The God Who is Worthy

Isaiah chapter 12.

Isaiah 12 · chapter mention

I'll be reading for us just the first three verses.

Behold, God is my salvation.

I will trust and will not be afraid.

For the Lord God is my strength and my song.

And he has become my salvation.

With joy, you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

Let's pray.

Lord, this morning we come with hearts that are filled up with the testimony of your word.

Encouraged by the reminder of the privilege that we have to worship you together.

To bring our expressions of thanks and praise to you.

A God who is worthy.

Who alone is worthy to be praised.

And we do that this morning.

And we ask that you would help us to be people who are marked by praise.

As we look at this passage today and we see the example.

And the call.

The command.

The exhortation for us to be people who are people of praise.

May that be true of us.

Regardless of the circumstance.

Regardless of the situation in life.

May we be people who are marked out as people of praise.

We ask for your help.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, this past weekend I felt a sense of accomplishment.

I, for the last several months, have needed brakes and rotors on the front of my Honda Civic 2006.

I won't tell you how many months have gone by.

And it's been very clear to me that the little squeaking.

The squeaking went away because I rubbed things down so far that it wasn't there to squeak anymore.

And, you know, there's one of those things where the daunting pressure of doing that kind of task.

And you get the wheels off.

And then you don't know what to do next.

And then you have a car that doesn't work anymore.

You can't move it out of the driveway.

You can't get it out of place.

And so that kind of loomed on my shoulders.

That was kind of a burden to carry.

And I certainly didn't want to pay the money to get brakes and rotors fixed.

And so what does anyone do in the 21st century when we need to figure out how to do something like brakes and rotors?

What do we do?

Yeah, you are good.

In days gone by, we would ask somebody for help.

You know, we would ask a parent.

We would call up a friend.

We would get somebody to come.

But not anymore.

We go to YouTube, right?

So that's what I did.

I went to YouTube.

And you type in the search.

And you get the specifics.

Honda Civic 2006 LX front brake pads and rotors.

Here's how to go.

Well, after looking at several different videos,

I noticed that some of them experienced or had some gaps.

Like, you know, you remove this screw and you take off the rotor.

It should be that simple.

But for some reason, it wasn't coming off.

There must be another step somewhere in the process.

And so instead of going from step A to step E,

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And some of those videos didn't have that.

Other videos walked little novices like me through the entire process.

And I found out that all you have to do is knock on that rotor,

pound I should say, a couple of times,

to unstick it from the other mechanisms that were there.

Kind of unfreeze it.

And then you could wiggle it out of place.

But, man, I would not have known that from the previous video.

Well, I was able to get the rotors off, put them back on,

get the brake pads in place, put the wheel back on.

And my wife drove it yesterday, and she was able to stop.

So that's a good sign.

And I don't know if you ever noticed this,

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Have you ever seen that and wondered what in the world is going on?

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This morning we're looking at this passage in Isaiah chapter 12.

Isaiah 12 · chapter mention

And what really is kind of unexpected about this chapter

is that Isaiah has spent so much time

teeing up the discipline that he's going to bring on Israel

and the judgment that he's going to bring to the nations.

He spent the first nine chapters

trying to raise the awareness of what's going to happen

and then beginning that process in chapter 10.

Now all of a sudden in chapter 12,

he takes an unexpected turn.

From chapters 10 to chapters 35,

Isaiah is going to deal with the discipline of Israel

and the judgment on the nations.

But in chapter 12, and in chapter 25,

and in chapter 26,

he pulls away,

he takes this little departure,

this little detour,

because he wants Israel to understand

where this is all going.

This is all leading to praise of God.

All of this,

the hardship and the difficulty,

the suffering,

the circumstances that they were going to encounter,

and the judgment on the nations

were all for the sake of praise

to the glory of God.

This morning I would ask you,

as we begin this study,

this important question.

Is your life marked by praise?

Is the expression of your life,

the words from your lips,

the posture of your heart,

a posture of thanks and praise?

As we'll see this morning in our passage before us,

Isaiah wants to bring to the forefront of our attention,

you cannot be a people of God

without being a people of praise.

