Invitation to Sing

In the fifty-fourth chapter of Isaiah, God is calling his people to rejoice and celebrate: “Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy” (v. 1). James, the brother of our Lord, tells us, “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise” (James 5:13). But here Isaiah is asking a desolate, barren woman to sing and shout for joy. It seems a cruel thing to ask one who is in trouble to sing. What are we to make of this invitation?

This invitation to sing is really a command by God to Jews and Gentiles. But how can these people, who are sinners, sing? The answer is found in Isaiah 53. We are to sing by reason of what the suffering servant has achieved for us by his substitutionary and penal suffering, by his giving of himself as a guilt offering in our place. Through his suffering and death, this servant has achieved three things for elect sinners of the world: first, we receive forgiveness for all our sins; second, his perfect divine righteousness is imparted to us; and third, we become his offspring. This is the reason we can celebrate. Isaiah 54 and 55, then, are responses to what Christ has done for us. In these chapters the jubilant exhortations are given: “Sing! Shout for joy! Come to the feast!”

The Theology of Singing

What does it mean to sing, according to the Scriptures? It is a call to rejoice in what someone else has done for us. It is a call to participate in the blessing that someone else has achieved for us. That is the theology of singing. True scriptural singing is not about self-salvation; it is not glorying about what we have done for ourselves. It is praising God for what he has done for us in Jesus Christ. We find such singing in Exodus 15, where Moses and the Israelites are rejoicing in the redemption accomplished by the great warrior king, Yahweh.

Such joyous celebration is commanded in Isaiah 49:13: “Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains!” What is the reason? “For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.” And the entire chapter of Isaiah 12 is a song of praise for the glorious things done by the Lord. For whom did God do these glorious things? For us! Thus, verses 5 and 6 tell us, “Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”

The Lord has accomplished our salvation; therefore, we are commanded: Sing! Burst into song! Shout for joy! God wants us to rejoice in the reality of our eternal salvation, accomplished for us by the suffering servant. All who feel barren, dejected, and are lonely because of sin, now have reason to shout for joy: Christ has died, Christ was buried, and Christ is risen!

Reasons to Rejoice

So God is not being cruel when he commands us to sing; he has given valid reasons for us to rejoice. Let us, then, look at seven reasons for rejoicing revealed in this chapter:

1. Innumerable Supernaturally-produced Children Are Promised to the Barren Woman.

   In Genesis we learn that Abraham’s wife Sarah was barren, but God supernaturally gave her a multitude of children—the nation of Israel—through Isaac, the son of promise. Here we find an important spiritual application: Just as the barren, “dead” Sarah was enabled to bear children, so many who are by nature ungodly sinners, enemies of God, and completely dead in trespasses and sins, will be raised up and be born of God. They are the family of Christ, for whom he travailed and suffered on the cross, as we read in Isaiah 53:10: “Though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring.”

   The first verse in Isaiah 54 affirms the supernatural existence of these children, verses 2 and 3 speak of their great growth, and the rest of the chapter speaks of their great security.

   The church is asked to make room for these divinely promised additions, the regenerated children of God, for there will not be only one or two, but thousands upon thousands of them. These are not stillborn children, whose salvation is based on human effort or decision, but children whose salvation is based on the true gospel of repentance, saving faith, and holiness. We are to rejoice and expand our tent to the right and to the left to accommodate all God’s children of supernatural birth, for none of them shall be proven false; they shall all persevere till the very end.

2. God Promises Growth in His Church.

   In verses 2 and 3 we read, “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.” The barren woman is given the responsibility of making room for children without even seeing any of them. She should do so based on the promise that God has given in these verses, which is a restatement of the promise God made to Isaac in Genesis 28:14: “Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.”

   God makes this promise also to the church. We are to burst forth into singing because God promises that he will cause his church to grow, and we will spread out to the left and to the right, to the east and west, to the north and the south.

   O barren woman, you are going to have a multitude of descendants! And when they arrive, you will wonder how they came to be: “Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who bore me these? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. Who brought these up? I was left all alone, but these—where have they come from?’” (Isaiah 49:21) These are the offspring of Christ, borne by the suffering servant and given to the church. Every elect sinner will be born again. And verse 3 tells us, “They will dispossess the nations and settle in the cities” (v. 3). How can this be? Because it is God’s eternal purpose and will. He promises and guarantees it.

