A Sure Promise

Today’s sermon is about a promise. It is sobering and, at the same time, exhilarating to think that Jesus has obligated Himself to us. He has made promises, and He will keep them. And knowing that makes such a difference. This week’s chapter in Isaiah is a promise from Jesus. The same Jesus who cursed the people of God back in chapter 6 now commits Himself to bless the remnant that He also spoke about back then. Those who do not follow Jesus are on their own as they try to make their way through this life. And that is so very sad. But we who follow Jesus have promises that guide us through this life and assure us of our future, a very bright future. We have hope. And what a tremendous blessing that is.

Please listen as I read Isaiah 62.

Jesus begins the chapter by describing what Jerusalem will look like once He has fulfilled His promise. He says that her righteousness will go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. But that’s church talk and it doesn’t have any punch to it. So, let’s translate it. Jesus promises that Jerusalem, the people of God, will be beautiful. What, after all, are righteousness and salvation and all the other Gospel virtues about? They are simply different ways in which beauty shines. They are reflections of the beauty of God, Himself. Jesus promises beauty. And this isn’t going to be some obscure sort of beauty that only the initiated will be able to spot. No, Jesus says that even the nations, those outside the group, will recognize this beauty, and they will be so very impressed. Beauty. The beauty of God. Jesus promises it.

One way that He communicates this sense of beauty is by the names that He uses, names that describe this changed Jerusalem. He begins with a reminder of what Jerusalem was once called, names like ‘Forsaken’ and ‘Desolate’. And bear in mind that these names were applied to Jerusalem because of Jesus’ curse. But that is all changed. Now, she is called ‘Sought Out’, ‘A City Not Forsaken’, ‘The Redeemed of the LORD’. Let me mention something about two of the names. The first of these is ‘The Holy People’. Those who are holy are pure. They are sinless. Don’t think about that in terms of keeping the rules. Think of that in terms of not being tripped up any more by your sin. Think of the multitude of ways that your sin makes life so hard. Idols and lusts and rebellious choices. Think of the sadness and chaos that results. What a mess! But Jesus promises that His people will be a holy people. No more sin. Life without even stumbling, let alone falling. Can you imagine it? It actually is something hard to imagine, no? But Jesus promises it. He is making you His Holy People.

The other name that stands out to me is ‘My Delight Is in Her’. What a refreshing thought. Jesus delights in His people. And to be sure that we get it, Isaiah includes a picture of this in our chapter. ‘… as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.’ This is much like a verse that has been with me for quite a while. It’s from everyone’s favorite Old Testament prophet, Zephaniah. ‘The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.’ It is sometimes hard to feel special. There is so much telling us that we are not. But Jesus thinks otherwise. Jerusalem, the people of God, all of us who all too often deserve the name ‘Forsaken’ – we will hear joyous shouts from the one who loves us, from the one who says: ‘My Delight Is in Her’. So, what do your feelings tell you? Do they remind you that Jesus delights in you? They should. If they don’t, they are lying to you. Here’s another bit of the Gospel to believe: ‘My Delight Is in Her’

Jesus is committed to seeing these things come to complete fulfillment. He promises change. And we can sense His determination at the very beginning of the chapter. ‘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 was a little confused, at first, by this keeping silent and being quiet. So, Jesus isn’t going to talk? But then, I thought of one of the Psalms which uses similar language. ‘For God alone my soul waits in silence…’ David’s silent soul isn’t about words spoken or not. It’s about a quiet spirit. David waits and he is at peace. There is no agitation. So, Jesus uses the same sort of language but flips it on its head to get the opposite thought across. There will be no peace and quiet. There will be agitation and a lot of it. It’s as if Jesus were saying, ‘I am not going to sit still and be quiet. Absolutely not! I am going to attack this issue again and again and again, and I’m going to keep at it until I succeed.’ Jesus is intent on doing you good. He is determined.

That should be good enough for any of us. But just in case it isn’t, He actually takes an oath. ‘The LORD has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: “I will not again give your grain to be food for your enemies, and foreigners shall not drink your wine for which you have labored…”’ Jesus emphasizes what He is going to do by strongly denying its opposite. There is, in fact, a fancy term for this. So, instead of cursing the people like He did in the past, He is going to bless. He swears that He is going to bless. So, by a promise and then by an oath, Jesus assures you that He is going to do good to you.

