Sermons
Vander Kam on Isaiah 49:13
Sermons
Vander Kam on Isaiah 49:13Isaiah 49:13 – "Shout for joy, O heavens! And rejoice, O earth!
Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His
people,
And will have compassion on His afflicted." (New
American Standard Bible)
Beloved in the Lord: we have sought in this past week to examine ourselves, and to examine ourselves as well as possible so that we will be able to come to the Lord's Supper today. And this is according to a heritage that we have received, and that is a good heritage. That we will then also examine ourselves every time we come to the Lord's Supper. And our form has also given us direction on that score and has laid emphasis on this, that first of all we are to know how great our sin and misery is. Secondly, we are also to remember that there is salvation, and that thirdly, we will also show true thankfulness to God for that salvation that has been wrought.
So that these are the three things, the same three things that the Catechism brings up all the time, that is where the divisions are from the very beginning, that it is sin, salvation and gratitude. That is the way in which we are also to examine ourselves properly to come to His table and that is the only way that we are able to come. But so often, and in some communions especially, you find this, that they remain with the first one. And that is, that we are to know how great our sin and misery is; and that is indeed true. That is indeed a must, that we are to know how great our sin is, and that is the way in which we will also again come to know it, by proper self examination prior to the celebration of the Lord's Supper. But we may not stay there, and that is always the danger, and that we will then sing Psalm 32 or Psalm 51 or Psalm 130, to show that we are indeed smitten in heart because of the sins that we have committed.
But there is also something of an entirely different nature, and that is, that we are also to rejoice. That there is going to be joy for the salvation that has been given to us; joy for that salvation that is now ours, and thus we will also be able to bring true thankfulness to God for the salvation that He has granted. And that note must also be struck. And that is often lacking.
And now at the Lord's Table we are also to look at that, as we speak to you this morning on, Praise For Salvation. Noticing in the first place, for whom it is; and secondly, its nature.
No, Isaiah is speaking concerning the people of God at that particular time, of course. And he is speaking of that particular time but there are also the various things that he has said already in the early chapters of this book, in which he has already shown them that there is going to come the great Conqueror, the great king of Israel, and that he is going to be greater than David, though He is going to come as a child. Nevertheless, He is going to be the ruler. And in Him and through Him salvation is going to come about. That is the way in which He is going to bring it. He is going to bring salvation to His people.
But at the same time beloved, that is a people that is then going into captivity, and he is speaking to them in captivity, and I have referred to that before from chapter 40 on. He is speaking to that people as they are in captivity, that captivity has not yet occurred but that is so sure to come that he is prophesying it already, but is also already prophesying that they are going to come back. And it is for that reason, in those days, when they are in captivity, when they say those things that they have said in the first part of this chapter, that the Lord has forgotten them, that the Lord has forsaken them, that all the joy has been taken away, that he now comes and says, "Rejoice; rejoice for the Lord has comforted His people, that He is going to show compassion to His own." Now that is the structure, the structure of the book of Isaiah in general terms.
He is prophesying of that day, he is speaking to the people of that day. But at the same time he is speaking to them when they are in captivity, seventy years later. And that he is speaking to them then when they need that comfort so badly, when they feel so bad because they are there under the heel of the oppressor. That then he speaks this comfort to them and he says, "Shout, shout for joy oh heavens and rejoice oh earth." Because it is of this nature that now that he is making salvation known to them, that he is making known to them that there is going to be relief, that they are going to go back from captivity. This is almost too much to take in; this is almost too much to believe. It is one of those things that we have sung of just a few moments ago; "Where is the blessedness I knew when first I sought the Lord?" Then it was great, you see that so many times. A person who comes to conversion, oh then everything is so beautiful, but after a period of time slowly there is a pall that falls over it, and the exuberance of the beginning is no longer there.
"Where is the blessedness I knew when first I sought the Lord, where is the soul refreshing view of Jesus and His Word. The peaceful hours I once enjoyed, how sweet their memories still." Yah! Now that is the thing that is true of God's people of every age. There is that exuberance at the beginning, and now that He is speaking that comfort to them; oh, this is great. They had not looked for any comfort anymore but it is also soon going to pale, because it seems to be too much, it seems to be too much to expect.
And therefore he is going to call everything together in order to praise Jehovah. "Shout for joy oh heavens, and rejoice oh earth, break forth into joyful shouting oh mountains." Which has usually been pushed aside in this way, that's poetry. Heavens do not sing for joy nor does the earth, nor do the mountains. So that that is poetry; and you lose yourself in poetry, the poetic state. No, that is not what the prophet has in mind. He has in mind not merely poetry but this, that it is going to be very clear that these are the actual things, that all of heaven and all of earth and all the mountains, all of creation sings. Sings of the glory of God's people. That's Romans 8 too, by the way. That the whole creation, says the apostle, groans and is in pain, to be delivered, waiting for our adoption, that is, the redemption of our bodies, whereby we are attached to this present creation.