   Therefore, O barren woman, enlarge your tent, strengthen the cords, and make room for the new children who are coming. Yes, people may laugh at you. You may even say to yourself in disbelief, “I am barren; yet, I am making room for my children!” But you must not laugh as Sarah did; you must believe, for this is the promise of God. Remember what God told Sarah: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14). God is going to give his church, not Ishmaels, but Isaacs. They will be children of promise, children who will remain; not children of the flesh, born through carnal evangelism and preaching, children who will fall away.

   God will give supernaturally born children to his church. They will be separated to the Lord and will sing, “Holiness unto the Lord.” They will love God’s word, delight in it, and live by it. They will enjoy exclusive fellowship with God, live under his care, and trust him implicitly. No enemy shall destroy them; they will be the wheat, not the chaff. The floods of trouble shall not drown them and fiery trials shall not set them ablaze. They will be saved forever. They will be covenant keepers. They will all be blessed and filled with the Holy Spirit. They will all arrive in the Celestial City, where they will burst forth into song and shout for joy in God’s presence forevermore.

   Brothers and sisters, we also must begin enlarging the tent and strengthening the cords with complete confidence in God’s promise and guarantee. God has spoken, and he is truth. Believe in the word of God. Hunger and thirst for righteousness. Pray earnestly for revival. Engage earnestly in Bible study. Study God’s word, not merely for information or inspiration, but to believe and eagerly do what it says. Be filled with the Holy Spirit; that is, come under his control and direction in all you do. Boldly proclaim the true gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit. Call sinners to true repentance and saving faith in Jesus Christ. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, and have nothing to do with a Christianity that is divorced of holiness, because the Bible says that without holiness no one will see God. Jesus Christ came to save us from our sins and to make us holy. A dirty, filthy bride belongs to Satan, not Christ, for the true bride of Christ loves Christ alone and delights in his law. All forms of subjectivism, Gnosticism, and mysticism are ultimately human autonomy, a denial of the Lordship of Christ and his sovereign, everlasting word. Let us live a holy life and share the gospel, enlarging our tent and strengthening our cords, because people are coming—the holy people of God, Christ’s offspring. God promises that many children will be born to us.

   Note the global extent of God’s promise to his church: “For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities” (v. 3). Here Isaiah is speaking about world missions. Jesus himself said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The covenant promise to Abraham was, “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3). Thus, Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them … and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:18-20). The gospel shall be preached to all nations so that those who are elect will be saved and brought into God’s holy church.

3. God Rules Out Every Possibility of Disappointment.

   The NIV translators removed the word “for” at two places in verse 4, but the correct translation is, “Do not be afraid; for you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; for you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.”

   Just as a barren woman experiences great shame and disgrace because of her barrenness, so we experience shame and disgrace as a result of our sin and guilt. But now our sins are forgiven and we have been given the righteousness of Christ. He has blotted out our transgressions and the slate is wiped clean. He has sprinkled us with hyssop and we are clean. Therefore, we shall no longer suffer shame. What great security we have!

   This is the good news of Isaiah 53. God remembers our past life of sin no more; therefore, we should not either. Now we see Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, and we sing and shout aloud for our salvation.

4. God Himself Is the Greatest Reason for Our Rejoicing.

   In a single verse, Isaiah piles up a number of titles for God: “For your Maker is your husband—the Lord Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth” (v. 5). As we examine each of these titles, we will see why God himself is the greatest reason for our shouting, singing, and celebrating.

   God is our Maker. God can make for himself a people from those who were not his people. Only he can take ungodly, wicked, and miserable people and remake them to be vessels useful to him. That is what he has done with you and with me. Although we were dead in trespasses and sins, God called us effectually and raised us up from the dead that we might burst forth into singing.

   Isaiah 43:7 refers to this effectual calling when it speaks of “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Whenever the gospel is preached, God calls his elect people, and they will repent and believe. They will be born of God and redeemed. God does not save us to wallow in our sin and bring shame to Jesus Christ. He created us and recreates us for his glory. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

   God is our Husband. This is a deliberately formed covenant relationship. God loved us and chose us to be his bride from all eternity. It is not a spontaneous, emotional one-night stand. This is the eternal decision of God. And our divine Husband hates divorce; he is a covenant keeper.

   In Isaiah 50:1 we read, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you?’” He is saying, “I did not divorce you; I did not sell you to anybody.” Then he gives us the reason for our temporary separation from him: “‘Because of your sins you were sold; because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.’”

