Sing For Joy

Isaiah chapter 12. We'll read the entire chapter. 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.

Well, it was last week that we saw that the Lord Jesus will be raised up as a banner and all of his people from all the nations, Jews and Gentiles will rally to him, will put their faith in him and be saved.

They'll be gathered to him on a highway that runs right through obstacles as great as the Red Sea itself. Now this week, chapter 12 of Isaiah tells us that Messiah's people are a singing people.

They're a gathered people. We saw last week. This week they are a singing people. They can't help it. Salvation produces joyful songs.

The kind that we have just been singing. Redemption results in praise. So the Israelites are being delivered out of bondage in Egypt.

They're being pursued by Pharaoh and his elite chariot core and all of his troops. And they're hemmed in in the desert and before them they are blocked by the Red Sea.

And it looks like indeed they're going back into bondage and there will be no deliverance at all. And then the Lord opened up that way right through the Red Sea and they went through the Red Sea.

And after the last Israelite stood on shore, the Lord closed up the waters on their enemies. And as they stood there on the far side of the Red Sea, they saw the bloated carcasses of the Egyptians washing up on shore.

And they did something that might sound strange. They started singing. And we have Exodus chapter 15 to read the song.

I will sing unto the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and rider thrown into the sea. And they sang to him about the Lord is my strength and my song.

He has become my salvation. He is my God and I will praise him. My father's God and I will exalt him. Who among the gods is like you. Majestic in holiness.

Awesome in glory. Working wonders. Oh, what singing. By a two million voice choir on the far side of the Red Sea.

Because salvation produces songs of joy. Or it's David in Psalm 40 and we can't be sure what deliverance he's writing of there when he is rejoicing.

He was delivered out of so many troubles, wasn't he? King Saul and his army chasing him down. The Philistines. His own sins. Which he says in that chapter were more than the hairs of his head.

And out of them all, he says, he was delivered. And so he sang. And Psalm 40 is his song. I waited patiently for the Lord and he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me up out of the slimy pit. Out of the mud and mire, he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth.

Even praise to our God. Salvation produces joyful songs of praise. Or Jonah running, the prophet running from the Lord and God's angry sea is against him.

And is tracking him down. And so he's thrown overboard. And he's going down for the third time. Down, down. He sinks to the bottom. He says the seaweed was wrapped around his head.

And he couldn't hold his breath anymore. And life was ebbing out of him. And the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. Jonah and Jonah starts singing a song of praise in that living submarine.

You can read it in chapter 2 of his book. Thanksgiving. A song of Thanksgiving was born there. And the theme of it was salvation comes from the Lord.

Verse 9. When people are saved, they start singing. That's the reality. The delivered ones cry. All for a thousand tongues to sing.

My great Redeemer's praise. The glories of my God and King. The triumphs of His grace. Now that's what chapter 12 is all about. Salvation produces praise.

That's the first lesson that we see. Isaiah has been prophesying the judgments of God that were going to come. And already were coming upon Judah and Israel because of their sins against Him.

Already the judgments of God's anger were breaking upon them. And many more were still to come as His hand was still upraised. For all of this, His anger was not turned away.

And His hand was still upraised against them. But then we saw that in pure grace, pure grace, God's anger would be turned away.

And a remnant would be saved. And in that day they would start singing. For salvation produces joyful songs of praise.

And two of the songs are recorded for us here in chapter 12. They're both introduced by Isaiah's words. And then followed by a concluding word from Isaiah.

But notice they begin. In that day you will say. In what day? Well, surely in the day when God brings them out of captivity from Babylon. They will sing in that day.

But the nearest reference to in that day takes us back to verses 10 and 11 in chapter 11. The chapter before us. And it points to Messiah's day.

Verse 10. In that day when Messiah, the root of Jesse, stands as a banner for the people. And the nations rally to Him and His glorious rest.

And in 11. In that day when the Lord reaches out His hand a second time. To reclaim the remnant of His people. Gathering them from all over the world.

In that day is speaking about the day of Messiah King. When He gathers His people together. Jew and Gentile from all over the world.

In a new exodus that far exceeds the old exodus. And just as the first exodus was followed by a song of praise at the Red Sea.

So Isaiah is telling us that the second exodus. The salvation of Messiah's people will result in songs of praise.

