Isaiah 61:10-62:7 Anointed Conqueror 3 Fintry, 1/12/2002, pm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Testimonial match in football: - towards end of a player's career; benefit match for his sake; - in some places it was, to all intents and purposes, their retirement! - opportunity to celebrate and revel in that player's achievements... - This song in the form of a testimony to the Anointed One's work, his commitment, exulting in what will be achieved - There are a mixture of voices through the song: - sometimes the Anointed One's - 61:10, 62:1, 62:6 - sometimes a neutral observer - 61:11, 62:2, etc - There is, coursing through the song, a sense of "the joy set before [Jesus]" that enabled and motivated him to endure the cross and scorn its shame (Heb 12:2) Exposition ----------------------------------------------------------------------- (61:10) I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - We would "delight in" a beloved - the adoration of the newly infatuated! - God is good! - and the Anointed One delights in Him, rejoices, enjoys, luxuriates in who he is and the relationship he has with God - Clothing: - throughout Isaiah there is a sense of God transferring his work to the individual Anointed One; - God has clothed/equipped/arrayed Jesus for the work of salvation, of giving us righteousness - a transfer pictured in the putting on of clothing - and there is the same sense of care and joy and special occasion as there is for a bride or bridegroom getting ready for their wedding day, or a priest taking their turn in the Temple duties (cf Zechariah, Luke 1) - God has made Jesus "just right" to bring us salvation! (61:11) For as the soil makes the young plant come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - If the first reason for joy was the care and "special occasionness" of God giving salvation to be through the Anointed One, a second reason comes here: - fruitfulness; - righteousness and praise are caused to grow as a result of the Anointed One's work; - his task will prove fruitful! - Hallelujah! (62:1) For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - The anointed one gives himself to ceaseless prayer and ceaseless action: - keep silent - applies as much to action as to words - the aim of which is to make that righteousness and salvation shine out (shifted image from growth to light) - Anointed One does this "for Zion's sake" - Zion = Jerusalem = God's people - so Anointed One works tirelessly to see salvation & righteousness blaze from his people, his chosen, beloved people - Broughty Ferry beach - sun shining through the clouds - shafts of light! (62:2) The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow. (62:3) You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD's hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - What the Lord does for Zion attracts the attention of the world. - The "new name" refers to the fundamental change in the reality of the situation of the redeemed: - sinners / righteous, etc - name denoted very much your identity; importance of name in OT; so a new name denotes a new reality, a new person! - And this new reality will bring glory to God! - something precious in his hands, like a crown, like a royal jewel; - that's what we are for God! - A few weeks back I told the story of the young lad from Braidhurst High in Motherwell who got the most amazing result in his exams: - the transformation of his situation, from bus-driver's son to best student in Scotland brought glory onto his teachers; - his success reflected well on the school - The transformation that God has brought about in us is wonderful, something that brings glory to him: - look what God has made of those sinners! (62:4) No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married. (62:5) As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Paragraph about the transformation the Anointed One's work makes: - Hephzibah - my delight is in her - replaces "forsaken/deserted" - Beulah - married - replaces desolate - v.5 is a bit confusing! - Hebrew is suggestive of two stages - wedding ceremony, with promise to "love and cherish" , and the honeymoon, the entry into the delights of married life in which the bridegroom rejoices in his bride - so Zion will be the object of the cherishing love of her own sons (safe, secure, a good place), and the Lord will enjoy honeymoon-delight with those whom the Anointed One has saved and made right with him - In other words marriage is used as a picture of the satisfaction, security, delight, wholeness that typifies the result of the Anointed One's work (62:6) I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, (62:7) and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - In vs.1-3 the Anointed One prays, ceaselessly - In these verses he appointed watchmen to intercede ceaselessly until the full work of salvation and the bringing of righteousness is accomplished - we might think, for instance, of Simeon and Anna in the Temple, "waiting for the consolation of Israel" - Those who engage in prayer are true "guardians" - and such prayer is ceaseless - don't give up! - vocal, verbalising the need - effective Godward - "you who call on the Lord" is literally "you who put the Lord in remembrance"! - not that the Lord would otherwise forget!! But, he does chose to act in such a way that our prayers are a vital ingredient in the implementing of his promises - disciplined - "give yourselves no rest" - urgent and pressing - "give him no rest"!! (cf Luke 18:1-8, persistent widow) - and sustained - "till he established", or fulfils all he has foretold... her summarised as "establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth" Conclusion ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - The Anointed One's work is wonderful, and worthy of delight and thanksgiving - and there is an edge of persistence here in different places; the Anointed One has to persevere to see the salvation he brought worked out, and so must we persevere in following his example, not least in prayer! - most amazing is the picture of the delight God takes in us, the glory he chooses to bring to himself through us!