We will thereby raise up again all that exists, because of the fact that we are going to undergo the resurrection of the body. And here too, shout for joy oh heavens and earth and mountains, because of the fact that God is doing great things. Now then there is nothing in all of creation that may remain silent; all of it has to be exuberant in its praise. Praise for the salvation of God's people. Not praise for itself, the heavens do not shout for praise of itself, nor does the earth, nor do the mountains, but for the praise of the salvation of God's people. These are the ones who are redeemed, and in the redemption of God's people lays already the seed of the redemption of all creation.
See, it is man who has drawn the entire creation into the difficulty. Through his sin he has caused all things to fall with him. That now this earth brings forth thorns and thistles, that now in the sweat of your brow you are going to eat your bread. But it is also that man, through that Man, that it is going to rise again. That is its only hope! And therefore, a Romans 8 has been misjudged so many times because that is the heart of it, from verse 18 on. The heart of it, that He has redeemed His people and that as a result of that, this has its effect everywhere, in all of creation. There's nothing that you can touch anymore that is not touched by the redemption of God's people. And that is the beauty of it, and therefore, "Shout for joy ye heavens, and ye earth and mountains."
So you are not merely dealing with poetry; a nice way of putting it; but rather this, this is actual, this is real. But at the same time beloved, it is for His people, so that they are to rejoice in that salvation that is theirs. And this is something of course, that they may never take for granted. That they would lose that first exuberance of their salvation would be sad. That they would lose it, so that He also calls on them that they are to rejoice; "Shout for joy oh heavens, rejoice oh earth, break forth into joyful shouting oh mountains, for the Lord has comforted His people!" That's the reason, so that that people ought to rejoice. If heaven and earth is to rejoice in the fact that Jesus Christ has redeemed me; and they are called to do that; then certainly I am called to do that. That is the impact of this verse. That we are to shout for joy, we are to praise Him, we are to glorify Him, for that salvation that has been made known.
That salvation is so beautiful. We owe everything to it; there is nothing in life, in this life or the life to come that we do owe to that salvation. We are going to stand before that again in a couple weeks when we celebrate Christmas, the beginning of it. We stand before that at Easter time, we stand before that at Good Friday; all the time. It is always this, He has redeemed His people, let them rejoice; let them shout for joy; because He has redeemed them.
Now that redemption of God's people is something that is to be considered to be the most, the greatest of that which is to happen to them. The greatest of anything that could happen; nothing is comparable to it. Everything else pales in comparison. That a person receives wealth, or that he receives long life, or that he receives the victory over his enemies; and those were the three things that were promised to Solomon, you know. What do you want of these? What do you want? Ah, those are the things that are really great. Those are the things in which we can rejoice. Long life that is not bothered with a breakdown of the body; wealth so that there is not that poverty, grinding poverty; and victory over enemies so that we are not the losers. Nah, none of them! Give me wisdom; give me wisdom and understanding. Give me to understand what Thou doest with me. Give me to understand the things that are necessary for this life and also for the life to come. That's what I need.
That is so beautiful. The Lord says, "And therefore I will also give thee these others." That comes along with it, those are byproducts, but it is especially that wisdom. To know what is the important thing. To know what is important and what is not important. And finally come to the conclusion, this wasn't it? Too bad. A lot of time wasted. We should know from the beginning what is important and what is not. And then the prophet says, "Shout for joy oh heavens, and rejoice oh earth, break forth into joyful shouting oh mountains, for the Lord has redeemed His people." He's going to save His own. That's it! That's the important thing. And for that, we shout for joy.
The believer is a joyful person; the believer is a person who is filled with joy. And otherwise you will have to rip the book of Philippians out of the Bible; you're all through with it. Anyone who has a long face is not able to understand what the Lord has done for His people. That's for whom it is.
Now secondly, notice also its nature. Now the nature of it is this, for the Lord has comforted His people, He will have compassion on His afflicted. What the nature of it is this, that He has redeemed them, that He has bought them up, that He has paid the price, and that is the thread that runs through the Scriptures throughout. It is a redemption, that is, a payment made, He is Redeemer, He is the one who pays it. And the redemption is the sum that had to be paid. That is the way in which He saves His people. He saves His people even unto the uttermost, He saves them from all distresses, He saves them from the pit, He saves them from everything, He saves them from destruction. His salvation is complete; His salvation is such that nothing more is necessary. Now that is the way He speaks to His people. And that is its nature.
Its nature is this, that it encompasses both this life and the life to come. We are now saved, we now rejoice in salvation. And even though we haven't laid hold on all of it yet, we have only the down payment; but it is already glorious. That down payment, I tell you, you can live on that, and you can live on that for eighty years. You can live on that for a lot longer than that, but when the full sum is paid out, it is stupendous. It is unbelievable, so great. That is the salvation that He has in mind for His people.
