WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:03.600 Take your Bible and go to the book of Isaiah, chapter 62. 00:00:03.839 --> 00:00:05.759 Isaiah chapter 62. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:18.399 We've been working our way through Isaiah since September 2024, and we're reaching the final few pages of this great and wondrous book. 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:22.000 We're in Isaiah 62. 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:31.359 Have there been times in your Christian life where you felt like God has gone quiet? 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:34.960 You're not alone in that. 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:44.719 William Cooper, a man you might know as the songwriter for a song like There is a Fountain Filled with Blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins. 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:47.359 You might know him as the hymn writer. 00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:52.719 God moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform. 00:00:53.119 --> 00:00:53.759 Create him. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:56.880 All of us should really have memorized, actually. 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:01.359 He said this in his journal or wrote this in his journal. 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:05.840 I feel unutterable despair. 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:09.920 God has cast me off forever. 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:14.159 Wow. 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:29.200 Cooper loved God, and yet he expresses there that what is a very painful way of describing that he feels God is silent and even left him. 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:40.400 Like us, sometimes we pray and we feel like uh the prayers are just bouncing back off of the ceiling right at us and didn't go any higher. 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:46.959 Or we read scripture and it just feels like we're staring at ink rather than the living word of God. 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:55.200 Cooper said at another time, he said, I cannot find the God I love. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:58.319 I don't know where he's at. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:13.039 Charles Spurgeon, pastor of the largest church in the world in the 19th century, pastor in London, went through a season of time that was so dark and so despairing. 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:18.879 He said, I could not pray, I could not read. 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:22.400 I could only trust. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:30.879 And he described lying on the sofa in his study, even so down he was unable to lift his head. 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:36.639 And he said, This I felt as if I had never known the Lord at all. 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:47.360 Later, he talked about that, and he said a comment that maybe you've heard before. 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:52.879 When I couldn't trace his hand, I learned to trust his heart. 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:54.800 You might have heard that before. 00:02:57.199 --> 00:03:09.840 In those seasons of darkness, they and we can lose the sense of joy and delight in the Lord that others often have and seemingly never never lose. 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:16.719 But in those times, God was holding them as much as when they were joyful and happy and delighted. 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:19.520 He wasn't silent and he wasn't absent. 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:26.560 He was working in ways that perhaps they didn't understand, but he was working in them nonetheless. 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:37.759 And so you might be here this morning, and you might have, or will have, might have had, or will have, those times where you're going to ask those same questions. 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:39.199 Where is God? 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:41.280 Has he forgotten me? 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:44.719 Well, Israel knew that feeling. 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:49.360 They had been sent into Babylon and were in exile. 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:53.120 Their land and their temple were in ruins. 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:57.120 Their identity as a nation, a people of God, had been shattered. 00:03:57.199 --> 00:03:59.360 They became a mocking to the nations. 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:06.159 And in their own mind, they had etched in their hearts about themselves these words, forsaken. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:10.639 That's a stark word. 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:19.279 And in this emotional landscape, Isaiah 62 speaks with shocking words. 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:25.040 And so let's take a look at it and let us feel and hear the heartbeat of God. 00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:32.480 And we're going to look, first of all, at the first five verses where God determines to reverse his people's shame. 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:39.360 And we get to verse 1, and the very first thing that we hear in verse 1 is God speaking. 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:45.120 Now, without even seeing what he has to say, that alone is a pretty significant thing. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:52.079 Just remember this emotional landscape that we just talked about about Cooper and Spurgeon and Israel and us. 00:04:54.319 --> 00:05:01.519 Into this world that seems silent and full of confusion, God breaks in. 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:06.639 And he breaks in with a declaration that is very startling in its intensity. 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:08.800 Listen to it, verse one. 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:23.199 I will not keep silent because of Zion, and I will not keep still because of Jerusalem until her righteousness shines like a bright light and her salvation like a flaming torch. 