Thank God He Never Stops Talking

Isaiah 62:1 (ESV) For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch.

I love the beginning of Isaiah 62. The chapter is full of good news for God's captive people. They were lost in exile but they will be brought back and restored to wholeness with the Lord. You get the idea that Isaiah's message has been dark for a reason, to bring those dwelling in darkness to the light. 

Earlier in Isaiah, the prophet also could not keep silent. But then it was about the terrible sins of the nation. Remember Isaiah 58?
Isaiah 58:1 (ESV) “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.

One thing God is never going to do. He's never not going to speak to us. He will lead us with His voice until we are freed from sin and in right relationship with Him. 

This time in Isaiah 62, the unrelenting voice of the Lord declares the hope that is Israel's:

Isaiah 62:2 (ESV) The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give.

Then God speaks as a bridegroom to his bride:
Isaiah 62:4-5 (ESV) You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. 5 For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

But make no mistake. God does not just simply do it all for them. The prophet calls the watchmen to cry out to God in verses 6-7. 

Isaiah 62:6–7 (ESV) On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest, 7 and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.

I love that line as well, "you who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest". Prayer is often putting God in remembrance of what He said. He delights in the moments His saints take His Word THAT seriously. When they call Him to stand by it and remember. 

Isaiah prophesies right to the blessed end of God's people. 

Isaiah 62:11 (ESV) Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.”

Then:
Isaiah 62:12 (ESV) And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the LORD; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.

Why does God continue speaking both in the darkness and in the resurrection? Because God is willing to put His hands in the dirt to clean us up from the contamination of sin. And when we are clean, we are more than just cleansed, we are covenanted in relationship with Him. We are identified as His and we belong.

He never stops speaking. You might need a warning. You might need a reminder. But you will get what you need when you just stop and listen. 

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