The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.
I love this passage! All teaching and preaching should be directed by the Spirit and should be focused on healing, joy and comfort. I especially love the focus on exchanging joy for mourning. That where we have ashes, mourning, and the spirit of heaviness, we may receive beauty, the oil of joy, and the garment of praise.
Beauty, joy, praise - these are tools of nurturing. How appropriate it is that the image then is used of trees of righteousness, "the planting of the Lord." Truly we are the Lord's "pleasant plant" (Isaiah 5:7) and it is with these gifts that we flourish when we are children, and why not as adults?
2 comments:
This post reminds me that I really want to conquer Isaiah this summer. I hear that it's quite the read!
Oh you should! It's soooo great. Don't worry about historical context, just arm yourself with a pen and underline what you think is beautiful and you'll be surprised what you find in there :)
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