The point of the chapter is to encourage you. There is more than enough in just what I’ve shown you so far to encourage you. But Jesus wants to add more. He’s like that, you know. He goes the extra mile to be sure that you understand that He loves you. So, in our text, He adds this. ‘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, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.’ This is still about achieving that goal of making you beautiful. Let’s start with this putting the Lord in remembrance. As you’ve read through the Bible you’ve seen this idea of God remembering. A couple of examples. This first is while Noah is on the Ark. ‘But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.’ Then, there’s this from childless Rachel. ‘Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.’ You’ve seen this before, and I’ve taught you about it in the past. But it’s good to hear it again. This is not about God having amnesia. It’s about Him bringing something to mind and then taking action. In Noah’s case, God acted to send that wind to dispel the waters of the flood. In Rachel’s case, God gave her children. God remembering means that He brings something to mind and then takes action. This explains God’s promise not to remember our sins. If He did remember them, He’d have to act. He’d have to damn us.

One of the Psalmists takes this the next step. ‘Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people; help me when you save them…’ The Psalmist knows about this theme of God remembering. But instead of waiting for Him to remember, the Psalmist prays that He will. He is asking God to bring his situation to mind and to act on his behalf.

And that brings us back to our text where Jesus talks about those who put the LORD in remembrance. He’s talking about asking Him to act. He‘s talking about prayer. ‘You are to remind Me of this promise I am making. You are to call Me to action so I will keep My word.’ So, prayer has a role to play in the fulfillment of this promise. But, did you notice? Who is to be doing this reminding? It’s not you. Listen again. ‘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, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.’ You are the Jerusalem that Jesus is talking to. And He is trying to convince you of His determination to keep His promise to bless; His determination to love you. And so, He is telling you that He has called some to the task of reminding Him of this promise. He doesn’t place that responsibility on you. As a gift of His kindness, He places it on others.

And who are these others whom Jesus has placed on Jerusalem’s walls to remind Him day and night? Watchmen. Who’s this? We’ve encountered them in Isaiah before. Remember? ‘His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge; they are all silent dogs; … they are shepherds who have no understanding…’ The watchmen are the shepherds. The watchmen are the pastors that Jesus has placed on the walls of Jerusalem. The call here is not for you to pray, but for me to pray. I am to remind Jesus for you. This promise is so fully a matter of Jesus’ gracious favor to you that He even calls others to remind Him, for your sake.

This has been a good reminder to me of what it is that Jesus has called me to do. You may remember when Peter and the others were leading the Church right after Pentecost, there was a problem with sharing the food. This had to be dealt with. But what did Peter say on behalf of the Apostles? ‘Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.’ Pastors are called, first and foremost, to pray for the Church. We are called to remind Jesus of His promises to His people. And we are to do that with the same kind of doggedness that Jesus uses as He pursues His promise. ‘You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest until…’

Every week I pray for each of you. Each family is assigned to a day of the week. Whatever I know about you and your situations, that’s what I pray about. I also make some guesses about how you’re doing and pray about those things also. I am your watchman on the wall. So, it was good for me to be reminded that I am to remind Jesus about the promises He has made to you. Not just this one, there are others also. But this one covers a lot, doesn’t it? Jesus wants you to flourish. He describes His love for you. He tells you about the drive with which He will pursue this goal. And then, He gives you someone to pray on your behalf, someone to remind Him and to keep on reminding Him… ‘until’.

Let’s pull this together. Here’s one thing to think about. Jesus is in the process of doing you much good. Much good. Remember: Holy People. No more sin. Key to that is another indicative of the Gospel: He delights in you. He is like the groom who has finally made it to the wedding day. He rejoices over his bride. And the honeymoon is never over. Never. Believing this will result in tremendous hopefulness; optimism that never quits. Another word for that is joy. To be sure, Jesus will lead you into – and out of! – some really hard times. And He is going to take some cherished idols from you. It’s going to hurt, and it’s going to be hard. And the question will once again be, ‘Do you trust Me now?’ But when you are in those situations, remember this promise. Remember that He is intent on making you special and making you pure. Remember that He is exhilarated over you in love. Remember that He will not give up on this until you reflect the beauty of God Himself. If you can remember these things, then you will say, ‘Yes, Lord, I trust You.’ So, rejoice and be happy. Consider your future. The final destination for the people of God is too glorious to picture; but try. And give thanks. This is yours because of Jesus, the Savior; Jesus, your Savior.