Isaiah 12, Praise on that Day

The previous chapter described a Messiah in David's line who will restore all of Israel, indeed the ancient Near East. This Branch, with the Spirit of the Lord, will restore everything, to Eden's beauty and beyond. We pause to reflect on how we will react to that, in that day.

Isaiah 12:1-3, Anger turned away

In that day you will say:

“I will praise you, Lord.

    Although you were angry with me,

your anger has turned away

    and you have comforted me.

Surely God is my salvation;

    I will trust and not be afraid.

The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense;

    he has become my salvation.”

With joy you will draw water

    from the wells of salvation.

Isaiah pauses to reflect on how the people of Israel will react to that, in that day. The pronoun "you" in verses 1 and 2 is second person singular, says Grogan. It become plural, representing a larger audience (?) in the rest of this psalm.

There are echoes here of the jubilation of the Song of the Sea (or Song of Moses), Exodus 15. Compare especially verse 2 both in this chapter and in Exodus 15. (A common praise refrain also occurs in Psalm 118:14.) The salvation here is physical (Grogan); it is salvation from enemies and disaster.

In the New Testament, a similar song of victory and praise is described in Revelation 5:2-5. (That passage even refers to the song of Moses, attributing it to both Moses and the Lamb.)

Isaiah 12:4-6, Make known among the nations...;

In that day you will say:

“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;

    make known among the nations what he has done,

    and proclaim that his name is exalted. 

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.”

See Psalm 105:1 for a song that opens with verse 4 here. This praise is a joyous announcement to "the nations", to "all the world." 

The Hebrew word tsahal begins the second line from last, above. It means to cry shrilly, to ululate. The NIV translation "shout aloud" tames this down too much (says Motyer). That word is followed by the word ranan, translated "sing for joy", but should also be understood to be ecstatic and loud. This is no organized praise chorus. This event includes excited uncontrolled shouting, singing, dancing, crying in joy.

Motyer says that the NIV translation "people" (of Zion) is a Hebrew word (yō·še·ḇeṯ-) which means a female dweller. As was common in Israel, it was the women who led the singing after victory. Examples date back to Miriam leading the women in the Song of the Sea in Exodus 15:20-21. and women cheering David's victory in 1 Samuel 18:6-7. When the final victory comes, Isaiah instructs the women to sing and dance in the streets. In addition to the examples just mentioned, the example of a male doing this is David's dancing in 2 Samuel 6:14-15. 

Some Random Thoughts

It is not unusual for an Old Testament character to break into praise and sing a psalm to God. Not all the songs are in the book of Psalms. Moses and Miriam sing a song in Exodus 15, Deborah sings a song of praise in Judges 5, Hannah in 1 Samuel 2, David in 2 Samuel 22 and Isaiah reports on a future praise sone here. Moving into the New Testament, Mary sings a praise sone in Luke 1:46-55, Zechariah in Luke 1:67-79, Simeon in Luke 2:28-32, (There is a touch of Isaiah in all three of those New Testament songs, as the people are rejoicing at finally seeing the Messiah promised by the scroll of Isaiah.)

To be a devout Jew was to be prepared to sing praises.

This blog is posted on my sister's birthday. Were she still alive, she would be 63. She loved music in all its forms and lived a life immersed in music. It is my hope that she gets to dance through the streets and lead singing in that future Day.