Isaiah 12:1-6: a reflection

This short song bursts with thanksgiving and joyful trust: God, whose anger has turned away, has become the singer's salvation, and so he can trust and not be afraid, drawing water with joy from the wells of salvation. I will give thanks to you, LORD, the song begins; though you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD is my strength and song, and he has become my salvation. Where there had been God's anger over sin, now there is comfort and salvation; and the response is joyful trust, fearless confidence, and thanksgiving, drawing deeply from the wells of salvation with joy. This shows the joyful trust and thanksgiving that flow from knowing God as our salvation. God is our salvation; we can trust and not be afraid. Joyful thanksgiving flows from God's comfort and salvation. With joy we draw from the wells of salvation. God has become our salvation; we trust and rejoice.

Notice the movement of this song, from God's anger turned away to joyful trust and thanksgiving. There had been God's anger over sin; but now that anger has turned away, and God comforts his people, becoming their salvation. And the response is a song: thanksgiving to God, trust without fear, joy in drawing from the wells of salvation. The singer trusts and is not afraid, for God himself is his strength and song and salvation; and he calls others to give thanks, to sing, to make God's deeds known, to rejoice. This is the fitting response to knowing God as our salvation. When we know that God has turned his anger away in Christ, that he has become our salvation, comforting us and saving us, the response is joyful trust and overflowing thanksgiving. We can trust and not be afraid, for our salvation rests not in ourselves but in God; and we can draw with joy from the wells of his salvation, the deep and inexhaustible supply of his saving grace. Knowing God as our salvation frees us from fear and fills us with joyful thanks. God is our salvation; we can trust, not fear, and rejoice. From the wells of salvation we draw with joy. Thanksgiving and fearless trust flow from God our salvation. God has become our salvation; let us trust and give thanks.

That is worth resting in, for God has become our salvation, so that we can trust and not be afraid, drawing with joy from the wells of his salvation and overflowing with thanksgiving. We can live in fear, unsure of our standing with God; but this song rejoices that God's anger has turned away, that he has become our salvation, and that we can trust and not be afraid, drawing with joy from the wells of salvation. Our salvation rests in God. When you know God as your salvation, trust and do not be afraid; draw with joy from the wells of his saving grace, and give thanks. Rest in the truth that God has become our salvation, so that we can trust and not be afraid, and draw with joy from the wells of his salvation, as this song rejoices that though God had been angry, his anger has turned away and he comforts his people, so that God is our salvation, our strength and song, and we will trust and not be afraid; for where there had been God's anger over sin there is now comfort and salvation, fulfilled for us in Christ through whom God's anger is turned away and we are saved, and the fitting response is joyful trust, fearless confidence, and overflowing thanksgiving, since our salvation rests not in ourselves but in God, from whose wells of salvation, the deep and inexhaustible supply of his saving grace, we can draw with joy, so that knowing God as our salvation frees us from fear and fills us with thanks.