Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It!

“Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen on your walls; they will never be silent, day or night. There is no rest for you, who remind the Lord. Do not give Him rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem the praise of the earth. The Lord has sworn with His right hand and His strong arm: I will no longer give your grain to your enemies for food, and foreigners will not drink your new wine you have labored for. 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. Go out, go out through the gates; prepare a way for the people! Build it up, build up the highway; clear away the stones! Raise a banner for the peoples. Look, the Lord has proclaimed to the ends of the earth, “Say to Daughter Zion: Look, your salvation is coming, His reward is with Him, and His gifts accompany Him.” And they will be called the Holy People, the Lord’s Redeemed; and you will be called Cared For, A City Not Deserted.” (Isaiah‬ ‭62‬:‭6‬-‭12‬ ‭HCSB‬‬)

I had a birthday a few weeks back. I’ll refrain from making any comments on my age. Let me just say, I am feeling every bit of it. To celebrate, my wife and I took a trip to Texas to visit our oldest son and his wife and also our oldest granddaughter and her husband. We invited them to dinner at a nice local restaurant and enjoyed a good meal, laughter and conversation. 

When it came time to pay, I told the kids it was my treat – it was my birthday present to myself. Since they live several hours away from us, I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like. Sometimes, you just have to take matters into your own hands. Instead of waiting and longing for them to come see me on my birthday, I went to them and I even bought dinner. That’s just what dad’s do. My gift was their presence, laughter, joy and love. That’s all I really wanted.

In our focal passage, God is doing something similar. Last week, we saw how God was working to redeem and establish His people as a shining light of His righteousness. He was taking all of the necessary steps needed to change them from being “forsaken” to being “My delight.” Instead of being a people of desolation, they would be God’s treasure. God was going to make them into His beautiful, glorious and precious bride. This week, He gets us involved in His celebration preparations.

First, He appoints diligent watchmen to stand guard. But these aren’t just ordinary watchmen on the city walls, they are watchmen who never sleep and constantly cry out to the LORD. They appear to be given the persistent task of intercession on behalf of God’s people: “There is no rest for you, who remind the LORD (v. 6b).” This seems to be the very same idea that Jesus references in His parable of the persistent widow (see Lk. 18:1-8). In that parable, God isn’t compared to the unjust judge who finally relents and gives the widows the justice she demands. Jesus presents God as merciful and caring in contrast to the unjust judge who finally relents because of the widow’s persistence.

But if God is merciful, caring and just then why must the watchmen be persistent, never silent in their cries for God to restore and establish His people as a source of praise to Him? Because it is simply not enough for God to want it, we must also desire it deeply. If all I wanted for my birthday was to provide a nice meal to my kids, I could have sent them a gift card. But I wanted more than that, I wanted them and their presence (not presents). So, they had to make the effort to come join me for the celebration. They had to desire to be with me as much as I desired to be with them.

God could have spoken and the entire city of Jerusalem would have been restored. But God wanted more than just a bricks, blocks, mortar and gates on that site. He wanted a people who would reflect His glory, who longed for His righteousness in their lives. His righteousness comes only from His presence and the indwelling of His Spirit in us. This wasn’t about a beautiful city rising up over a lush and fruitful land, this was about a beautiful bride. Remember? God created a beautiful and glorious universe, and pronounced that it was good. But that wasn’t enough. He then created man and woman in His own image and placed them in the garden. Then He came and walked with the them in the cool of the evening. 

The crowning glory of God’s creation is a people who love Him and each other as much as He loves them.

Our culture often emphasizes the “love one another” aspect of that statement and neglects the first and GREATEST commandment part of it. Let me state this very directly, we cannot possibly love each other unless we love God first and above anyone and everything. We are only capable of love because He first loved us and my words are the cries of a watchman on the wall. Our world says, love is love. But scripture says, God is love. Our world says, your first love must be self love. Scripture says, deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Me. Our world says, follow your heart. Scripture says, Follow Me.

Let me ask you, is God’s glory and your righteousness a priority in your life? As I shared last week, God’s desire for you is to become more and more like Jesus. Our desire is often a lot less than that. My job is to try and keep you focused on that prize. When men believe they’ve found a real treasure, they go to great lengths to obtain it. They will put their lives and their fortunes on the line and  expend great effort to try and obtain it. What do you treasure?

“For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose.” (Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭13‬ ‭HCSB‬‬)

When we love God more than we love ourselves and we love His will more than our own, then He promises that we will see and enjoy His blessings. “The LORD has sworn with His right hand and His strong arm: I will no longer give your grain to your enemies for food, and foreigners will not drink your new wine you have labored for (v. 8).” While He indicates these things take effort, He strengthens us for the task. We may sow, gather, labor, harvest and build but God is the One who makes our work fruitful. As Paul said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” (1 Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭6‬ ‭HCSB‬‬)

Next, He tells us: “Go out, go out through the gates; prepare a way for the people! Built it up, build up the highway; clear away the stones! Raise a banner for the peoples.” The church must be diligent in being watchful and crying out on behalf of the people and calling them to our God, but we must also be diligent in going out, clearing the stones and building up the highway to the LORD. When things get challenging, it is easy to get in a defensive posture. Now that Christian culture and beliefs are “out of style” in our world, we must be careful and not just assume a defensive position. We need to be willing to take up the work of going out and doing the work to “clear away the stones.”

Don’t misunderstand me, that’s not a call to compromise our message or our mission. It is a call to make the message and the mission a priority but to do so with passion and compassion. When the Prodigal started home he was met by his father with both passion and compassion. The son was repentant and the father was restorative. The son was only seeking to be a servant in his father’s house but the father restored him to his place as a member of the family. We must have passion for the work and compassion for the people.

Finally, notice that the treasure the people seek is found in a person: “Say to Daughter Zion: ‘Look, your salvation is coming His reward is with Him, and His gifts accompany Him.’ And they will be called the Holy People, the LORD’s Redeemed; and you will be called Cared For, a City Not Deserted.’” Their treasure is not some beautiful land, glorious city, bountiful harvest or gold and silver, their treasure is SOMEONE! He is their salvation, He is their reward, He is their gift.

This is the biggest mistake the church has made in recent times. We have become so obsessed with materialism that we have substituted wealth, prosperity and things for the real treasure of heaven. God’s promise is not to lavish gold and silver on us, but to lavish Himself and His love on us. God’s blessings are not things but Himself. He is all we need. When He becomes all we need, then we will be called the Holy People, the LORD’s Redeemed. When He becomes all we long for, then we will be called Cared For, a City Not Deserted.

To build up this highway and to remove the stones seems to be the work of holiness that must be done in us. We will not become holy until holiness is our central desire. We will not become righteous until righteousness is what we diligently seek. “Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed, for they will be filled.” (Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭6‬ ‭HCSB‬‬) Somehow, He shows us the treasure and we’re blind to its beauty and value. God sets before us the very best and we walk away hungry. Hunger and thirst for righteousness, and be filled up with Him! Drink deeply from the living water and never thirst again. Take a bite of the Bread of Life and find your hunger forever satisfied. 

When the church turns from her pursuit of righteousness, we don’t turn towards some higher purpose. We turn towards a lesser calling, a viler purpose. When we turn away from Him who is light and life, we stumble in the darkness and die a little more each day. Hear me, oh church: He is salvation. He is life. He is the treasure we seek and the thing we long for most, deep down in our souls. We settle for a pittance when God offers a feast. We just want a slice of bread and glass of water, but He has killed the fatted calf and prepared a celebration. We run after the world’s treasure while the real treasure runs after us. Get up, turn towards home and find the Father running after you. Not to make you one of His hired servants, but to restore you into His family. 

In these days that we’ve spent exploring Isaiah, I have not found what I expected. I entered into this task with fear and trembling. I was a bit hesitant to delve into the depths of this grand old book, but through it I have discovered the source of my fears and the cause of my trembling. I have encountered the LORD, high and lifted up. His radiance fills up this space and His glory humbles me deeply. With each new chapter, I am reminded that He is not just the giver of life and breath, He is life and my breath. He’s not just the source of our salvation and hope, HE IS Salvation and Hope!

Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It! Redeemed, by the blood of the LAMB. Redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child and forever I am…