Day 16 — Isaiah 51:1-16 Remember the Rock, Awake to Hope
Opening prayer
Faithful God, help me to listen to your word, remember your mighty acts, and trust your promises. When I am discouraged or afraid, awaken my hope and fix my eyes on the joy of coming home to you. Amen.
Headline
God strengthens his pilgrim people by calling them to remember his past faithfulness, trust his everlasting salvation, and stop fearing mortal opposition.
Isaiah 51:1-16
51 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness
and who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were cut
and to the quarry from which you were hewn;
2 look to Abraham, your father,
and to Sarah, who gave you birth.
When I called him he was only one man,
and I blessed him and made him many.
3 The Lord will surely comfort Zion
and will look with compassion on all her ruins;
he will make her deserts like Eden,
her wastelands like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the sound of singing.
4 “Listen to me, my people;
hear me, my nation:
Instruction will go out from me;
my justice will become a light to the nations.
5 My righteousness draws near speedily,
my salvation is on the way,
and my arm will bring justice to the nations.
The islands will look to me
and wait in hope for my arm.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
look at the earth beneath;
the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment
and its inhabitants die like flies.
But my salvation will last forever,
my righteousness will never fail.
7 “Hear me, you who know what is right,
you people who have taken my instruction to heart:
Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals
or be terrified by their insults.
8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment;
the worm will devour them like wool.
But my righteousness will last forever,
my salvation through all generations.”
9 Awake, awake, arm of the Lord,
clothe yourself with strength!
Awake, as in days gone by,
as in generations of old.
Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces,
who pierced that monster through?
10 Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made a road in the depths of the sea
so that the redeemed might cross over?
11 Those the Lord has rescued will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
12 “I, even I, am he who comforts you.
Who are you that you fear mere mortals,
human beings who are but grass,
13 that you forget the Lord your Maker,
who stretches out the heavens
and who lays the foundations of the earth,
that you live in constant terror every day
because of the wrath of the oppressor,
who is bent on destruction?
For where is the wrath of the oppressor?
14 The cowering prisoners will soon be set free;
they will not die in their dungeon,
nor will they lack bread.
15 For I am the Lord your God,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the Lord Almighty is his name.
16 I have put my words in your mouth
and covered you with the shadow of my hand—
I who set the heavens in place,
who laid the foundations of the earth,
and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
Comment
Yesterday we met the obedient Servant, who trusted God even when he walked in darkness. Today God turns to those who want to follow that Servant and says three times: Listen.
These words are addressed first to “you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD” (v.1). They are believers, but they are discouraged believers. They are living in exile, surrounded by enemies, and wondering whether God’s promises can really come true.
So God tells them to look backwards in order to move forwards: “Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn” (v.1).
That rock is Abraham, and the quarry is Sarah. When God called Abraham, he was just one man. Sarah was barren. Humanly speaking, there was no possibility of a great nation coming from them. Yet God says, “When I called him he was only one man, and I blessed him and made him many” (v.2).
The lesson is clear. God specialises in bringing abundance out of barrenness and life out of impossibility. The exiles may be few, weak, and scattered, but that has never prevented God from keeping his promises.
He will restore Zion. Her deserts will become like Eden, and sorrow will give way to “joy and gladness…thanksgiving and the sound of singing” (v.3). God is not merely promising a rebuilt city. He is promising a renewed creation, where the curse is reversed and his people live in his presence.
Then the audience widens. God says, “Listen to me, my people; hear me, my nation” (v.4). His justice will become a light to the nations, and his salvation will reach beyond Israel to the distant islands (vv.4–5). The Servant’s worldwide mission is again in view.
And this salvation is more permanent than the universe itself. “The heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment…But my salvation will last for ever, my righteousness will never fail” (v.6).
Everything that looks solid to us is temporary. Nations rise and fall. Institutions weaken. Bodies age. Even the present creation will pass away. But God’s saving righteousness cannot decay, collapse, or be overturned.
That is why the faithful remnant must not fear human opposition: “Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals or be terrified by their insults” (v.7). Those who mock God’s people appear powerful, but they are as temporary as a garment eaten by moths. God’s righteousness endures through every generation (v.8).
At this point, the people cry, “Awake, awake, arm of the LORD, clothe yourself with strength!” (v.9). They remember the exodus, when God defeated Egypt—here called Rahab—and made a path through the sea. In effect they are praying, “Lord, do it again. Act as you acted before. Bring your redeemed people home.”
Their prayer rises into one of Isaiah’s great promises: “Those the LORD has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads” (v.11). Sorrow and sighing will flee away.
But God’s response is gently corrective. He does not need to be awakened. “I, even I, am he who comforts you” (v.12). The problem is not that God has fallen asleep. The problem is that his people have forgotten who he is.
They fear mortal oppressors because they have forgotten “the LORD, your Maker, who stretches out the heavens and who lays the foundations of the earth” (v.13). Fear grows when God shrinks in our imagination. Courage returns when we remember the Creator.
God is already acting. The captive will soon be released; he will not die in his dungeon or lack bread (v.14). The LORD who stirs the sea has placed his word in his people’s mouths and covered them with the shadow of his hand (vv.15–16). His purpose is nothing less than a renewed creation and a restored relationship: “You are my people” (v.16).
Why does God want me to hear this today? Because the journey to the heavenly Zion can feel long, and present troubles can seem more real than future joy. God tells me to remember the rock: he has always brought life from impossibility. He tells me to listen: his salvation will outlast heaven and earth. And he tells me not to fear: the God who made the universe has not forgotten me or fallen asleep. In Jesus, he has begun the new exodus and will bring every redeemed pilgrim safely home.
Reflect
What past act of God’s faithfulness do I need to remember today?
Whose criticism, hostility, or opinion am I tempted to fear more than God?
How does the promise of everlasting joy in Zion strengthen me for today’s journey?
Closing prayer
Lord God, forgive me for forgetting your greatness and fearing people who are only mortal. Thank you that your salvation lasts for ever and your righteousness never fails. Keep your word in my heart and on my lips, comfort me on the journey, and bring me with all your redeemed people into Zion with everlasting joy. Amen.
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