Praise is always the response of those saved by Messiah. So chapter 12 is the conclusion of this section that we've been studying for the last month or two.

Chapters 7 through 11 have been filled with glorious prophecies about the coming Messiah. That Davidic King.

The son of David. The root and shoot of Jesse. The wonderful counselor. The Emmanuel.

God with us. The virgin born son. Who would be king. Prince of peace. And would reign forever and ever.

Over the whole earth. The whole universe. He's been speaking about Messiah. And here at the end of that section of Messianic prophecies.

We have the songs that is gathered people will sing. Now do you get it? These are our songs. In Isaiah chapter 12. These are your songs.

Gathered people of Messiah. Who have rallied around the banner of the cross. And put your trust in Jesus Christ. And him crucified. This is what you were prophesied to be singing.

When Messiah has saved you. So let's learn well the songs of the redeemed. The hymns of Christ ransomed people.

We've seen our first lesson. That salvation produces praise. And there's three things about this praise. That salvation produces in the saved. First of all.

It is a God-centered praise. Notice verse 1. In that day you will say. I will praise you. Oh Lord. True praise is all about him.

Who he is. And what he has done. The saved one wants all the praise for his salvation. To be laid at his Savior's feet. Where it truly belongs.

Even as Pastor Jason was saying. If any praise reflects to us. We say not unto us. All to him. And this becomes a true test.

To see if you have rightly understood. Your salvation or not. Do you give all the praise. To God. Jonah wasn't saying.

Boy. I'm sure glad that I got on board. That fish passing by. No. He was saying. Praise the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. David wasn't saying.

I'm sure glad I have quick. Reflexes to dodge. Saul's spear. No. He's saying. The Lord saved me. He delivered me. And Messiah's people.

Won't be boasting about themselves. About their works. About their faith. About their repentance. Sure glad I was smart enough. To trust in Christ.

To choose him. To repent of my sins. No. None of that. They know better. They know that. I was dead in my sins.

And transgressions. I had no heart for God. If God had just left me to myself. I'd have gone on following my own evil desires. The course of this world.

And the way of the devil. I'd have followed that way right on into hell. But God. Who is rich in mercy. And for the great love with which he loved me.

Save me. Even. And made me alive in Christ. Even when I was dead. In sin. I was a wandering sheep. I once preferred to roam.

That was my preferred way. My way. Not God's way. I did not love my shepherd's voice. I loved afar to roam. And if I'm saved. It's because the shepherd.

Sought his sheep. And the father. Sought his. Child. And he followed me. Or veil and heel. Until he. He. He found me.

And. Drew me. Into his arms. And brought me. Into the fold. It's all his fault. If I'm saved. The only contribution. I make to my salvation.

As someone has said. Is the sin. That makes it. Necessary. The rest. Is all his. And so. To him. Be the praise. So where is boasting.

Then. Well it is excluded. So then. Let him who boasts. Boast. In the ward. And that's what. That's what. Messiah's people do. Verse two. This is what they're singing.

Surely. God. Is my salvation. God. Is. Equal sign. My salvation. That means. My salvation.

Equal sign. Is God. My salvation. Is. Is. Is him. A person. All he is. For me. That's my salvation.

And apart from him. There is no salvation. He's the author. He's the agent. He's the accomplisher. Of my salvation. He's the author. And the finisher.

Of my faith. The whole thing. Is his work. Done for me. Done in me. To him. Be the praise. And this.

This so. Permeates. Every. Poor. Of the. The. The saved one. That he repeats himself. The end of verse two. The Lord. The Lord. Is my strength.

And my song. He has become. My salvation. Now that's a line. Lifted right out of the song. That came. From the far side. Of the Red Sea.

The victory song. That's it. This is the line. Right out of that song. And as those Israelites. Stood there.

There was no doubt. In their mind. As to why they were saved. Or who did the saving. It didn't matter at all. How weak. They were. Or how strong.

They were. What mattered. Is how strong. Was him. Who reached forth. His mighty arm. And brought us. Right through. The Red Sea.

He is my strength. He is my strength. He is my song. He has become. My salvation. And brothers and sisters. As we sit here. This morning.

Redeemed. Saved. Delivered. There is no question. As to why we're saved. And who did the saving. Those questions are answered.