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:25.680 Wow. 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:31.439 God speaks here before Israel even lifts her eyes. 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:35.920 And before she even prays, God declares his determinations. 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:42.240 Now pause there for a minute because this is not how we would expect this chapter to open up. 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:48.079 We would expect, you know, Israel to be crying out, a prayer of repentance, maybe. 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:55.439 We might expect a plea of mercy or some sense of awakening in them of spiritual need. 00:05:56.079 --> 00:05:57.759 But it doesn't start there. 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:02.879 It doesn't begin with Israel's voice, it begins with God's voice. 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:08.319 And he's saying here, I haven't forgotten you. 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:10.720 And I'm not done with you. 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:17.839 Because this chapter that we're going to look at here is not about Israel clawing its way back to God. 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:25.120 It's about God having the people overhear his determination to love them. 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:35.600 It's about God speaking about his unstoppable resolve to accomplish a glorious future for them. 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:40.000 Now that's certainly a gospel pattern, isn't it? 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:42.319 Before we seek God, he seeks us. 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:44.480 Before we call on him, he calls us. 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:48.240 Before we move toward him, he's already moved toward us. 00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:52.480 And here God is saying, I am not going to keep silent. 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:54.560 And he tells us why. 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:56.800 For Zion's sake. 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:02.879 Now remember, this is not a Zion who is improved. 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:07.199 This is not a Zion who is spiritually awake. 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:10.800 This is not a Zion who's finally repented. 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:14.160 This is not a Zion who's gotten their act together. 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:17.680 This is a God who loves these people. 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:21.199 That's why. 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:24.319 Why is he determined to act toward them? 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:28.480 Not because of what they have done, but because he loves them. 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:33.600 God told them that in Deuteronomy. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:42.959 I chose you out of all the nations of the world, not because you were the greatest or the strongest or the mightiest or what have you. 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:48.879 He basically says, I love you because I loved you. 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:52.720 And here he's saying it again. 00:07:54.000 --> 00:08:00.560 I will not be quiet because of you, because I love you. 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:16.319 And then he says, notice how he says this, I will not be quiet until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, as a bright light, and her salvation like a flaming torch. 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:21.839 Now that's vivid language, the pictures of what it is, but the resolve is there, right? 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:23.920 The determination is there. 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:35.200 This active pursuit of God on the beheart of his people that's not going to stop until they shine with his own glory. 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:42.960 And it's not something that they're gaining, it's something that God is giving them. 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:54.480 And he says, your salvation will be like a burning torch, bright, blazing, unmistakable. 00:08:55.120 --> 00:09:00.399 And he continues this resolve by giving us different ways of understanding it. 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:03.519 Nations will see your righteousness, all kings, your glory. 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:05.039 Now look at the end of verse 2. 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:10.399 You will be given a new name that the Lord's mouth will announce. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:26.000 And what has been part of our discussions with uh Ben and Naomi? 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:29.440 What is GB2 going to be called? 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:30.559 Grandbaby 2. 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:32.240 It's got to have a name, right? 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:43.919 And so they've been rolling names out, and some of them are connected to each of them and some of the some people and things that are important to them and us as families. 00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:46.960 They're not just labels, though, are they? 00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:48.879 Names are important things. 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:59.759 And particularly in scripture, they they carry a significant weight about identity and about destiny, and even incorporated in the story of their life. 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:02.799 Their names are often very, very significant. 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:08.240 In Israel's old names, take a look at verse four. 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:17.519 You will no longer be called deserted, and your land will not be called desolate. 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:21.360 Well, those are horrible words. 