To Read: Isaiah 12:1-6
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.
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.”
3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 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.
5 “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known in all the earth.
6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
Notice that the result of this coming infant King is a spirit of joy among the people! We are to give thanks to the Lord, for though he sees our sin and is angry at our sin, he comes with salvation and everlasting comfort. It is important that we see that God is not just the judge who says from behind a bench “innocent” or “guilty” but he is a loving Father, who in his redemption of his people offers himself as the great comforter. Despite our rejection of God in our sin, he welcomes us into his presence to feel what it’s like to be a child of God!
I love these words of alliteration and power – he is my strength and my song. Those seem like two contrary attributes of a person – strength and song, and yet they go so well together. Psalm 108:1 says ‘my heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and make music with all my soul.’ Because of the certainty of salvation and our assurance of pardon, we have nothing left to do but sing his praises! And we’re not just to keep it to ourselves – let’s go caroling! We’re to proclaim his wondrous deeds to others!
Here a familiar title for God is used, the Holy One of Israel. It is used 31 times in the New Testament, referring to God as the holy king of his people. He is set apart from any other God claimed by any nation – he is holy, the one and only God. But in the New Testament, Jesus is referred to several times as the “Holy One of God,” including in a text in our sermon series, in John 6:69. He is the one ‘set apart’ for God’s purposes – the one and only God in the flesh, God with Us, Immanuel.
This Christmas, let your heart be full of praise and thanksgiving the Lord. He is the author of our salvation, the one who sent his Son to live the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died, just so we could be with God forever. It is a time of praise, so let your voice be heard!
Song to Sing: O Holy Night
This is a song written by a French baker in the middle of the 19th century, and remains a tremendous classic to this day. Just like other great Christmas hymns, the lyrics are full of truth and power:
This is one of those songs that really can soar; it’s verses are full of strong words but then in the chorus, it slows down and lifts up; so let your heart go with it and really feel it. It’s important to note that in God’s Word, we’re told not just to say the truths of the Bible, we’re to sing to him – we’re to engage our whole body and lift beyond spoken truth to something that captures our spirit and emotions – we’re to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Col. 3).
Echoes of Eden: Hot Cocoa! Just nothing like it – feel that warmth!