You cannot call yourself

a follower of God

without being

a person that is marked

by thanksgiving.

That

is the significance

of this passage today.

And for those of us,

and I would put myself

in this category

as one who tends to complain,

one who tends to criticize,

one who tends to look

at a glass half empty

instead of half full,

that cannot be

the expression of a life

that is marked

by the sweetness

of the gospel

in the glory of God

in transforming our life.

You will be a person

of praise

if you are a person

of God.

That's what

Isaiah wants us to understand.

That is the thrust

of today's message.

Are you

a person

of praise?

As we look here

in the first three verses,

we see

this rising theme

coming to the surface.

First,

I want you to notice

that the expression,

the ultimate expression

of a people of God

is marked

by praise.

This is

the ultimate expression

of the people

of God.

Notice what it says

in that first phrase.

It says,

you will say

in that day.

Isaiah points

to a day

of awakening.

A day

really of resurgence

and revival

in the hearts

of the people

of Israel.

We'll look briefly

in just a few moments

at kind of the

historical background.

Where was this people

in relationship

to spiritual

vitality?

Isaiah wants

these people

to understand

that it might not

mark their

current position,

their current

posture of life,

but it will be true

of a future people

that God has

created for himself,

a people

who are to be

marked

as a people

of praise.

This Hebrew word

of praise

is translated

thanksgiving

or praise

interchangeably

throughout

the Old Testament.

and one commentator

puts it this way.

He says,

any revival

of religion

which may yet

come to the world

will be marked

by a new

outburst

of thanksgiving.

You want to see

revival in this land?

Do you want to see

a resurgence

of people

captured

by the image

and glory

of Christ?

it will happen

as you

are struck

yourself

with a vision

of God's glory

and you proclaim

it to yourself

and to others

around you

as your life

is again marked

by thanksgiving

and praise.

The words

of this song

are drawn

through the

collection of

scriptures

throughout the

Old Testament

which help us

understand

this doesn't

just mark

a future people

but this is

the people

that God

had called

Israel to be

all along.

They were to be

a people

of praise.

We see it

as the people

are coming out

of the nation

of Egypt

and crossing

through the Red Sea.

The same words

that we find

in this chapter

this morning

are the words

that first

showed up

in those moments

those moments

of rescue

that featured

his glory

that identified

the future hope

that the people

would have

as they would

move into

the promised land

as they would

make God

the central

focus of their

lives.

But Isaiah

is anticipating

a future day.

A future day

when all of this

will really

become

alive

and consuming

for the people

of God.

There will be

a day

of enduring

praise

and thanks.

Many things

would characterize

that day

but the one thing

that would stand

out head and

shoulders above

the rest

the prevailing

theme of their

lives

would be

marked

by Thanksgiving.

A people

marked

by thanks.

I want to

show you

just three ways

in this passage

that the people

are thankful.

What are they

thankful for?

How can we

emulate their

example?

What do we

see here

in these

first three

verses

that help

us

understand

what we

as people

of God

also

need to be

thankful for?

Notice

right here

at the beginning

of verse 1

it says this

I will give

thanks to you

O Lord

for though

you were

angry with me

your anger

turned away.

first of all

they were

thankful for

discipline.

Do you find

yourself being

thankful for

discipline?

Or do you

find yourself

being thankful

that you

escaped

discipline?

Oh man

discipline is

not

something that

we enjoy.

But here are

the people of

Israel looking

back on the

legacy of their

lives and

they understand

God

graciously

intervened.

God stood

in the way

he prevented

them from

going where

they could

go.

He helped

to call

them back

to himself

and in

that way

his grace

showed up

in their

lives.

And for

that

for that

they give

praise

for that

they give

thanks.

They understand

that discipline

had a purpose

and so in

the discipline

they are

grateful.

They praise

in the name

of God.

God was

justly angry

with a

disobedient

and an

unfaithful

people.

We see it

right at the

outset of

Isaiah in

chapter 1.

Turn with me

just for a

second.

Keep your

finger in

chapter 12.

