Redeemed to Praise



Isaiah 44:21-27a
21Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are my servant; I formed you; you are my servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.
22I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.
23Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it; shout, O depths of the earth; break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and will be glorified in Israel.
24Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,
25who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish,
26who confirms the word of his servant and fulfills the counsel of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins’;
27who says to the deep, ‘Be dry; I will dry up your rivers’.”

The first two chapters of Luke are filled with incredible songs of praise to God for the fulfillment of His promise to send a Savior. It was a quiet event, with the tremendous exception of those singing angels. But there were praises uttered by Elizabeth, Zechariah, Mary, the Shepherds, and the Angels. But before any of that happened, the Old Testament prophets where already declaring the greatness of “the Redeemer” and His power to save.

In these words, the Lord Himself speaks to His people – us! In these few verses, we are reminded that we are created by God as His servants and He will not be forgotten. The overarching word throughout is “redeemed”. There can be no doubt that we have one all-encompassing need – redemption. But God has promised, since Adam and Eve, to take care of that need. As we look back to that terrible event, when Adam and Eve chose disobedience over the Lord’s command not to eat of the Tree in the middle of the garden, we also find that God is gracious and forgiving. He promises to send a Savior (Genesis 3:15) to buy us back from sin, death, and the devil.

Imagine the scene. Adam and Eve have been caught in their sin and removed from their hiding place. Now, they stand before God with Satan as He hands out the punishment for their sin. He deals with the three of them in turns, with Satan going first.

Genesis 3:15
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

So, put yourself in their situation. You have messed up in the worst possible way, and God is dealing with the crime. But listen! He tells Satan that He will solve the problem created by their disobedience by sending “her offspring” to crush his head! Already the Gospel has been spoken to the people who started the whole mess. Now we move forward several thousand years and God fulfills that promise through the birth of His Own Dear Son, Jesus Christ. The Redeemer has come, and it is time for the praises to begin. The power of God is expounded upon by Isaiah as he looks both backward at the beginning of our problem and forward to the promised Redeemer.

Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it; shout, O depths of the earth; break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and will be glorified in Israel.

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