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:29.120 Imagine in second grade writing, like, okay, folks, we're gonna do a little spelling exercise here. 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:30.799 We're all gonna write our names. 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:42.559 And here you are with your monster-sized pencil, and you're like, desolate, forsaken, deserted. 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:45.919 Imagine having that hang over you. 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:47.279 What's your name? 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:48.559 Forsaken. 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:50.799 Wow. 00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:55.440 And it was about the land, but it was also about the people. 00:10:55.600 --> 00:10:58.080 This was what they thought about themselves in their hearts. 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:07.039 They've been cast out of the land, they'd been taken away to Babylon, they were in exile, forsaken, were they? 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:10.799 God says, No more. 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:12.960 No more. 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:14.080 No more. 00:11:14.559 --> 00:11:21.840 You're going to be given a new name that is going to come out of the Lord's mouth toward you. 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:25.679 The king of Babylon's not going to call you a new name. 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:29.200 You're not going to find some new name for yourself. 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:33.200 The Lord's going to give you a new name out of his own mouth. 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:36.320 He just strengthens it with that sort of picturesque term. 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:38.879 And what are those words going to be? 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:41.600 Verse 4. 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:48.720 Instead, you will be called, My Delight is in her. 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:51.360 And your land. 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:53.279 Married. 00:11:54.639 --> 00:11:55.279 Wow. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:57.679 Forsaken. 00:11:58.000 --> 00:11:58.879 Desolate. 00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:00.159 Deserted. 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:01.840 Gone. 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:05.679 What are you going to write your name now? 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:07.759 My delight is in her. 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:10.240 Married. 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:11.840 Wow. 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:14.480 Names of belonging. 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:16.480 Names of joy. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:21.120 Names that say, you aren't forgotten. 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:23.200 You aren't forsaken. 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:25.600 You aren't desolate. 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:27.679 You're mine. 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:30.320 And you're going to be my bride. 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:32.320 How wonderful that is. 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:38.000 Jesus takes up the language of this very verse here. 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:54.080 And in two places, to two of the seven churches of the book of Revelation, chapter two and verse 17, and chapter 3 in verse 12, he says this let it let anyone who hears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. 00:12:54.320 --> 00:13:06.320 The one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him an a white stone, and on the stone a new name is inscribed that no one else knows except the one who receives it. 00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:14.720 And then in chapter 3 and verse 12, the one who conquers, I'll make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he'll never go out. 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:26.000 And I'll write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven for my God, and my new name. 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:37.519 And envelops that new name into the idea of the bride, the bride of Christ, as it talks about later in the book of Revelation, that new Jerusalem. 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:46.799 And so Isaiah's marriage language here becomes the New Testament's climatic picture of the fullness of redemption. 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:50.639 And God says this in very breathtaking ways. 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:52.720 Take a look at verse five. 00:13:54.240 --> 00:14:00.559 As a young man marries a young woman, so your sons will marry you. 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:09.200 And as a groom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you. 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:19.679 God is determined to act in such a way, he's not simply forgiving, and he's certainly not forgetting his people. 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:28.879 He is going to be pursuing until they are in the place of full and welcome, wholehearted delight. 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:39.120 Some of you might have felt like, spiritually speaking, your name has been forsaken. 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:44.240 Spiritually speaking, you felt like your name is desolate. 00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:50.559 Some of you have perhaps wondered, is God disappointed with me? 00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:53.519 Uh is he tired of me? 00:14:54.639 --> 00:14:56.720 Is he frustrated with me? 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:01.279 Is he forsaken and deserted me? 00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:05.039 Isaiah 62 says no. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:06.799 Says no. 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:07.759 No. 