Just by way

of reminder

in Isaiah

Isaiah 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

what do we

know about

these people

in verse 4?

Here's what

it says.

Ah,

sinful nation

of people

laden

with iniquity

offspring

of evildoers

children

who deal

corruptly

they have

forsaken

the Lord

they have

despised

the Holy

One

of Israel

they are

utterly

estranged

from the

lowest

dregs of

society

to the

upper

classes

of the

palace

sin

had

permeated

this

people

wholesale

rebellion

and turning

away from

God

we see

that over

and over

as an

anthem

through the

first and

second kings

and first and

second chronicles

of people

who had

given themselves

over

to the

vile

practices

of society

of the

nations

surrounding

them

but in

that day

there would

be

something

different

in that

day

there would

be

spiritual

resurgence

but in

this day

it was

marked by

compromise

it was

remarked

by

rebellion

even as

Isaiah

writes this

prophecy

during the

reign of

Uzziah

and Jotham

and Ahaz

and Hezekiah

although

Uzziah and

Jotham

kind of

stand as

those who

were devoted

to God

at least for

a portion

of their

leadership

for some

reason

action had

not taken

place

in and

among the

people

themselves

we find

in second

kings

that Uzziah

did what was

right in the

sight of the

lord

according to

all that his

father Amaziah

had done

except

that the

high places

were not

removed

the people

still

sacrificed

and burned

incense

on the

high places

King Jotham

was just

like his

father

Uzziah

he did

what was

right in

the sight

of the

lord

he did

according

to all

that his

father

Uzziah

had done

however

the high

places

were not

removed

the people

still

sacrificed

and burned

incense

on the

high places

and so

the compromise

that showed

up in

Uzziah

and in

Jotham

took flight

in the

ruling

of Ahaz

this son

and grandson

now shows

the wickedness

and the lack

of training

that were

represented

in his

father

and grandfather

of Ahaz

it says

he walked

in the way

of the kings

of Israel

indeed he made

his sons

to pass

through the fire

according to

the abominations

of the nations

whom the lord

had cast

out from

before the

children of

Israel

and he

sacrificed

and burned

incense

on the

high places

on the

hills

and under

every

green tree

or tree

and during

the writing

of this

prophecy

of Isaiah

God is

giving a

vivid

clear

example

to the

nation

of Judah

what will

happen

when a

people turn

their back

on God

the northern

ten tribes

those tribes

of Israel

that had

split off

from the

kingdom

would experience

the disciplining

hand of God

on their lives

on their nation

as a result

of their

rebellion

and turning

away

from the

God of

Israel

Judah would

be able to

see up

close and

personal

first hand

what happens

when a nation

turns their

back on God

they would

have this

object lesson

play out

right in

front of

them

the empire

of Assyria

was rising

to power

we find

from 2nd

Kings

chapter 15

directly

after

during the

tail end

of Uzziah's

leadership

we find

some things

beginning to

break loose

in the northern

ten tribes

in relationship

to this

rising empire

of Assyria

it says

the king

of Assyria

came against

the land

he demanded

tribute

from the

king

of Israel

who

then depleted

the funds

of all

the wealthy

individuals

who were

living

in the

nation

in order

to turn

back

Assyria

from attacking

them

well that

worked for

a couple

of years

but it

didn't take

long

before that

same king

would come

back

and begin

to conquer

all the

lands

surrounding

those

northern

ten

tribes

decimating

the cities

and taking

the people

captive

to Assyria

Ahaz

and seeing

this rising

threat

says I'm

going to

make a

preemptive

decision

I'm going to

make a

political

decision

to align

myself

with Assyria

so if

they make

it through

Israel

that will

be safe

as a

nation

of Judah

so he

sends

tribute

to the

king

of Assyria

and in

sending

tribute

to the

king

of Assyria

all of

those

nations

who had

been opposed

to Assyria

now begin

to return

and retool

their focus

now it's

going to

come on

to Judah

the kingdoms

of Israel

and Damascus

and even

the Edomites

and the