   God expresses a similar sentiment in Isaiah 54:7: “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back.” Israel was exiled, whether to Egypt, Assyria or Babylon, because of her sin, not because of any inability of God to save her.

   The Bible says weeping may abide for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Sin causes God’s face to be withdrawn from us, but not forever. When we repent, the fellowship will be restored. As our husband, Christ cleanses us and makes us glorious, without spot or wrinkle, as we read in Ephesians 5:25-27: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present him to herself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” The one goal of Christ in this marriage relationship with us is to deal with our sin and make us glorious. That is why I oppose any gospel that refuses to declare holiness.

   Christ knows we are sinners, but he will sanctify us until we all sparkle with holiness. As our husband, he also provides for all our needs, protects us from all our enemies, and directs us in all our ways.

   What, then, is the reason for our joyous shouting? Isaiah 62:4-5 tells us, “No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.” God himself is our Husband.

   He is Lord Almighty. Isaiah states that God is “Yahweh Sabaoth,” the Lord Almighty, meaning he is commander of the angelic armies of heaven. God has unbounded resources and limitless power. He knows all and controls all. God promises, and he fulfills his promises, because, as John says, he is Pantokrator —the Lord Almighty.

   He is the Holy One of Israel. In this title we discover a paradox: God is both absolute transcendence and unbelievable immanence. “The Holy One of Israel” is Isaiah’s expression of the nature of God, based on the vision given to him in chapter 6.

   Let me tell you, holiness is the very heart of divine nature. God’s love is holy love. His judgment is holy judgment. We should never attempt to drag God down to our level of unholiness, as if he were like us.

   We are sinful and unholy, yet it is God’s divine determination to make us holy like him. God does so by saving us from our sins. To claim we are saved without experiencing sanctification is false. One denies his supposed justification if he is not being cleansed from his sin. As the Holy One, God will make every true child of his holy. And as holy people, we shall see him face to face and dwell with him forever.

   He is our Redeemer. God is our Boaz, our kinsman/redeemer. Because he has relationship with us, he will help us in our need for, as next of kin, he alone has the right to assume his helpless relatives’ needs as his own. But though he has the right, it is not an inescapable duty. He does not have to exercise his right to redeem us.

   But Christ our kinsman/redeemer did exercise his right and willingly paid the price of our redemption. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Just as Boaz redeemed Ruth the Moabitess and became her husband, even so, our Lord Jesus Christ redeemed us at the price of his own life, and is now our heavenly kinsman/redeemer/husband. (PGM) Therefore, sing, O barren one! Shout for joy! Burst forth into singing! God has done something wonderful for you. He invites you to participate in this great salvation.

   He is God of all the earth. God is not just God of a hill or a mountain. All authority in heaven and on earth is given to him and his glory fills the whole earth. He who created the heavens and the earth is sovereign over all he created. This means that every circumstance that befalls us is within his sovereign control; therefore, we can burst forth into singing and shout for joy.

   He is Yahweh. Finally, as Yahweh, God is the personal, infinite, self-existing, self-sufficient, independent Lord of the covenant and our almighty Savior. He has control and authority over all his creatures. As Yahweh, his mission is redemption, and he shall never fail.

   Let us, then, examine further this name Yahweh and its compounds:

   First, the Bible speaks about Yahweh Yir’eh, Jehovah Jireh. That means he will provide for our every need, physical and spiritual; therefore, we can trust in him implicitly.

   Second, he is Yahweh Rof’eka, Jehovah Rophekah, which means “I am the Lord who heals you.” He heals all our diseases; by his stripes we are even now healed, and one day our healing will be complete. At the resurrection we will have complete healing and will be given a new body like unto his glorious body.

   Third, he is Yahweh Nissi, Jehovah my Banner, meaning he fights all our battles. We have enemies: the world, the flesh, the devil, and the false church. But we are the bride of Christ, and he is the ever-victorious warrior. His banner over us is love, and his banner is ever-raised. As Paul says, “Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:15), and “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:14). That is the meaning of the word Jehovah Nissi. No one can take that banner, put it on the ground and step on it or spit on it. He is Lord! Let Pharaoh come, let the Amalekites come, let Korah and company come. They shall be destroyed by Jehovah Nissi himself. So what is the conclusion? Sing, O barren one! Burst forth into song! Shout for joy! God has accomplished great salvation for you.

