The First Song of Isaiah

Today, we’re going to take a closer look at the First Song of Isaiah.  We’ve heard it set to music. It’s a joyful song, one that touches our emotions and brings a powerful message. Isaiah sang about God’s anger. He sang about God’s salvation. He sang a song for the whole world to hear.

 

A good song often begins with an introduction. Isaiah introduced his song with the words “in that day.” In what day? We need to go back to 3 special promises the LORD made to his people. Back in chapter 7, Isaiah shared a sign from the LORD with the king of Judah: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14). Chapter 9 shares the familiar words we hear and sing at Christmas time: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). One more beautiful promise of the coming Messiah appears in chapter 11. "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit" (Isaiah 11:1). God promised that even though it looked like King David’s line had died out, he would make a new branch grow from that dead stump. He would send the Savior! What a beautiful introduction to Isaiah’s song! Isaiah could look forward to that day when the Messiah would finally arrive.

 

When I think of sad songs, I think of country music. So many country songs have a sad theme running through them—I lost my house and my job, my wife left me, my dog died…and the list goes on. Many of those songs are just sad.

 

Isaiah’s song starts out on a sad note. He mentions God’s anger. "You were angry with me" (Isaiah 12:1). Why would God be angry with Isaiah? Why would he be angry with us?

Think back to the story Jesus told in our gospel reading, the story of the lost son. How did the younger son treat his father? He asked for his share of the inheritance, travelled far away, and spent every last penny on wild living. He dishonored the family name, disrespected his father, and wasted the generous gift he had been given.

 

Sound familiar? We carry God’s family name—Christian. We often dishonor that name. Instead of acting like members of God’s family, we act like the rest of the world. When someone who doesn’t know Jesus sees us, they say, “If that’s how Christians act, I don’t want to be like them!” We disrespect our Father. We say that we trust him to take care of us, but we fret and worry about our daily needs. We waste the gifts that he gives us—the food on the table isn’t good enough, we leave the lights on when no one’s around. We may even squander the forgiveness that’s ours because we like that pet sin a little too much to stop doing it. That’s a sad song—we have sinned and the LORD is angry with us.

 

Do you remember boxes of Cracker Jacks? I loved to get a box because there was always a prize inside. I especially liked getting a little magnifying glass. I’d go outside on the sidewalk, gather a little pile of dead, dried out grass, and use the magnifying glass to focus the sun’s rays and try to start the dead grass on fire. I even tried it on my finger once. Not smart!

 

God didn’t forget about our sins. We deserved to face his anger and have it focused on us like a scorching beam of sunlight through a magnifying glass. God didn’t destroy us. Listen to the confident lyrics of Isaiah’s song: "I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me" (Isaiah 12:1).  God turned his anger away from us and focused it on the cross. Jesus had to endure God’s white hot anger over our sins. The Bible tells us, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). When Jesus died on that cross, he paid for our sins. He gave us his perfection. God’s anger has turned away from us.

 

 How does he treat us? Let’s go back to the story Jesus told about the lost son one more time. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him" (Luke 15:20). The father waited every day, hoping for his son to come home. When he finally saw his son trudging along the dusty road, he couldn’t wait. He ran out to him. He welcomed him home. He gave him fresh, clean clothes, he threw a party for him. He took his ring off his finger and put it on his son’s finger—a sign that the family name and business now belonged to him.

 

That’s how God treats us. He welcomes us with open arms. He takes off our filthy, sin-stained clothing and replaces it with Jesus’ perfection. He gives us his own name and calls us trusted members of his family. He has a welcome home party waiting for us in heaven.

 

It’s no wonder Isaiah had to sing, "Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation" (Isaiah 12:2). He echoes the words Moses and the Israelites sang as they stood safe on the far shore of the Red Sea. The dry path they had crossed once again became the bottom of the sea. Pharaoh’s army had been decimated. The Israelites sang because the LORD had rescued them from destruction.

 

That’s why we sing! The LORD has rescued us from destruction. He has saved us from our sins, from the devil’s attacks, and from the power of death. He is our salvation! That’s why we use psalms, hymns and spiritual songs in our worship services. That’s why we follow a liturgy each week. We praise the LORD for the miraculous rescue he has performed.

When you sing for a while, your throat can quickly become dry and hoarse. What do most singers keep handy as they’re singing? Water. It wets the throat and enables us to sing a little bit longer.

 

The trials that we face every day threaten to dry out our throats and stifle our praises. Think of the challenges to our song of praise over the past week: aftershocks that continue to threaten Chile; record breaking snowfall on the east coast; destructive storms that have flooded the western coast of Europe; family members getting the bad news that they have cancer; delicate surgeries that bring with them the danger of complications. It’s hard to praise the LORD when these things try to steal our voices. We need a cool, refreshing drink so we can keep singing.

 

The LORD has just what we need. "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation" (Isaiah 12:3). Jesus explained what kind of water it is in John 4. "Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:14). Jesus provides us with the water we need for our parched throats. The water of baptism washes away our sins and removes the taste of death. When we open our Bibles, it’s like pushing the button on the water fountain. The words and promises of God bubble out and bring life. We come to the altar and kneel together for the Lord’s Supper. Jesus feeds us with bread—his body. He quenches our thirst with wine—his blood. He promises that this is “for you…for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 22:20; Matthew 26:28). Every time we drink from the water of life, it refreshes our voices and enables us to sing the song of the redeemed again and again.

 

When an individual or a group records a song, they aren’t singing for themselves. They want the rest of the world to hear their song, like it, and play it over and over again. One of the newest ways to get your song out is to record it and post the video on YouTube. Hundreds of thousands of people can view it without having to win American Idol or signing a record company contract.

 

Isaiah encourages us to share his song with others. "In that day you will say: ‘Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you’" (Isaiah 12:4-6). We have some good news to sing about. If you’re not a great singer, then shout out your praises! Don’t let the sweet harmony of the gospel get lost in the world’s dissonance. Someone else needs Isaiah’s song. They need to hear about God’s anger over their sins. They need to hear about the incredible rescue God performed through Jesus. They need to drink deep from the wells of salvation. Sing it out! Amen.

 

To God alone the glory! Pastor Jon Brohn