Isaiah 12

”This chapter forms a fitting conclusion to the first eleven chapters of Isaiah. Up until now, Isaiah has focused mainly on the people of Judah; he has warned them of judgment to come because of their sins. But he has also prophesied that a remnant would be spared and restored to the land. Not only that, Isaiah has also looked far into the future and has seen a day when the Messiah would reign and all nations would submit to Him. In that day (verses 1, 4), says Isaiah, God’s people will sing His praises.” Tom Hale: The Applied Old Testament Commentary, p.1011

  • The salvation Jesus, the Messiah, brings comes by faith (2a): ”I will trust and not be afraid.” This is a theme illuminated even more clearly in the New Testament and especially in the writings of the Apostle Paul. Someone said that when you read Mark’s gospel you are confronted throughout with a straight choice between faith and fear. You can have one or the other, but you shouldn’t (needn’t) have both. They make alien bed-fellows. It is not true to say that all people are saved because Jesus has come into the world; but the Lord will ”become” (2b) your salvation if and when you put your trust in Him.
  • The salvation Jesus brings means deliverance from the wrath and judgment of God (1), and brings the best and truest form of ‘comfort’ into your life, where you know you are right with your Maker and in a love relationship with Him of total acceptance.
  • The salvation Jesus brings puts a song of praise (even a ”shout” of praise: verse 6) into your heart and on your lips (2b, 5 and 6). The song in (2b) was sung by the Israelites when they were delivered from Egypt (Ex.15:2), and they sang it when they returned to their land from exile (Ps.118:14). We sing it now in this Messianic age. We sing as people who know that ”The Greatest lives among” us (6). The Message.
  • The salvation Jesus brings is something we testify to (4, 5). It is not to be kept to ourselves but published abroad. ”Shout to the nations, tell of what he’s done, spread the news of his great reputation…Let the whole earth know what he’s done! Raise the roof! Sing your hearts out, O Zion!
  • The salvation Jesus brings is an on-going experience (3; see John 4:10, 14). It is to be enjoyed, and it is continually refreshing. ”Joyfully you’ll pull up buckets of water from the wells of salvation.” The Message. You will always be able to ‘draw up’ what you need. Note the plural ”wells”. We love and serve the God of abundant supply. ”Faith is the bucket, which we let down into the fulness of the divine supply…And oh, the joy of realizing that all the wealth of God’s salvation is within our reach; that we may draw for ever without fear of exhaustion…” F.B. Meyer: Great verses through the Bible, pp. 273,274. Thought: ”I will trust and not be afraid” (2a). This is a possibility and an opportunity and needs to be a commitment.

Prayer: Today, Lord God, I want to trust you. I feel my weakness to succumb to fear, but help me to hold tight to your Hand.