Now what it is going to entail beloved, for this people, is going to be this that they are going to be saved out of that Babylonian captivity in which they reside for seventy years. And it was their sin that had brought them there, it was their own fault, and they are going to do ever so much complaining in the midst of all of that captivity, and they are going to complain again and again because the following verse says, "but Zion said, the Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me!" That's it! That is the way they felt. He is the one who is to blame, He is forsaking them, He has forgotten them: no, no, it is their own sin that has brought them there. The sin of Mannaseh, when he took his little children and sacrificed them on the hot arms of Molech. That was the reason they were in captivity, because all the people applauded it. That man was almost a step ahead of the abortionist; he took the children that were alive and laid them on these glowing arms; sacrificed them. This abomination! And then they wonder; the Lord hath forgotten, the Lord has forsaken? No, not at all!
But it is rather this; they have been brought to Babylon because of their sins. Their sin was so overwhelming that it was no longer possible for them to stay in the land of promise. It was so great that they could no longer receive the favor of God upon them there; so that He led them out. And He leads them out for seventy years; at least a couple generations. Now in that time He says to them, "Shout for joy because I am going to save My people."
That salvation is going to be this, that they are no longer going to be under the heel of the king of Babylon, that for one thing. They are no longer going to be in servitude, but they are going to be brought back to their own land, to that land flowing with milk and honey. They are going to be brought back to that land which is the greatest of all the lands of the earth. That's where they're going to be. That is their place. And He is going to save them; He is going to redeem them. And when He redeems, He redeems completely. Not only away from Babylon, but also into Canaan. That is the true redemption.
And therefore they are to shout aloud for joy, they are to rejoice. Here is praise that is required. And again, when you look on that nature of it, then He is the one who has comforted His people. Now, Isaiah 40 begins with that, you know; "comfort ye, comfort ye my people." That is the thing that they lacked, that comfort. That comfort that spoke to the heart, that put the heart at ease, that spoke volumes to the heart, spoke exactly those things which were needed because that was the thing that was lacking thus far.
So He has comforted His people. And when you come to someone who has been bereaved, it is always so difficult, isn't it, when you comfort. When you return to the Word of God because our own words are so weak and so helpless at a time like that. So we turn to the Word of God.
But then you wonder yet, are they really comforted by it? Have I helped them at all? That is always the question. But here's the thing: He has comforted, no doubt about it. He comforts, He comforts the hearts of His people. He comforts them to the extreme; they need no more. They have comfort, and comfort to spare when He comforts them. And this is their great comfort, that they have again been received into favor, the favor of their Lord.
Now that is the way we approach His table. We have been received into the favor of the Lord, no doubt about it, when He gives His only Son and lays Him as a sacrifice before us, for us, for our sin. Now you don't have to question anymore, "Does He love us?" No. You don't have to wonder anymore, "Is this comfort?" No. It's clear, clear as crystal. And that is the way in which He comforts His people.
And besides that, He will have compassion on His afflicted. These are afflicted, there's no doubt about it. These poor people, for seventy years have been there in that Babylonian captivity. What an awful situation! Read the book of Lamentations and you get just a little taste of it. There they are in that land of Babylon and they don't know what to do, they don't know what to think anymore, they don't know what the future is going to hold.
He has compassion on His afflicted. He is aware of them, He is aware of all their afflictions, and He is able to do something about it. If we stand before these afflictions and troubles, we can't do anything about them. Wish I could, but I can't. He can! He will have compassion, and He will have compassion on His afflicted. Those who have been so ground into the dust, whom He has had ground into the dust because they deserved it, but nevertheless, He also has compassion again on His afflicted. They are still His. And this Israel is scarcely able to understand, and thereby Zion says, "The Lord has forsaken me and my God has forgotten me." Now they are still His people, though He deals with them like that. If this is the God of love, if this is the God that is in control over all things, that sends me these difficulties in life. That's the note that is struck so often today. He will have compassion on His afflicted.
And therefore we come with the praise of God for our salvation this morning. We praise Him at His table, we praise Him in His Word, we praise Him in song, we praise Him in prayer, we praise Him here, we praise Him in our homes. For that salvation that He has granted, salvation full and free. We have everything; everything has been given to us. And then we have to be thankful for everything; "In all things give thanks." And we have to rejoice in all things, and be joyful, because heaven and earth will show us. Let it never be said of us, "where is the blessedness I knew when first I sought the Lord," because now I can't find it. "Where is the soul refreshing view of Jesus and His Word?" That first love departed? No, that first love has to continue, and grow. And then we give praise to Him for salvation. Amen.
We give Thee thanks, heavenly Father, for the grace and mercy Thou hast revealed to us in Thy Word. For in that Word, Thou dost counsel us, Thou dost guide us and direct us in the way in which we are to go. Thou dost thereby guide our thoughts; Thou dost thereby lead us in our hearts. And we pray Lord God, that the praise of our God may then also be uppermost for us. That we may desire it above all for that salvation which Thou hast revealed. Be with us now as we come to Thy table, that we may there also recognize the elements which Thou has given us, to symbolize the blood and the body of our Savior. That we may come in faith, nothing doubting, that we may come as true members of the body of Christ. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.
Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
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