Over and over. The Lord. The Lord. He is my strength. And my song. And he has become. My salvation. Why is it that the pictures.

That God used. In the history of Israel. To portray. Our salvation. In Messiah. Why. Why. Why. Why. Were the. The odds. So stacked.

Against them. Why was it. Gideon's 300. Against the. The hordes. Of the Midianites. Why was it. Israel. Standing. Pinned in. Between. The Egyptians.

And the Red Sea. Why is it always. Hopeless. Because that's the way. It was. When Jesus. Saved us. Do you realize. That. What was true.

Of the picture. Is also true. Of the reality. That it was a hopeless. Thing for Israel.

To be delivered. From their sins. And. Friend. I must tell you. It was hopeless. To see you. Delivered from your sins. Have you thought. Lately. What sins.

Would I be a slave to. Right now. Still be a slave to. You. Today. Had God not. Come and save me. What sins. Come on.

It's probably the sins. You struggle with. Christian. And many more. And you'd be serving. Them today. That'd be all your heart. That's be. That would be your heartbeat. What you. What drives you.

What you'd be running after. But no. He. Invaded your life. He interrupted. And he saved. You. And so we can.

Only say. He has become. My salvation. This is what makes him. My song. My songs about him.

It's all God centered praise. Well. This praise. It's not only God centered. It's praise for propitiation. In the second place. That's just a New Testament word. For. Save.

Being saved. From God's anger. This praise. Of Messiah's people. Is praise. For being saved. From God's anger. Do you see that? What are they going to sing.

In that day. When Messiah saves his people. Although you were angry. Verse one. Although you were angry. With me. Your anger. Has turned away. And you have comforted me.

Joyful praise. Erupts from the save. Because. God. Who was angry. With them. Is angry. No more. But is rather.

Comforting them. He whose rod. Was upraised. In anger. Is now the one. Who is comforting. Them. In love. And for that.

They sing. They praise him. I wonder. If we understand. That the sinner's. Greatest problem. Just as. Judah's.

Greatest problem. Was not. Assyria. Or the northern coalition. Or any of that. Their greatest problem. Was God's anger. Do we realize. That the sinner's. Greatest problem.

Is that God. Is angry. With us. Because of our sins. Against him. And our sins.

Against a holy God. He is a. A holy God. Whose very nature. Recoils. Against that. Which is a contradiction. Of his holiness. It's not a temper tantrum.

He throws. When he's angry. At the sinner. No. It's the. It's the steady. Consistent. Way. That God.

Always. Must respond. To sin. And the sinner. It's offensive. In his sight. And so. He's angry. With the wicked. Every day. Though you were.

Angry with me. What. What. What is it like. To live under the wrath. And anger. Of another person. Every day. Some people live that way. Don't they. Maybe it's a bully.

At school. Every day. He's angry. And you live under his wrath. Every day. Maybe it's a. Spouse. Who's angry.

Every day. You live under that anger. A person. Who's out to get you. Well. You can get away. From that. Person. That's angry.

Can't you? But when God's. The one. That's angry. Where can I go. To flee from your presence. From your angry presence. There is nowhere.

To hide. And his. Anger. Is not. A sinful anger. Like the bully. Or the spouse. No. His anger. Is a righteous anger. It's what we deserve.

From a holy God. For our sins. What is it like. To live. Under God's. Anger. Means. Every day. We woke up. We woke up.

Under the wrath. Of God. And we. We ate breakfast. Under the wrath. Of God. And we. We went to school. Under the wrath. Of God. We went to work. Under his wrath. We drove on those.

Dangerous highways. Home. Under his wrath. We went to bed. Under his wrath. We go to the day of judgment. Under his wrath.

We live forever. Under his wrath. We go to the hospital. Under his wrath. We go to the doctor's office. Under his wrath. We come to the day of our death.

Under his wrath. That was us. We may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may God's anger be turned away from me.

Well, that's the million dollar question of the Bible. How can a holy God be anything but angry with me, a sinner? And the light begins to dawn in chapter 3, verse 15.

And right through the Old Testament, more and more light is dawning until you get to the New Testament. And so Israel is told way back here, it is the blood that makes atonement.

It's blood that atones and pacifies God's anger. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sin. But when I see the blood, my anger will pass over you.

