Context No. 3662 of 4322 · Isaiah

Isaiah 62:1-12: in context

1For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning lamp. 2The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You will be called by a new name, which the LORD’s mouth will name. 3You will also be a crown of beauty in the LORD’s hand, and a royal diadem in your God’s hand. 4You will not be called Forsaken any more, nor will your land be called Desolate any more; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD delights in you, and your land will be married. 5For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you. As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you. 6I have set watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem. They will never be silent day nor night. You who call on the LORD, take no rest, 7and give him no rest until he establishes, and until he makes Jerusalem a praise on the earth. 8The LORD has sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, “Surely I will no more give your grain to be food for your enemies, and foreigners will not drink your new wine, for which you have labored, 9but those who have harvested it will eat it, and praise the LORD. Those who have gathered it will drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.” 10Go through, go through the gates! Prepare the way of the people! Build up, build up the highway! Gather out the stones! Lift up a banner for the peoples. 11Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your salvation comes! Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him!’” 12They will call them “The Holy People, The LORD’s Redeemed”. You will be called “Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken”.

This chapter overflows with God's passionate commitment to his people. For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness shines out like the dawn. God is not indifferent; he is zealously committed to his people's restoration.

And he promises new names to replace the old ones of shame: you shall no more be called Forsaken, nor your land Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married, for the LORD delights in you. From forsaken to delighted-in, that is the transformation God works. And then the tender climax: as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. The God of the universe rejoices over his redeemed people the way a bridegroom rejoices over the bride he loves. This is how God feels about those he has saved, not grudging tolerance, but delight and rejoicing. We who once felt forsaken are renamed Sought Out, a people in whom God delights.

Do I know that God delights in me, rejoicing over me as a bridegroom over his bride, renaming me from "Forsaken" to "Sought Out," his own beloved?

Sources

Isaiah 62:4: "You will not be called Forsaken any more... but you will be called Hephzibah [My Delight Is in Her]... for the LORD delights in you."
Isaiah 62:5: "As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you."
Isaiah 62:12: "They will call them The Holy People, The LORD's Redeemed. You will be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken."