OUR GOD REIGNS!

Isaiah 52:1-12 / Keywords 52:7

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

 

52:1 Awake, awake, Zion,

    clothe yourself with strength!

Put on your garments of splendor,

    Jerusalem, the holy city.

The uncircumcised and defiled

    will not enter you again.

2 Shake off your dust;

    rise up, sit enthroned, Jerusalem.

Free yourself from the chains on your neck,

    Daughter Zion, now a captive.

3 For this is what the Lord says:

“You were sold for nothing,

    and without money you will be redeemed.”

4 For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“At first my people went down to Egypt to live;

    lately, Assyria has oppressed them.

5 “And now what do I have here?” declares the Lord.

“For my people have been taken away for nothing,

    and those who rule them mock,[a]”

declares the Lord.

“And all day long

    my name is constantly blasphemed.

6 Therefore my people will know my name;

    therefore in that day they will know

that it is I who foretold it.

    Yes, it is I.”

7 How beautiful on the mountains

    are the feet of those who bring good news,

who proclaim peace,

    who bring good tidings,

    who proclaim salvation,

who say to Zion,

    “Your God reigns!”

8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices;

    together they shout for joy.

When the Lord returns to Zion,

    they will see it with their own eyes.

9 Burst into songs of joy together,

    you ruins of Jerusalem,

for the Lord has comforted his people,

    he has redeemed Jerusalem.

10 The Lord will lay bare his holy arm

    in the sight of all the nations,

and all the ends of the earth will see

    the salvation of our God.

11 Depart, depart, go out from there!

    Touch no unclean thing!

Come out from it and be pure,

    you who carry the articles of the Lord’s house.

12 But you will not leave in haste

    or go in flight;

for the Lord will go before you,

    the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Footnotes

a. Isaiah 52:5 Dead Sea Scrolls and Vulgate; Masoretic Text wail

1. Because of her sin, Israel was defiled, sold, and taken away for nothing. She was oppressed and mocked. God’s name was blasphemed by those who oppressed her, but the time came for her to wear garments of splendor, shake off dust, and sit enthroned like a queen in Jerusalem. For God will restore them as he foretold. God owes no one anything to redeem Zion. He redeems his people by his grace so that they may know that the LORD is the Savior, the Holy One of Israel. We are redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus, not by silver or gold. This is the sheer grace of God.

 

2. The good news is that God is coming to redeem his people. It is a message of peace and salvation. It will come true when our God reigns. When sin, death, and Satan reign, we suffer in darkness, but when God reigns, we shout for joy, taste salvation, and experience peace and comfort. All the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God. It is not world powers that reign, but it is our God who reigns. When we know that our God reigns, we can overcome fear and proclaim the gospel of Jesus. God wants to spread the good news of salvation to all nations. The feet of those who deliver the message of God’s hope to those who never heard it are indeed beautiful.

 

Prayer Lord, thank you for redeeming me by the blood of Jesus. May your kingdom come! Help me bring the gospel of Jesus to the ends of the earth.

One Word Our God reigns!