And then it will be Isaiah in chapter 53 who will answer for us more clearly this million dollar question. How can God's anger be turned away from us?

And Isaiah tells us it's not the blood of an animal sacrifice that can do that. No, it's the blood of the perfect suffering servant of Jehovah.

And John will tell us the blood of Jesus, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. That's how God's anger can be turned away from us.

That's the only way. It's the only way it could be turned away from Adam and Eve, David and Moses, Jesus, Elijah, Peter, James and John and you and me is if our sins are placed on a substitute.

The perfect Lamb of God, Jesus Christ and all of God's wrath and anger is punishing Him in our place.

That's what Isaiah will tell us. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him. And that's why His anger has turned away from us.

And that's what fills the heart, the song of the redeemed in heaven. To Him who washed us in His blood and has freed us from our sins by His blood.

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. And with your blood you purchase men for God and from every tribe, language, people and nation. And that's the way Messiah's people will sing for all eternity.

And they start singing that way now, Isaiah says to us. This is what they'll say in that day. They can't get over this amazing reality that God's anger is no more against us.

And so they pinch themselves. And can it be, can it really be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood? Died He for me who caused His pain?

That all His anger against me that I would have known for eternity has been focused on my substitute Jesus. Hallelujah! He has become my salvation.

Oh, a God without anger that's being preached today leaves a salvation without wondering joy. Amen. This is saying that Messiah's people can't get over how God has turned His anger away from us through the Savior.

Well, it's not only God-centered praise, it's praise for His anger turned aside, but it's sung praise. And that's just been evident throughout this hymn as we look at it in chapter 12.

But we need to see that Messiah's people sing their praises to the Savior. They not only speak words, they sing words of praise. They make music to the Lord.

Verse 2, He is my song. I sing about Him. And my song's all about Him. Verse 5, Sing to the Lord, for He has done glorious things.

Verse 6, Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you. loud, enthusiastic, sung praises for the King of Kings.

When God saves people, they start singing. That's one of the marks of Christianity over against the other religions of the world.

It's Messiah's people who are a singing people. Indeed, some of the sacred writings of their religion are song books and songs to sing to their Savior.

You don't have that in Islam, in Hinduism, Confucianism, Confucianism, and all the other religions of the world.

No, it's Messiah who gives His people something to sing about. And when we get a grip on His salvation, we want to sing our praises to Him.

That's why when in the Reformation, the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century is the gospel of how God saves sinners by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone.

One of the fruits of that rediscovery of the gospel was that congregational singing was given back to the people of God. It's not something to be reserved for a few choir boys, professionals here and there to sing.

No, let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Those that He's delivered from the hand of the enemy. Let them sing their praise to Him. Salvation.

God produces praise. And so we sing and make music in our hearts to the Lord.

Well, that's the first response of Messiah's people to His salvation. The second is that salvation produces trust. And we'll go quicker with these last responses.

But notice verse 2. Surely God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. Isaiah spent a lifetime trying to get Judah to do that very thing, to trust in the Lord.

And to not be afraid of the northern alliance that was coming down against them. But instead, when threatened, what did Judah do? They trusted in man. They made an alliance with Assyria to come over and to rescue them rather than trusting in the Lord.

So, they were brought under God's anger for trusting in man rather than in God. So how in the world will these people ever be brought to trust in the Lord?

Well, only by an act of God's free and almighty grace to save them. And in that day, they'll finally get it. They'll finally see that with God as their strength and their salvation, they don't need any other saviors.

They can trust in Him and not be afraid of any other nation or threat. He's enough.

He really is all I need. Do you know that? Has God saved you by a mighty operation of His sovereign grace? Then you too know.

He's all I need. I can trust and not be afraid. Can we not safely trust all our concerns to Him who to save us freely gave us His most cherished treasure?

If He has done that for us, can we not rest all of our cares upon Him knowing that He cares for us? If God is your strength and your salvation, then fear need not be yours anymore.

And that's the confidence belonging to all Messiah's people in the face of all that might threaten them. It was when we were without strength that Christ died for the ungodly.

So what am I up against today? What are you up against today that makes you feel your weakness and causes you to fear? He is my strength. He is my strength.

And I realize, as Israel realized at the Red Sea that what really mattered was not how strong or weak I am, but how strong my Savior is to get me through this Red Sea.

