SURELY, GOD IS MY SALVATION.
In
the name + of Jesus.
When you already know the end of the story, you cannot appreciate the tension, the anguish, and the fear of the people who are going through the events as they unfold. If you’ve ever watched the movie Apollo 13, you cannot appreciate the stress they were all going through. Before the movie begins, you already know they made it back to earth safely. They got there and back. No big deal. But we don’t appreciate the stress when we already know the end of the story.
Our lesson from Isaiah is the song of
celebration at the end of the story. But
Isaiah’s prophecy did not begin with words of praise; it began with words of
condemnation. Listen to a few verses
from the first chapters of Isaiah. “Ah, sinful nation, a people laden
with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the
Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged” (Isaiah 1:4). “How the faithful city has become a whore, she
who was full of justice! Righteousness
lodged in her, but now murderers” (Isaiah 1:21). “For the Lord of hosts has a day against all
that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought
low… And people shall enter the caves of
the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his
majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth” (Isaiah 2:12,19).
For their disobedience, Israel would be
abandoned by the Lord. Jerusalem would
be handed over to foreign nations. They
would face starvation, disease, and the sword.
The temple and the city would be destroyed. Those who survived would be taken into exile. They would never see their homeland
again. In the bitterness of this
suffering, they would have reason to believe that God was done with them. They would wonder: Does God love us? Does he even remember us? That angst and sorrow and stress would be
endured for over seventy years.
In the bitterness of life, we often feel
that we have reached our end. The kid
who gets picked on at school endures what seems to be an endless school year. The person who is battling temptations bears
a cross that never seems to get lighter.
And how do you think the citizens of Ukraine feel right now? They don’t know when the war will end. When it does, will they ever feel like life can
be normal again? If you are in the midst
of pains, stresses, and sorrows, you do not think of the end of the story. You only know the pain, stress, and sorrow you
are trying to cope with.
The prophet Isaiah wrote a song of praise
which would be sung by the people of Israel after all their hardships had come
to an end. Since Isaiah composed this
song before those dark days began, it could sustain and comfort them while they
were going through the hardships. The
Lord God assured them that there was an end to the pains, stresses, and
sorrows. The story would, finally, have
a happy ending. Isaiah assured them, “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’” (Isaiah 12:1). Each would be
able to confess, “Surely, God is my salvation.”
But you must understand what God promises here
and what he does not. It would be
wonderful if I could tell you that God promises that your world and your life
will be sunshine and roses. Sometimes
God does bless us with relief from our problems. We don’t concern ourselves with polio or
smallpox. But God does not promise we
will never face any problem. Previous
generations were never concerned with COVID-19 or cyber-attacks. If you suffer hardships, God has not failed
on his promises. We should not expect to
find Paradise in this sinful world. In fact,
his word tells us just the opposite: “We must go through many hardships to
enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
So, what hope do we have as we suffer pain, stress, and sorrow? What does God promise? Surely, God is my salvation.
“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.” With joy you will
draw water from the wells of salvation. 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” (Isaiah 12:2-4).
The comfort we have from the Lord is that he is and always remains the
friend of sinners. He is always your
Savior. Pains, stresses, and sorrows are
definitely difficult. But you do not need
to fear them. Whatever you are suffering
is not the end of the story. Your strength
and your song are what the Lord has done for you. Surely, God is my salvation.
The hardships you endure in the world are
the result of sin. Perhaps it is someone
who is sinning against you that makes you suffer—an unfaithful spouse, a vindictive
classmate, or a sarcastic boss. You may
be able to escape some of it, but not all of it. Perhaps your hardship is something you cannot
escape at all—failing health, family strife, or in the case of Ukrainians a war-torn
country. For the Israelites, it was
captivity to the Babylonians. What is
your hope in the face of such evils?