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:10.639 No, that that's not your name. 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:13.919 It's not your story. 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:15.919 It's not your identity. 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:22.559 You are to be called my delight is in you. 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:25.440 You are to be called mine. 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:28.559 Married. 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:34.000 Just keep that locked into your heart. 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:37.600 The next time you think your prayers are going nowhere. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:42.879 The next time you wonder if I can't find the guy I love, like Cooper said. 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:48.399 The next time you say, I I can't, I I can't trace his hand. 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:56.559 Just remember, what you're feeling in that emotional landscape is not the reality of who God is. 00:15:57.840 --> 00:15:58.159 Okay. 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:02.960 You may not be able to perceive it, but he's doing something. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:06.240 He's doing something because he loves you. 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:13.120 I was talking to my son last night, and he was talking about having to give uh some medicine to his little to Callum. 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:24.080 And Callum's like, no more, no more, no, you know, and Matt Matt's like, he said it was the most heartbreaking thing to have to give this medicine to Callum, who didn't want any of it. 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:28.080 And I said, Boy, you're bringing back some memories, Matt. 00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:31.679 I said, think about the Lord. 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:35.919 How often we think, I just don't want that in my life. 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:37.759 And God says, you need it. 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:39.840 It's going to be good for you. 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:40.480 Okay. 00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:46.799 In verses six and seven, we move forward and deeper into this wondrous chapter. 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:55.039 We find that God is not only taking away the shame of his people, but he's also going to appoint intercessors to look out for redemption. 00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:57.840 This is some remarkable language here. 00:16:58.480 --> 00:17:03.919 He speaks about watchmen that he places, that God himself places on the walls of Jerusalem. 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:06.799 Jerusalem, verse 6. 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:09.759 I've appointed watchmen on your walls. 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:12.960 They will never be silent day or night. 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:15.440 Well, who are these watchmen? 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:27.519 They're not soldiers standing for danger, and they're not, they're not guards standing there with weapons in their hands, and they're not defenders waiting for an approaching enemy. 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:30.160 Who are they? 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:34.160 Well, they're going to be there vigilant and vigil. 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:40.799 Verse 6 At the end, there's no rest for you, but look what these in it these people are to do, these watchmen. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:45.440 There is no rest for you who remind the Lord. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:52.720 Do not give him rest until he establishes and makes Jerusalem the praise of the earth. 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:56.960 Well, that's a strange way of talking, isn't it? 00:17:58.079 --> 00:18:10.559 That God is appointing these people to stand, figuratively speaking, on the walls of Jerusalem, and they're not looking for enemies. 00:18:10.960 --> 00:18:19.839 They're looking to God and saying, God, we are talking to you until all of your perfect will is fully accomplished. 00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:22.160 And we're not going to leave you alone. 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:30.000 We're going to have 24-7 shifts of us speaking to you to do what you said you would do. 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:33.200 Wow. 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:45.599 These are people that believe God's word and they're going to persistently intercede until God fulfills that purpose. 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:52.400 And God says, I'm the one that set them there to do this. 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:56.880 I'm the one who's given them this assignment. 00:18:56.960 --> 00:18:59.279 I'm the one who's put this burden on their hearts. 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:07.839 I'm the one who has raised them up on behalf of my people to keep my promises before me. 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:12.720 They will never be silent, day or night. 00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:19.599 A little bit. 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:43.920 And why Habakkuk says, I've set myself as a watchman. 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:57.599 Or when Jeremiah announces God's future restoration, even while he's talking about their exile, standing where God set them. 00:19:58.079 --> 00:20:03.920 And not just being a messenger to the people, but being a voice to God. 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:18.720 We get to the New Testament and we find this old, old, old man who's waiting for the consolation of Israel. 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:25.440 And Simeon says, God, you told me I wouldn't die until I see your salvation. 00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:28.079 God, I'm still waiting. 00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:31.359 And he goes in the temple and he sees baby Jesus. 