He's my strength so I can be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. He's strong for me. What do I need to be delivered from today?

What dangers? What temptations? What sins? What evil devils? He's my strength and my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. So salvation by Messiah produces trust.

But then it also produces joy. Verse 3, With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. Joy comes from drinking deeply of God's salvation.

You know people were made for joy. We are joy seekers because we were made for joy. And we thirst for it. And this world is a dry and thirsty desert with nothing to quench that thirst.

Nothing to satisfy our spiritual need for God and His salvation and the joy that comes from it. The only satisfying life-giving water is found in the wells of salvation that is in God our Savior.

And what water is to parts earth God the Savior is to sinners. And in drawing upon Him we find true life joy and peace.

It would be 700 years after Isaiah that there would be a thirsty Samaritan woman bringing her water pot out to a well outside of Sychar because she was thirsty.

Oh, but don't let that fool you. She was thirsty for more than water. She was thirsting. As every man and woman, boy and girl who's ever been brought into this world is thirsty for God.

They were made for God and nothing can satisfy them but He Himself. And there she sits, stands, whatever, by the well. And though she doesn't know it, the well of salvation is sitting on Jacob's well.

And He begins to talk to her. And He says to her, everyone who drinks from this water will be thirsty again. That's the way it always is.

With anything below, you'll thirst again. Oh, but whoever drinks of 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.

And He went on to reveal to her her sin, His identity as Messiah. And in her joy, she left her water pots and ran back to town.

Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this not be the Messiah? And they came. The whole town came out and many of them believed also that this Jesus was the Messiah, the very Savior of the world.

The world's a thirsty place. People you work with. They're thirsty. And you know what's out there? The mirage.

The desert travelers thirsting. And in a distance, they see what looks like water. Oh, but it's not water, is it?

It's just heat waves bouncing off the desert sand that shimmers and looks like water. water. And so they turn aside to go get some water and they find nothing but dry sand.

Nothing to quench their thirst. Oh, but there's water to be found over here. And they go and they find nothing. It leaves them thirsty.

And so it is. That's all that's out there. There's only life-giving water in Jesus Christ. And this poor woman had sought to find the water in relationships with men and it had five and the one she was living with was not her husband and it left her thirsty.

But she came to Jesus and found that water which if a man or woman drinks, he will never thirst again. With joy, this woman drew water from the wells of salvation.

Wells, plural, because it speaks of abundant supply, a fullness of grace in Jesus. And from his fullness have all we received and grace upon grace.

It never runs dry. And every divine attribute becomes a new well to let down our empty bucket and to draw up God's love.

And we drink in his love and his faithfulness, another well and his power and his sovereignty, his grace, his mercy, the wells of salvation. With joy, we draw from them.

Not once. We go on drawing from our Savior. Enjoying God is the serious business of heaven as someone has said and it starts now as we keep coming to Christ and we keep drawing from him all that he is for us.

Our great Savior. The deeper we drink, the fuller our joy. You thirsty this morning? I know the world's been telling you water's out here.

And the sad thing is is that our deceived hearts believe that lie. But Jesus never lies and he says, I am the well of salvation and it's in me alone that you find this water of life and joy.

Well, salvation produces joy. With joy, you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And fourth, salvation produces thanksgiving. In that day, you will say, verse 4, give thanks to the Lord and call on his name.

Messiah's people are a thankful people. Here they are eagerly singing, stirring up each other. Come on, give thanks to the Lord. That's their song. It's only fitting that those who have been saved by grace give thanks.

If you had been one of the Israelites who walked through the Red Sea while they were congealed like jello on either side and you walked through on dry land, how long do you think it would be before you stopped thanking the Lord every day for having saved you?

Brought you through that Red Sea? I've heard people say, I'd never, I'd never stop thanking Him. That would be so vivid. That would be such a big deal to me. I would never get over that.

My friend, that's just a picture. The reality is that you have been brought through those waves of God's wrath and though they swallow up many others, you come through safe.

That Jesus Christ went right down into the jaws of death and hell and led us out victorious on the other side. You have been saved from a greater enemy.

They were delivered from lifetime of bondage. You from an eternity of God's wrath. Have you ever got over the daily thanking God for saving you?

Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me whole. thank you, Lord, for giving to me your great salvation so rich and free.