Philistines

begin to

align

themselves

against

Judah

and now

Ahaz

has a

problem

so what

does he

do

instead of

turning

to the

Lord

and asking

for help

from God

he turns

to human

strength

he sends

more money

to the

king of

Assyria

and Assyria

comes

he gives

assistance

and decimates

Damascus

Ahaz

would meet

him there

the king

of Assyria

and not

only would

enter into

a binding

treaty

with him

but would

now import

a new

dimension

of idolatry

into Judah

he sent

for his

high priest

to come

and to

evaluate

the altar

that Damascus

was using

to offer

tribute to

their gods

and his

encouragement

to this

priest was

make this

same design

and put

it in

the place

of the

bronze

altar

outside

of the

temple

in Jerusalem

move

that bronze

temple

to the

north side

of the

temple

and now

all of the

sacrifices

the burnt

offerings

the sin

offerings

the grain

offerings

and drink

offerings

and peace

offerings

instead of

being offered

to God

on the bronze

altar

was offered

now on

this

idolatrous

Damascus

altar

right outside

the temple

of God

in Jerusalem

he dismantled

the temple

and redecorated

it according

to his own

design

we find

a tribute

to his

leadership

in 2nd

chronicles

it says

he walked

in the way

of the kings

of Israel

and made

molded images

for the

Baals

he burned

incense

in the valley

of the son

of Hinnon

and burned

his children

in the fire

he sacrificed

and burned

incense

on the high

places

on the hills

under every

green tree

in every

single city

of Judah

he made

high places

to burn

incense

to other

gods

and it

was

to Ahaz

that the

prophet Isaiah

gives

the promise

of Emmanuel

unbelievable

mercy

it was

to this

wicked

king

who led

Israel

to wholesale

rejection

of God

that the

promise

of Messiah

comes

a promise

of future

deliverance

comes

what do you

do

when a people

reject you

what do you

do

when a people

turn their

back on you

I'll tell you

what this

person would

do

if he was

in control

he would

extinguish

those wretched

people

but not

God

God would

purify his

people

not

extinguish

them

God would

refine his

people

not

destroy

them

God would

restore his

people for

himself

a people

of praise

that's

why

Israel

can

rejoice

in the

disciplining

hand of

God

because

they know

what they

deserve

they deserve

judgment

they deserve

destruction

they deserve

annihilation

but instead

they get

restoration

they are

restored back

to relationship

with God

and the

reminder

of what

they

deserved

in light

of what

they

actually

received

continues

to help

them

give

praise

as a

people

of praise

understanding

the

disciplining

hand of

God

which now

leads us

to the

second

point

in our

study

not only

thankful

for discipline

but also

thankful

for the

accompanying

comfort

the

disciplining

hand

leads to

the

comfort

of God

the goal

of discipline

is always

comfort

we find

that here

again

in verse

one

it says

for though

you were

angry

with me

your anger

turned away

that you

might

comfort

me

the purpose

of discipline

in your

life

the purpose

of discipline

in my

life

is to

lead us

to comfort

to lead

us

to

recognizing

that God

is all

sufficient

for all

things

the focus

of correction

is always

to the

point

of

refreshment

refreshment

that can

only be

found

in God

as we

find from

second

Corinthians

chapter

one

three

Paul

recounts

this

he says

blessed

be the

God

and

father

of

our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

the

father

of

mercy

and

God

of

all

comfort

who

comforts

us

in all

our

affliction

that is

the God

that we

serve

the God

of comfort

and thus

the God

who is

worthy

of your

praise

today

it is

our

impulse

to run

to

comfort

when we

feel

pain

the world

offers many

formulas

to console

or to

ease

our

pain

friendships

medication

activities

entertainment

vacation

anything

to escape

the immediate

effects

of difficulty

and suffering

but there is

only one

comfort that

satisfies

the comfort

that is only

found

in God

and when

we experience

his comfort

even

in the midst

of pain

it leads

to joy

that expresses

itself

in thanks

that

is the

message

of Isaiah

run

