Daily Devotional Monday 26th June 2023

by William Moody

Isaiah 62

Zion’s Coming Salvation

62:1   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.
  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.
  You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD,
    and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
  You shall no more be termed Forsaken,1
    and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,2
  but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,3
    and your land Married;4
  for the LORD delights in you,
    and your land shall be married.
  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.
  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.
  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;
  but those who garner it shall eat it
    and praise the LORD,
  and those who gather it shall drink it
    in the courts of my sanctuary.”5
10   Go through, go through the gates;
    prepare the way for the people;
  build up, build up the highway;
    clear it of stones;
    lift up a signal over the peoples.
11   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.”
12   And they shall be called The Holy People,
    The Redeemed of the LORD;
  and you shall be called Sought Out,
    A City Not Forsaken.

Footnotes

[1] 62:4 Hebrew Azubah
[2] 62:4 Hebrew Shemamah
[3] 62:4 Hebrew Hephzibah
[4] 62:4 Hebrew Beulah
[5] 62:9 Or in my holy courts

(ESV)

Jerusalem is pictured here as a beloved bride for the Lord (v1-5). She will be revered by the nations as her righteousness and salvation shall shine forth.

There are two names given to Jerusalem (v4) which are Hephzibah (My delight is in her) and Beulah (married). How wonderful that the Lord will rejoice over his people in the same way a groom would over his bride (v5).

God has appointed watchmen who boldly are not to give the Lord rest but are to constantly to pray until the Lord’s will is done (v6-7). This of course us to pray down God’s promises to bless Zion which is the church.

The Lord has promised now His people will share in the benefits of their labours (8-9). It will not be as in former days when they sowed and harvested only for their enemies to steal. One day we will be removed from the enemy who spoils and steals.

The chapter ends (v10-12) with a proclamation of how the people are dear to the Lord and are not a forsaken city but rather His redeemed people.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®),
copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.