Thank you for turning your wrath away from me and putting it on my Savior. Thank you, Jesus, for bearing it for me. Thank you that every day my sins are forgiven and I'm your son and all your promises are mine.

Thank you for saving me. Messiah's people are a thankful people. And then, fifthly and lastly, salvation produces evangelism and missions.

We not only praise the Lord, but we praise our Savior to others. You take your car to a mechanic and he does a good job on your car and so what do you do? You tell your neighbors, don't you? Or maybe it's your hair salon and you tell your lady friends about what a good job she does.

that's the response of the saved. God has saved them. His works have made them glad. So what do they do? They want others to be made glad.

Let the nations be glad. And so they tell others and we see in this psalm that evangelism and missions that we want others to know and not just others like us.

We want others way far away to know. Yes, here, next door to us, but also way far away. Notice verses 4 and 5.

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.

You see, there's something about being saved by Messiah that turns us outward. We were turned inward by sin and salvation turns us outward.

Lord. Not only have I come to trust in this Lord, I want everyone else to trust in him and be saved. Not only has he, his works made me glad, I want them to be glad.

Not only have I drunk with joy from this well, I want others to drink and live. And I want that praise to go to my God that he deserves.

And it's as we are enjoying the salvation that is ours in Christ that we ought to have this burden to tell others.

It was one Sunday in 1865 that Hudson Taylor was back from China. He'd been there about 10 years as a missionary and he was back to recover his health and to recruit more workers to go inland China and to reach the unreached millions.

And he was worshipping in a church on the south coast of England and while worshipping he had to leave the service and go out and walk on the sands of the shore alone, pouring out his heart to God.

And he writes, unable to bear the sight of a congregation of a thousand or more Christian people rejoicing in their own security while millions of Chinese were perishing for lack of knowledge.

Does the gospel do that to you? Even as you sing of his great salvation? Isn't there another verse in the song that then says, pity the nations, O our God, constrain the earth to come?

Isn't there another verse besides just thank you Lord for saving me? Isn't there other verses that say, O Lord, that from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same that the Lord's name might be praised from east to west, from coast to coast, from sea to sea?

It's not right that our God's wondrous works are not known by men. It's not right that he's not worshipped, that he's not praised, that he's not trusted, that he's not loved by creatures that he has made in his own image.

We have a story to tell to the nations and they must hear if they are going to believe in our Savior. So proclaim that his name is exalted.

It is exalted. The word for proclaim means cause them to remember. Keep reminding them that his name, who he is, is exalted.

You know what men are constantly doing to our God? They're pulling him down, aren't they? They're thinking of him as little more than what we are. Somebody like us, maybe a little better than us.

They don't see him for who he is. High and lifted up like Isaiah saw him in chapter 6. High and lifted up. And when we see him high and lifted up as Isaiah did, Isaiah was given a commission to go and tell others and to proclaim and to put them in remembrance that his name is exalted.

He is high. There is none like him. He's your maker. He's your creator. He's your judge. He's the one you'll stand before. He's a God to be feared and he's a God of immense love who loved the world so much that he sent his one and only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

He is exalted. He is exalted. And so that 8 year old boy went with his father to hear the great evangelist George Whitefield and when he got home his mother was asking him about the preacher the famous preacher.

He said, Mom, he made God look big. He made him look big. It's because he is big.

He is glorious. He is exalted. And it's not right that men think of him as just one of their gods or he's the God of Americans or he's the God of this or that.

No, he is the God of all the earth. The Holy One of Israel is glorious. And he has commanded that all men everywhere repent and bow the knee to his King Jesus.

well, a full heart opens the mouth you see. A heart rejoicing in God's salvation. Once others to know that joy, David, restore unto me the joy of your salvation.

Then will I teach transgressors thy ways when I am rejoicing again in your salvation. And the apostles were threatened to speak no more in his name.

We cannot help but speak of what we've seen and heard. We've seen the Son of God die on the cross for our sins and rise again for our justification.

A full heart opens the mouth. Two concluding applications and we're done. Why is Isaiah telling the people what Messiah's people will be singing in that day?

Well, the lesson is that what you'll be saying and doing in that day is to cause you to shout and sing for joy now. So the lesson, application one, don't wait to start singing.