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:33.359 And he says, Now I can die. 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:38.240 My watch on the wall is over. 00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:44.720 I can quit pestering you, God, about bringing this deliverance because now I've seen it. 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:46.799 Jesus has showed up. 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:53.039 Anna, listen to what is how it describes her. 00:20:53.279 --> 00:21:00.160 She speaks, listen to this, to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:11.920 There are people in real time and space who are doing exactly what Isaiah is recording here is what God said is going to happen. 00:21:12.079 --> 00:21:20.880 That there are people who are persistently going to the throne of God and saying, We're not letting you go until this happens. 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:29.519 And God tells them, You who remind the Lord, no rest for you. 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:38.480 Do not give me rest until I establish Jerusalem and make it the praise of the earth. 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:41.599 What is he saying to us here? 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:54.720 To stay with what God has promised, to keep it anchored in our soul, to continue to bring God's word back to himself. 00:21:57.359 --> 00:22:01.599 Now, is God saying, look, I need a Post-it note now and again. 00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:03.200 You know, I'm busy. 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:08.160 I've made the whole universe, and you know, it takes a lot to take care of that. 00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:10.880 And there are a lot of you people on earth. 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:13.759 You know, it's just like 24-7. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:16.480 I've got to be God to everything and everybody. 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:20.319 And uh, you know, occasionally I could I could use a reminder here. 00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:23.599 Could you could you just like tickle me now and again? 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:26.400 Is that what he's saying? 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:28.319 Of course not. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:36.720 It's not that God needs the reminder that he forgets or that somehow he needs push to get involved. 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:39.680 What is he doing here? 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:43.039 He's telling us, I want you to love what I love. 00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:45.119 I want you to look for what I'm going to do. 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:48.880 I want you to keep it focused on my behavior and my actions. 00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:53.680 Even in the moments of quiet and stillness, keep looking for it. 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:58.319 Have an expectation of hope in your heart. 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:03.200 God wants us to share his heart. 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:06.799 And that's one of the biggest reasons why we pray. 00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:16.640 Because the God who's determined the end has also determined the means by which that end is accomplished. 00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:19.759 He's going to do his purposes. 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:28.160 But wondrously, he brings us into those purposes by putting those things on our heart and in our prayers. 00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:41.119 We pray, we labor, we intercede, not to talk God into doing something, but because he already cares about those things and he's put that burden on our heart. 00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:51.200 This is why Jesus took a widow and talked about her persistently begging for assistance and saying, This is how you should pray. 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:54.960 You should always pray and not faint. 00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:58.640 Sounds like Isaiah 62, right there, doesn't it? 00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:06.160 This is why, when you pray, our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be thy name, right? 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:10.160 Your kingdom come, your will be done. 00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:13.440 Pray in Isaiah 62, right there. 00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:17.519 And this is where it touches us. 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:31.680 How often many of us have prayed for an unconverted child or spouse or friend, and we don't see any change yet. 00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:36.559 We've prayed for a marriage that feels very, very fragile. 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:43.279 We've prayed for ourselves in a sin that seems to cling to us too closely. 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:49.359 We prayed for revival in our homes or in our church or in our country. 00:24:50.240 --> 00:24:54.240 And we wonder if those prayers even matter after a while. 00:24:55.440 --> 00:25:00.799 Come to Wednesday night prayer at seven o'clock, and we've prayed all the time these kind of things. 00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:04.240 Does it really matter? 00:25:04.480 --> 00:25:05.839 Is God really here? 00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:09.039 Is anything gonna happen? 00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:13.359 Isaiah 62 says, don't rest. 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:15.759 Don't rest. 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:25.599 Because he's inviting us onto the wall to be a watchman who persistently prays. 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:32.240 He invites us to join him in the work that he's accomplishing in his time and in his way. 00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:43.759 This is why Wednesday night prayer is such a beautiful, beautiful, and vibrant part of our life as the body of Christ. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:48.880 I know several of you, seven o'clock's thought, it's not an easy time to come. 00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:54.160 And you live some distance and you make it here on Sunday, but Wednesday night would be impossible. 00:25:54.400 --> 00:25:55.519 Understand that. 00:25:56.640 --> 00:25:59.440 But it's a time when the watchmen gather. 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:16.160 The ones who can be on the wall, the ones who bring the promises of God back to God, the ones who persistently offer these petitions week after week, and say, Lord, do, Lord, hear, Lord, accomplish. 00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:22.400 Because he is building his church and he is strengthening his people. 00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:27.599 And he's brought our hearts into what he's doing when we pray. 00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:30.640 Let's keep moving. 00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:35.920 God has promised to restore them and remove their shame. 00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:42.640 He's said he's going to set up watchmen who are going to persistently pray until his purposes are accomplished. 00:26:42.799 --> 00:26:49.200 And then in verses eight and nine, he swears this oath to secure this reversal that he's begun. 00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:52.799 He's not going to leave it to chance. 00:26:53.519 --> 00:26:58.480 Verse 8: The Lord has sworn with his right hand and his strong arm. 00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:04.640 I will no longer give your grain to your enemies for food, and foreigners will not drink the new wine for which you've labored. 00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:15.200 For those who gather grain will eat it and praise the Lord, and those who harvest the grapes will drink the wine in my holy courts. 00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:19.519 This is where the language just intensifies all the greater. 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:28.319 Up to this point, God has spoken about his determinations and his passion, that he's not going to keep silent, that he's going to keep his people talking too. 00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:34.079 But now he speaks with determination, an oath to seal it. 00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:41.119 The Lord has sworn with his right hand and his strong arm. 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:52.640 Whenever there's an oath that God makes in the Bible, it's time to pay a lot of attention because God doesn't do that very, very often. 00:27:55.039 --> 00:27:58.160 He doesn't use these words casually. 00:27:58.720 --> 00:28:03.279 And it's never just simply picturesque rhetoric. 00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:14.000 This is meant to steady some trembling hearts so they know without without a shadow of a doubt, God is serious about this. 00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:18.880 The Lord has sworn with his right hand and his strong arm. 00:28:20.400 --> 00:28:28.720 In the ancient world, and also in our time, at least it used to be, that when somebody made a solemn pledge, they were meaning to keep that. 00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:38.480 I remember even hearing the words that the shake of a man's hand was bond enough. 00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:47.599 These days it's like, you thought I was gonna promise. 00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:52.720 Or they'll go ahead and shake the hand and just stab you in the back while they're doing it with the other one. 00:28:55.440 --> 00:29:03.119 But God, who has no one higher to speak about, everything's lesser than him. 00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:06.640 He can't call to anything higher. 00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:10.880 So he says, I'll swear by my own arm. 00:29:12.480 --> 00:29:17.759 His power, his character, his nature is on the line here. 00:29:19.599 --> 00:29:23.119 He's going to stake his very being on this promise. 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:26.319 That's how intense this gets. 00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:47.200 Deuteronomy chapter 28. 00:29:47.599 --> 00:29:52.000 If they failed to follow God, they were going to face the consequences. 00:29:52.160 --> 00:29:56.799 And the consequences were very real and tangible on a seasonal basis. 00:29:57.039 --> 00:30:02.880 Their harvest would be stolen, their vineyards would be plundered, their labor would be wasted. 00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:08.240 They would feel like life is full of vanity and futility. 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:09.680 Why? 00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:19.519 Because they needed to examine their hearts, because they had been disobedient to their promises to God. 00:30:21.599 --> 00:30:30.720 Their experience would be one of loss, of gnawing frustration, and of humiliation. 00:30:32.319 --> 00:30:36.880 But now God is saying, No more, no more. 00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:40.400 Those days of loss are going to be over. 00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:43.519 Those days of shame are going to be over. 00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:49.279 Those days of humiliation and being plundered by your neighbors are going to be over. 00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:50.799 They're going to be over. 00:30:51.440 --> 00:30:54.559 All of these curses are going to be rolled back. 00:30:55.519 --> 00:30:59.359 And all of the covenant blessings are going to be restored. 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:03.519 And he adds something beautiful at the end of this. 00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:11.440 Those who gather the grain, they're going to eat it, and they're going to praise the Lord. 00:31:13.920 --> 00:31:20.559 And those who harvest the grapes will drink the wine in my courts. 00:31:21.519 --> 00:31:25.519 This is more than just agricultural stability here. 00:31:27.119 --> 00:31:32.079 This is about a life that's restored to wholeness and fullness in every way. 00:31:32.640 --> 00:31:37.440 A fruitful land and feasting in God's presence. 