   Fourth, he is called Yahweh Mequaddishkem, meaning “Jehovah who makes you holy.” The heart of the covenant is, “Be ye holy, for I am holy. I am your God; you are my people.” But how can we make ourselves holy when we are born sinners and practice sin? The answer is found in this name. God himself will make us holy, doing what we cannot do by ourselves. Thus, those who revel in sin and glory in their shame are like dogs that return to their own vomit; they prove that they do not belong to Yahweh Mequaddishkem.

   Fifth, he is called Yahweh Shalom. Shalom means peace. But God says in Isaiah 57:21, “There is no peace for the wicked.” Let me assure you, sinners are restless, especially when the word of God is preached because they do not want to believe the life-giving gospel. Therefore, the wrath of God is revealed against them every day. Unless the sinner is reconciled to God, he cannot experience peace. Peace is the sum total of divine blessing. That is why the priest bestows peace in the benediction. Jehovah, our covenant Lord, is the Prince of peace. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him. Having been justified by faith in Jesus Christ, we have peace with God. Jehovah Shalom, Jehovah our peace.

   Sixth, he is Yahweh Tsidqenu, which means “The Lord Our Righteousness.” We were unrighteous, and there was no way we could ever be righteous in ourselves. We needed an alien righteousness—a righteousness of God and from God. The Father has given us Christ’s righteousness as a gift; therefore, we are righteousness and we are righteous. We do not have to create our own righteousness; it is all granted to us by the saving work of Christ. Thus, we can say with confidence, “Yahweh Tsidqenu—the Lord is our righteousness.”

   Finally, he is called Yahweh Shamma, meaning, “The Lord is there.” The ultimate blessing in glory will not be gold, but God. One day we all shall be with him and we shall dwell in his presence forever. Yes, even now he is with us, for Jesus said, “Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20). But one day we shall see him as he is, and we shall see him with greater appreciation of his presence, for then we shall see him without sin and in glory. Then we will discover the full meaning of the statement that in his presence there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11).

5. His Love for Us Is Everlasting.

   This fifth reason why God’s people should rejoice is simply stated in 54:8-10:

   “In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord your Redeemer. “To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to angry with you, never to rebuke you again. Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”

   These verses speak of covenantal immutability. God will keep his covenant; it will never be removed. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35). The word of the covenant will never pass away. So Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 1:20, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ.” Therefore, sing, O barren woman! Burst out into singing and shout for joy!

6. We Are God’s Precious City.

   Verses 11 and 12 say, “O afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will build you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with sapphires. I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.”

   God’s people are compared to a strong, glorious city, sparkling city built with all kinds of precious stones. John is reflecting on these verses when he writes in Revelation 21:10-11, “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.” Each supernaturally born person is seen as a jewel, and the whole city of God is comprised of such jewels. That is why it is glorious, sparkling, strong, and secure. First Peter 2:5 says we are living stones. We are the city of God, whose foundation is righteousness.

7. No Weapon Forged against Us Will Prevail.

   The final reason for God’s people to sing and shout is given in verse 17: “‘No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,’ declares the Lord.”

   These words should bring us great comfort. No matter whether we are opposed by Pharaoh with his chariots, or the Amalekites with their swords, or the Philistines with their spears, or Satan with his flaming arrows—no weapon forged against a child of God will succeed in destroying him. It will never happen. It cannot, because we are in the hand of God the Father and of Christ the Son, and no one is able to snatch us away.

   This verse tells us that not only wicked weapons, but also wicked people, will rise against us. You see, the devil’s business is to attempt to destroy us. But 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 assures us, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.” And 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 tells us, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness.” But look at the last line: “Their end will be what their actions deserve.” They will be destroyed, not us.

   The book of Esther tells of Haman, who built a gallows seventy-five feet high. He wanted to make a public spectacle of the defeat of the kingdom of God by hanging Mordecai the Jew on it. But the Sovereign Lord changed everything by instantly elevating Mordecai and putting Haman down. As the king and his officials were looking for an instrument to kill Haman, the news came: “There is one already made, seventy-five feet high. Is that sufficient?” “That’s fine,” and Haman was hanged. No weapon forged against us shall prosper.

   Finally, let us take comfort from the words of Romans 8:31-35: “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” The answer is: Nothing—no person, no weapon, no situation, no devil, no demon. Nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

So sing, O barren one! Burst into song! Shout for joy! God has done marvelous things for us. May we enjoy the salvation he has so freely given us, and may we see mighty conversions take place here and throughout the world in the days to come.