Isaiah 12 Reason for Thankfulness 1 You will

Isaiah 12 Reason for Thankfulness

1 You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. 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 12: 1 -2, ESV)

3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. 5 “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. (Isaiah 12: 3 -5, ESV)

6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. ” (Isaiah 12: 6, ESV)

Main Point • Isaiah had first seen God enthroned, and it led to him fearing God • God was gracious and cleansed Isaiah • Isaiah sees this happening to others, leading to a people receiving salvation by God’s grace • These people spread the joyous news of God’s works to the world • This is a hopeful end, though there is judgment, there is also hope of salvation

Application Points • A Reason for Thankfulness – Worship is a common theme within the Scriptures – What is our motivation to worship? – What causes us to join together for worship? – Many of us will say our chief motivation is joy – Joy is an incredible motivator for us to write songs of praise and sing those song – There is something even beyond joy – We are able to see why the people give thanks – The answer is because they know God – Joy and thankfulness happens when we know who God is – If we do not know God, there would be no joy or thankfulness – What if the God of the universe could be known by us? – In this passage of Isaiah we are finding the results of the knowledge of God

Application Points • A Reason for Thankfulness (2) – We see how it plays out in the text – We learn how God was angry with the people – Why was God once mad at these individuals? – While it is true we experience God’s love, we must not allow this to lead us to false understandings – He judges people who continue to live in ways which are against His holy precepts – Is God wrong to be angry? – The person who commits atrocious evils could be considered “good” because his definition of “good” is what is truly evil – Without God, none of us could counter the argument because our “goodness” is defined by ourselves – This is exactly what we have seen thus far in Isaiah – By turning away from God the people live lifestyles which are immoral and unjust

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth for the LORD has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its master, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand. ”

Application Points • A Reason for Thankfulness (3) – For our text today to describe an individual for thanking God for turning away His anger is significant – They were… – A. Aware of God as He is in His holy Character – B. Aware of themselves in their lack of holiness – By knowing God they were able to recognize their complete dependence upon God – This knowledge of God, and even of self, led the people to worship God in thankfulness – They were able to rejoice in God’s salvation because they know their sinfulness, but also God’s holiness – It also causes them to learn more about God and His strength – If God is capable of bringing salvation from His anger, then

Application Points • A Reason for Thankfulness (4) – It doesn’t end there – It went from singular to plural – “You” to “You all” – It falls on us as individuals, but it also falls on us corporately – Individuals lead to broken societies – Wicked rulers, oppressors, the unjust, the unrighteous…the lack of godliness – What does a society look like which knows God? – It dwells not on itself, on its pride, or its own understanding – In the knowledge of who God is and what He has accomplished – The people who turn toward God will rejoice in the knowledge of Him – It is not only knowledge of His great and awesome power and His ability to save – He is their personal Savior – Now they are together recognizing the greatness of God

Application Points • A Reason for Thankfulness (5) – Where does it lead for the corporate people? – We see how the whole world is filled with the knowledge of God – By the people proclaiming God’s salvation – We see the people living not just for this God on Sunday – These individuals are spreading the knowledge of God outside of themselves – The knowledge of God is the greatest good we could receive from God – God’s love is great, but it is possible for us to never know God’s love because we do not know God – The individuals and corporate people in today’s hymn are rejoicing because they know God – As the text says, “The LORD is my salvation” – He comes to us, He makes Himself known, and in making Himself known we become blessed

Application Points • A Reason for Thankfulness (6) – If there could be a critique against us today it would be this, we do not care enough about knowing God – We can pray, meet together, and instead of finding out joy in knowing more about God we find it bothersome – We are incredibly self-seeking and self-serving – Our time of worship isn’t about appeasing ourselves, but learning about God and who He is and loving all the wondrous and marvelous deeds He accomplished in the past, is currently accomplishing in our present, and will accomplish in the future – Unfortunately because we are so selfish we can forge the most important thing we could attain is knowing this God – The God we worship today is the same LORD who is described in this text

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. ” (Philippians 3: 8 -11, ESV [Emphasis mine])

Application Points • A – – Reason for Thankfulness (7) Why delay? Let us join together with the ancients to praise the God who has brought salvation to us – Let us see that knowing God is not a burden, but a blessing given to us because it is from Him all goodness flows – In knowing Him, we learn about ourselves, and know too the transformation which comes from Him? – What more can we do than join in giving thanks to the God our salvation

Application Points • The Gospel of Christ – Origins – Fall – Redemption – Glorification