in the end.
Yet, the path of the righteous is a level path; a straight way. Walking in the way of God’s commands, those who trust in the Lord wait for him and for his return with great expectation and hope of deliverance. This is a longing for God day and night, and I definitely identify with Isaiah’s sentiments here. I long for the day when the old order of things passes away, when sin no longer reigns on the earth, when the wicked are no more, when we live in true peace and safety, and when our tears, sorrow, and pain are no more, because Jesus wipes every tear from our eyes. Most of all I long for the day when I can be with my Lord Jesus Christ forever. Oh, what a glorious day that will be!
God will judge the earth so that the people of the world can learn righteousness. Man can be so stubborn and bull-headed because of his sinful desires and passions which control his life and mind to where he can’t even see the light of truth shining on his own sin. So, after God warns and warns, he eventually must bring judgment, because he is a righteous God, and so he can show human beings how truly serious he takes sin and how deeply he feels about righteousness (obedience to his commands; repentance). And, man will learn righteousness through judgment, because they didn’t learn it through grace. They took God’s divine grace for granted and continued to go their own way and do not show regard for God or for his commands. And, they don’t even see God’s righteous hand of judgment ready to strike at any moment. Isaiah prayed that God would allow his people’s oppressors to see the zeal that God has for his own, i.e. how very much he loves them. I believe this will happen when God comes to judge the world. Until then, my heart will go on singing…
O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing / Charles Wesley
O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!
My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of Thy name.
I Will Sing the Wondrous Story / Francis H. Rowley /arr. by Ira D. Sankey
I will sing the wondrous story
Of the Christ Who died for me;
How He left His home in glory
For the cross of Calvary.
I was lost, but Jesus found me,
Found the sheep that went astray,
Threw His loving arms around me,
Drew me back into His way.
Yes, I’ll sing the wondrous story
Of the Christ Who died for me,
Sing it with the saints in glory,
Gathered by the crystal sea.
Walking in The Light / An Original Work / November 16, 2011
Based off 1 John 1-2
When I lift up my voice, and
Sing praise unto God,
I will fellowship with my
Lord and Savior, King.
In Him there is no darkness.
He is in the light of truth.
If we walk in His light,
From sin He purifies.
If we repent of our sins,
He’ll forgive us now,
When we humble ourselves, and
Before Jesus bow.
The man who says, “I know Him,”
But does not obey His truth,
There is no truth in him.
In darkness still he’s found.
Do not love the world of sin,
For it is hell bound.
If you follow the world, you’ll
Not in Christ be found.
The world and its desires
Will not last; they’ll expire.
The one who does God’s will,
Receives eternal life.
See that what you have heard from
Christ remains in you.
Then, you’ll remain in Christ, and
In His Father, too.
This is what He promised us –
His eternal life with God.
So, continue in Him, and
You’ll receive a crown.
http://youtu.be/wS6ljsF6aV4
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