“Behold,
God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid; for the LORD God is my
strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” Isaiah 12:2
This
is a saying that is used several time in the bible. When Moses crossed the Red
Sea, they sang “The LORD is my strength and my song, he has become my
salvation.” Exodus 15:2
It
is in Psalm 118, which would have been used as a song of praise, especially at
Passover, and would have been one of the last songs sung by Jesus and his
disciples at the Last Supper. Verse 14 sings “The LORD is my strength and my song, he
has become my salvation.”
In
Isaiah, though, two words are put together as “LORD God”. (LORD is all caps, by
the way…LORD!) The name translated LORD is Jah (Yaw), a contraction for the
name of God. God is from the word YHVH (Ye-ho-vaw’), also God’s name, but the
base word means Eternal. So in Isaiah, he is emphasizing the Eternal LORD is in
control. Let’s do a little background. Mr. Peabody, set the Way Back Machine....
The
kingdoms of Judah and Israel had been split for some time now, 10 tribes with
Israel, 2 with Judah. Ahaz is king over Judah. Ahaz is one of those kinds of
people that cries out to God when he needs something, then takes credit when it’s
done. You know, a politician. In this case, the Assyrian Empire has been doing
an aggressive westward expansion. Think Nationalist Germany in the late 1930s. “All
ve vant is peace. A piece of zis country, a piece of zat country…”
Anyway,
Syria and Israel (of the 10 tribes) decide to band together for safety, and try
to persuade Ahaz to join them in alliance. When Ahaz says no, Syria and Israel
try to get more persuasive, by declaring war on Judah.
When
Ahaz cries out, Isaiah come and tells Ahaz, that God’s got this. He’s going to
have Assyria deal with Syria and Israel, and Ahaz will be just fine. “The LORD God
is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” Then Isaiah says
to Ahaz, “Choose a sign to prove me, as deep as Hell or as high as Heaven.” And
Ahaz, true to the coward he was, says, “I don’t dare tempt God!” (He also couldn't have taken credit for it later!) I love the next verses.
Isaiah gets ticked off (he didn’t like him much in the first place) and says...
“Is it just too easy worrying men, that you now have to worry God, too?? The LORD
himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he know how
to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy know how to refuse
the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be
deserted.” (By the time Jesus was born, the 10 tribes of Israel had been
scattered, and only the two tribes of Judah remained.)
What
is that for today, though? It was good for Ahaz, and it was good for our soul’s
salvation through Jesus. But is that where it stops? I don’t think it is. As an
example, the Passover celebration is for remembrance, to remember the
deliverance from Egypt. But as time went on, it was also to remember the
deliverance from the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Turks, even into
modern times with the Holocaust. Deliverance is not a one-time thing, but goes
on and on and on, and each time, “God comes through.” And so it is in our
lives, God doesn’t come through for us just in our soul’s salvation, but in the
salvation of our daily trials and tribulations. He is Immanuel, “God with us”,
in every step we take, everything we do, and is our strength and song
and salvation.
For me, so
many times, so many different ways when there was no way, God made a way. When the options seemed hopeless, God created
hope. When I would scream “Why!” He would say, “Let me worry about that, rest
in my peace.” There is no greater strength than total submission to God. Let me
say that again. There is no greater strength than total submission
to God. That is NOT surrender. That is NOT giving up. God can only come through
for us WHEN WE LET HIM! As long as we try to do things on our own (and get to claim
them as our own), He will respect our not letting Him in. He won’t intervene
where we don’t allow Him to. But when we give control to Him, He can then be
our strength, our song, our salvation!
Let
me repeat that verse.
“Behold,
God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid; for the LORD God is my
strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
May
He be yours today.
