Chapters of His Heart: Isaiah 12

The Return

Read Isaiah chapter 12 here.

We left off in the last chapter with God's promise to reunite His children from all corners of the earth. In this chapter God makes Israel a new promise, one that hinges on the 'reunion promise' of the previous chapter. I'm calling it a joy promise. God promises that one day He will be with them again and there will be such joy that everyone will sing. God promises comfort and happiness after times of separation and war and captivity, He promises a new time of praise. He will be their victory and their salvation, He will reunite Himself with His lost children. His people would once again do what they were created to do, what every fiber of their beings longed to do, they would praise God. They had been away from Him for so long but now, with such joy and release, they would sing because they were no longer apart. They would sing of God's power and might, and praise Him for dwelling among them once again. That was God's new promise, the promise of a victory song.

It isn't hard to apply this story to our own hearts. If you have ever walked through a time where you felt far from God then you know the joy that comes when you are reunited with Him. Maybe you are walking that lonely path now and you can't seem to feel or see or hear God. Try lifting up a song of praise. Let the heaviness fall away from your heart and let it be replaced with a new song of joy. Though it might not be easy at first, you will find that there is something natural and freeing about pure, unrestrained praise. It's because that is the way God made us. We will connect with our creator when we take part in the act of praise that we were created for. 

God's heart longs for our praise and our hearts were made to give it.