Don't wait to start singing. Sing now of joys to be enjoyed then. Though you've not yet seen your final deliverance from Assyria, from Babylon, from your sins, don't wait till the final victory.

Battle has been fought. The decisive victory has been fought in Christ. Rejoice. We've read the end of the book and we win.

So rejoice. Start singing now. Now, you know that Messiah is coming to deliver you and that is enough to bring loud songs of joy.

That's why he's saying, that's why he concludes this whole prophecy of the coming Messiah with this song of joy. That the Old Testament saints of God going through all their trials might yet have a song of joy to sing by faith.

Our God has not forgotten us. He's sending his Messiah to save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. And Messiah's salvation starts the celebration now.

Your appreciation of God's salvation can be measured by the ability to be joyful in all circumstances. Let me read that again. Your appreciation of God's salvation can be measured by your ability to rejoice in all circumstances.

If you're reveling in the wonder of being saved by God and all he is for you now, then, even when life punches you in the face, is an email that I received this week said.

You'll still be able to rejoice. You can say, my greatest problem is already solved. God's anger has been turned away from me. So whatever else is happening or not happening in my life, I can still sing and rejoice in my Redeemer even with a bloody nose.

I am with joy drawing water from this well of salvation even when life gets dry and dusty as a desert. There's water here.

There's joy here. That's what Isaiah called joyfully drawing water from the wells of salvation. salvation. And God has got me on the highway to heaven and on this highway one day gladness and joy is going to overtake me.

So I'm traveling along on this highway and I'm sighing and sorrowing. Aren't you? They're my sins. There's a wicked world. And I'm sighing and I'm tired and one day gladness and joy is going to overtake me on this highway.

And everlasting joy will crown my head and sorrow and sighing will pass away forever as a thing of the past. And there I will find more joy in the Lord than I ever realized was possible.

So I'll have immense capacities of joy in my God given to me for all eternity and his presence is a fullness of joy and at his right hand are pleasures forevermore.

So Isaiah is saying don't wait to start singing. Sing now. Shout aloud and sing for joy now people of Zion for great is the Holy One of Israel who is among you in you with you for you right now.

So honor Messiah now with your songs of praise Thanksgiving and joy. Sing with the bloodied Paul and Silas while they're still in the dungeon before the deliverance comes.

Sing with the Israelites on the near side of the Red Sea before God has come and opened it up. Sing now. You've tasted of God's salvation. Sing before the final installment when he returns and takes us to be with him forever.

Second application you're dangerous when you're not praising the Lord. How we need to praise the Lord in our trials. In our troubles. What do troubles do?

They grab for our attention and they say think about this. Think about this. And we do. I mean what am I going to do about that? And how am I going to do that? And how am I going to answer this need?

How am I going to meet that deadline? And we start thinking about it and what's happened is we forgot about God. God. And so we don't know joy and praise and love and all the no we've got this problem.

And folks we're dangerous when we're focused on our problems. That was King Ahaz's problem. Oh I've got this northern alliance coming against me. Oh that's so terrible that he lost sight of God and we do dangerous things when we lose sight of God.

He says oh Assyria can help me and he put his trust in man who has but a breath in his nostrils and he came under further anger from God. What does praise do?

Praise is the most God-centered thing you ever do. And so praise refocuses our attention on him who he is and what he has done in the past and is doing now and will do in the future.

And then I see my problem as the molehill that it is and the comparative power that God my Savior has for me.

That even if it be my death yes I call it a molehill because death is but my entrance into glory. So we need to praise the Lord.

It's like the spiritual thermometer you're no more healthy than you are praising. What does the praise-o-meter say about your spiritual health? Come on let's praise him together now as we turn in our hymnals and sing our response to his great salvation number 133.

Let's pray. Lord Jesus this is our heart for you and we confess that it's not always our heart for you that many times we're trying to suck joy out of the mirages of the world when these wells of salvation ever wait for us to plunge afresh and drink deeply of our Savior.

Forgive us and fill us with the joy and peace that comes from believing and oh fill us with the burden that others might come to the joy and peace of believing that we would open our mouths from a full heart and tell others of the great works of our Savior that in every place your name might be great and in every place people might be rallying around the banner of our Savior.

Do it for your own great praise and thank you for forgiving our sins and turning your anger away from us. We praise you in Jesus' name.

Amen.