to God

the God

of all

comfort

run

to him

is that

the common

expression

of your

life

expression

of thanks

is that

where you

find yourself

running

to

not just

periodically

but

continually

as someone

who

recognizes

the amazing

privilege

of being

called

after

his

name

and being

ministered

to

directly

and

personally

by

the God

of comfort

if it is

if you

recognize

those things

it will

lead you

to praise

it will

mark

your life

it will

make you

a thankful

person

as you

come to

appreciate

all that

God has

done

for you

but all

of this

now moves

to

the

pinnacle

that we

find here

in verse

3

what is

that

verse 2

behold

God

is

my

salvation

I

will

trust

and will

not

be

afraid

for

the

Lord

God

is

my

strength

and

my

song

and

he

has

become

my

salvation

Isaiah

says

if you

are

people

of

God

you

will

be

thankful

for

salvation

thankful

for

salvation

in

verse 2

we find

this

grammatical

expression

that lacks

a verb

so that

literally

it's

behold

God

salvation

of

me

thus

God

is

salvation

not

just

that

God

saves

or

that

God

rescues

as

though

he

were

one

of

many

answers

to

life's

problems

but

that

God

is

salvation

rescue

and

deliverance

and

help

will

not

come

any

other

way

since

God

is

salvation

it

cannot

come

independently

of

him

it

is

only

as

you

look

to

God

that

you

can

look

to

salvation

attention

is

directed

to

God

who

is

the

epitome

of

salvation

God's

salvation

is

not

an

abstract

philosophical

concept

it

has

a

relational

dimension

he

is

salvation

for

me

not

salvation

just

generally

but

it

is

salvation

for

you

salvation

that

you

can

experience

personally

independently

as

God

ministers

his

saving

hand

directly

to

you

one

commentator

puts

it

this

way

one

should

not

read

into

this

statement

a

New

Testament

perspective

about

God

saving

his

people

from

their

sins

though

Christ's

death

on the

cross

or

even

the

theological

idea

of

substitutionary

atonement

from

Isaiah

53

the

praise

simply

claims

that

God

is

a

source

or

the

source

of

salvation

that

delivers

people

from

anything

that

might

destroy

them

now

this

is

significant

because

if

God

saves

not

just

for

a

future

date

but

saves

you

for

the

moment

it

means

that

God

has

shown

up

to

rescue

you

in

every

dimension

of

life

to

give

you

meaning

and

purpose

regardless

of

where

you

find

yourself

he

redeems

your

work

those

empty

tasks

you

find

yourself

doing

mechanically

God

gives

mean

to

those

things

and

rescues

you

in

your

work

God

redeems

your

friendships

he

gives

you

purpose

of

being

mutually

encouraged

and

strengthened

not

just

sucking

people

dry

he

redeems

your

marriage

and

he

even

uses

it

as

an

illustration

of

Christ

in

his

church

may

we

not

corrupt

and

pollute

the

illustration

of

Christ

in

his

church

by

destroying

our

marriages

he

redeems

us

from

personal

life

struggles

and

uses

them

to

make

you

trust

him

more

and

to

empower

your

testimony

students

he

even

redeems

your

homework

as you

learn

that the

fear of

the

Lord

is the

beginning

of

wisdom

you

learn

that

the

source

of

help

comes

from

him

even

something

as

routine

as

homework

has

a

spiritual

orientation

a

life

that is

oriented

towards

God

is a

life

that is

experiencing

perpetual

rescue

salvation

that

comes

from

him

and

that

leads

us

to

expressions

of

joy

and

thanks

as

you

understand

that

every

moment

of

life

can

be

redeemed

can

be

delivered

can

have

purpose

and

meaning

that

God

can

give

you

confidence

that

God

can

give

you

security

and

peace

of

mind

and

hope

and

a

clear

conscience

regardless

of what

happens

in

life

and

as

Isaiah

looks at

that

future

day

when

the

God

of

salvation

is

recognized

for

who

he

is

he

understands

it

will

be

a

time

that

is

marked

by

praise

and

thanksgiving

and

what

begins

as

a

personal

position

of

praise

we

see

in

verse

one

and

two

I

will

give

thanks

to

you

you

are

not

angry

with

me

and

in

verse

two

behold

God

is

my

salvation

I