00:31:40.640 --> 00:31:50.079 As a consequence of their covenant abandonment, they had lived through seasons where everything they worked for was taken away and they didn't care to be in God's presence. 00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:52.640 They planted, others harvested. 00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:55.519 They labored, other people enjoyed the fruit of it. 00:31:55.759 --> 00:31:59.200 Their lives were one long string of disappointment and loss. 00:31:59.359 --> 00:32:00.720 And God says, no more. 00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:08.240 You're going to enjoy, you're going to harvest, you're going to taste with joy, you're going to be happy in my presence. 00:32:08.880 --> 00:32:11.279 That's what's going to happen. 00:32:11.759 --> 00:32:19.200 You're going to flourish in every way, and you're going to flourish before me and with me. 00:32:19.759 --> 00:32:23.039 Because worship isn't just something you're going to be doing. 00:32:23.359 --> 00:32:27.279 Worship's going to be the center of all your blessings. 00:32:27.440 --> 00:32:31.599 You're going to eat the fruit of all those blessings in my presence. 00:32:36.640 --> 00:32:39.039 What wondrous words these are. 00:32:40.400 --> 00:32:41.920 Now take a look at verse 11. 00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:44.240 We're going to jump just ahead for a second. 00:32:45.279 --> 00:32:47.759 And I want you to see a phrase here. 00:32:48.880 --> 00:32:51.279 Look, the Lord has proclaimed to the ends of the earth. 00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:55.680 Say to daughter Zion, look, your salvation is coming. 00:32:55.839 --> 00:33:02.559 And note the last phrase: his wages are with him, and his reward accompanies him. 00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:08.480 So it's going to happen. 00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:15.519 And the New Testament gives us some indication of how that's going to happen and where that fullness is going to lie. 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:38.079 Because in Revelation chapter 22, just after describing the New Jerusalem and giving an indication to the not sure what that was, the wondrous bride of Christ, and all the feasting, you hear the feasting word, and all the fullness word, and the married word, and the eating in God's presence motifs. 00:33:39.279 --> 00:33:47.200 Jesus himself says in Revelation 22, Behold, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me. 00:33:49.039 --> 00:33:55.519 Jesus picks up these words and says to his people, that day is still coming. 00:33:56.240 --> 00:33:58.000 That day is coming. 00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:07.519 Because the reward is not a trophy or a prize or just some extra grapes on a table. 00:34:08.719 --> 00:34:10.559 It's the new creation. 00:34:11.760 --> 00:34:20.800 It is when nothing ever is going to be stolen again, when nothing ever is going to be wasted, when nothing ever is going to be lost. 00:34:22.719 --> 00:34:36.880 Isaiah 62 is giving us a window into the future of a day when everything is there before God with fullness and with complete and utter praise to him. 00:34:40.639 --> 00:34:46.320 God swore an oath that he's going to bring the final restoration of his people. 00:34:47.280 --> 00:34:52.239 And that final restoration still is anchored in our hearts as hope. 00:34:53.360 --> 00:34:56.320 We're still looking forward to that day. 00:34:56.880 --> 00:35:02.559 But God says, remember, I promised it on the basis of who I am. 00:35:03.119 --> 00:35:05.039 It will happen. 00:35:05.360 --> 00:35:06.880 It will happen. 00:35:08.559 --> 00:35:10.480 And this is important for us. 00:35:12.079 --> 00:35:18.880 Because we live and we pour ourselves out on behalf of our families. 00:35:19.280 --> 00:35:22.320 We pour ourselves out on behalf of where we work. 00:35:23.039 --> 00:35:26.239 We pour out ourselves in care of the Lord's people. 00:35:27.679 --> 00:35:36.480 We give ourselves and our relationships, and sometimes it just feels like every effort we make just fizzles away, and any fruit of it disappears. 00:35:40.320 --> 00:35:43.199 Because we still live in a world where that happens. 00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:48.639 We live in a world where our labor sometimes feels wasted. 00:35:50.079 --> 00:35:53.199 We live in a world where the harvest seems to be lost. 00:35:55.280 --> 00:36:00.000 We live in the world where the sanctuary feels empty. 00:36:02.880 --> 00:36:10.400 We live in a world where the curse is still visible in a thousand, thousand, thousands of different ways. 00:36:10.639 --> 00:36:22.000 Broken relationships and weary bodies and broken hearts and anxiety of mind and spirit, and this gap between what we hope for and what we actually experience. 00:36:23.679 --> 00:36:26.559 And Isaiah speaks to us in this world. 00:36:27.119 --> 00:36:30.559 And he says, I've promised a day. 00:36:31.199 --> 00:36:32.960 And it's going to happen. 00:36:33.280 --> 00:36:35.280 Just anchor yourself there. 00:36:35.760 --> 00:36:49.679 Anchor yourself in that day when nothing will be stolen, nothing will be wasted, nothing will be lost, when you'll experience the fullness of joy and never again have frustration, and where worship will fill the whole sphere of who you are. 00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:53.679 There'll be a bounty beyond your ability to capture. 00:36:54.400 --> 00:37:00.400 Because Jesus said, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me. 00:37:01.119 --> 00:37:02.480 It's with me. 00:37:03.599 --> 00:37:06.559 You see, our future is not fragile. 00:37:06.800 --> 00:37:09.039 It's anchored in who God is. 00:37:10.480 --> 00:37:13.679 It's an oath-secured future. 00:37:16.880 --> 00:37:23.920 Just like Paul told us, we have an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that doesn't fade away. 00:37:25.119 --> 00:37:32.800 Kept in heaven for you, in which it'll be revealed in the last time. 00:37:33.199 --> 00:37:34.320 Right, Paul? 00:37:34.800 --> 00:37:35.440 Yeah. 00:37:36.800 --> 00:37:40.320 Our security doesn't rest on our grip of God. 00:37:41.199 --> 00:37:45.360 Our security rests on God's strength of who He is. 00:37:48.559 --> 00:37:51.920 And that leads us to the last one in verses 10 to 12. 00:37:53.519 --> 00:37:56.480 We've heard God's determination to restore his people. 00:37:56.719 --> 00:38:00.320