CROWNED WITH EVERLASTING JOY

Isaiah 35:1-10 / Keywords 35:10

and the ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

 

35:1 The desert and the parched land will be glad;

    the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.

Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom;

    it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.

The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,

    the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;

they will see the glory of the Lord,

    the splendor of our God.

3 Strengthen the feeble hands,

    steady the knees that give way;

4 say to those with fearful hearts,

    “Be strong, do not fear;

your God will come,

    he will come with vengeance;

with divine retribution

    he will come to save you.”

5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened

    and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

6 Then will the lame leap like a deer,

    and the mute tongue shout for joy.

Water will gush forth in the wilderness

    and streams in the desert.

7 The burning sand will become a pool,

    the thirsty ground bubbling springs.

In the haunts where jackals once lay,

    grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

8 And a highway will be there;

    it will be called the Way of Holiness;

    it will be for those who walk on that Way.

The unclean will not journey on it;

    wicked fools will not go about on it.

9 No lion will be there,

    nor any ravenous beast;

    they will not be found there.

But only the redeemed will walk there,

10     and those the Lord has rescued will return.

They will enter Zion with singing;

    everlasting joy will crown their heads.

Gladness and joy will overtake them,

    and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

 

1. Isaiah 35 complements the previous chapter. God’s wrath awaits those who reject the LORD. But glory and everlasting joy await those who are faithful to God. One day, God will bring the fullness of his kingdom. This world can feel like a desert because of sin and death. But God’s kingdom will bring his life and beauty to this wilderness. As God’s children, we sometimes feel that our hands are feeble and our knees shaky. Fear may overwhelm us, even as struggle to we live by faith in this broken, sinful world. God can sometimes feel far away in our darkest moments. Do not be discouraged! The LORD tells us to be strong in him (3,4). He is not far away. He will come again with divine retribution to save us.

 

2. In God’s kingdom, healing and restoration will come to the blind, the deaf, the lame, and the mute. God’s presence and rule will be like streams in the desert. God’s kingdom is described like a highway of holiness. Only the clean and redeemed, those rescued by the LORD, will walk on it. All the suffering and heartache God’s people experienced in this life will be replaced with singing and gladness. Everlasting joy will crown the heads of God’s people. This is promised to all who have put their faith and hope in Jesus Christ.

 

Prayer Father, may your kingdom come. Thank you for promising everlasting joy. Strengthen us to be faithful to you until that glorious day.

One Word God promises everlasting joy