Surely, God is my salvation. He may not deliver you out of your particular
hardship. The first Israelites who were
taken to Babylon never returned to the Promised Land. Even God’s faithful people had to face disease,
starvation, and the sword. But the point
of God’s promises is not that he will arrange your life so that you die
stress-free or pain-free. The goal is
not to die comfortably, it is to die in the faith.
The Lord did not send Isaiah to call Israel
to repent so that they could escape hardship. He called them to repent so that they could escape
divine judgment and hell. He does the
same for you. The Lord does not want you
to perish. Your hardships are only a
glimmer of the torment that awaits people who die without a Savior. So, when they come to you, flee to your Lord
for hope, for consolation, and for mercy.
“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’” (Isaiah 12:1).
Surely, God is your salvation. He has turned his anger away from you because
he has redirected it to his Son, Jesus Christ.
For Jesus to deliver you from God’s anger, Jesus had to take from you everything
that God would be angry about—in other words, your sin. For Jesus to save you from your sin, he had
to become sin for you. For Jesus to save
you from a damning judgment, he had to be judged for you and condemned in your
place. For Jesus to deliver you from the
devil, Jesus had to have the devil focus all his rage and accusations against
him instead of you. And he has. The Man of Sorrows endured the stress of knowing
he would be condemned for all sinners.
He went on to suffer the pains of crucifixion and damnation. By his death, Jesus put an end to sin and the
power of death. By his resurrection from
the dead, Jesus shows you that a glorious life awaits you—free from sin and sorrow,
stress and pain. Surely, God is your
salvation.
“You will say in that day—which is
each day—‘Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his
deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted’” (Isaiah
12:4).
His “deeds” are all that he does to save you from what would truly harm
you. This life is temporary. All pains, stresses, and sorrows will eventually
come to an end. By all means, pray that
the Lord would deliver you from them and ease your burdens. But even if you must bear the cross for the
rest of your life, God is still your salvation.
Whether you die at ease or with pain, at peace or with anxiety, happily
surrounded by your loved ones or sad and lonely, the Lord Jesus remains your Savior. In the midst of our sorrows, stresses, and
pains, we get to sing the songs of our Savior’s mercy and salvation. We sing them to remember his faithfulness to
all the promises he fulfilled and his comfort in the promises yet to be
fulfilled. Those glories cannot be compared
to anything we must endure now. We all
need to remember that.
Surely, God is my salvation. You and I are promised a resurrection from the
dead which bodies that will never know pain or sorrow. We will be given a life in God’s presence which
will be forever free from anxiety and stress.
All evils will be gone because all sin will be taken away. “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this
be made known in all the earth. Shout,
and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 12:5-6). For he delivers you
from everything that would ultimately destroy you, and he will deliver you to a
glorious peace that cannot be destroyed.
Until that day, flee to the Savior who is
the only comfort sinners have. Quench
your thirst for comfort by drawing the Water of Life from the wells of
salvation. The world will disappoint you
with its version of comfort. Distractions
from your troubles are not deliverance from your troubles. But the Lord your God is always with you to
hear your cries for mercy and to respond with unbreakable promises and unconditional
love.
He will tell you, “My beloved child, I
know the difficulties you have. I know the
cross you are bearing. I have guaranteed
you a better life which I will bring you to soon enough. Be patient, and trust that I am with you to strengthen
you through each day. Rejoice that I
have bound you to fellow Christians who also care for you. Stay with them to sing of the Lord’s glorious
salvation and to hear the promises that save.
Feast with them on the body and blood which has redeemed you and which strengthens
you for the journey. And know that the
Lord’s love for you is not determined by your pains, stresses, or sorrows. It is proven by Jesus Christ who lived for you
in holiness, who died for you in hellish agony, and who rose to open heaven up
to you.”
This is where you will find comfort in good days and bad, in life and into death. Thanks to Jesus Christ, the day will come when you will be forever free from pains, stresses, and sorrows. “You will say in that day and through all eternity: ‘I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. 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.’” (Isaiah 12:1-2).
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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