I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the things that grow in it to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. Isaiah 61: 10-12, NKJV.
Heavenly Father, it is just wonderful to know that better days are ahead. As we sit in Your presence and think on these things, may our hearts respond to Your call of love, and may we find our joy in You. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
Today, we are going to think of the reasons we have to rejoice in the LORD! Our Scripture for today mention a few, “He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels…” This reason should thrill our souls! To be clothed with the garments of salvation, and covered with the robe of righteousness can only mean one thing, that we are saved! After all, only Jesus saves! Only His righteousness can save us! Do you remember the parable Jesus gave of the wedding garment in Matthew 22? The only one who was cast out of the wedding feast into outer darkness was the man who showed up in his own garment (11-13)!
The saddest part of that story is that there was no need for him to be lost (cast out)! The Father of the Bridegroom had wedding garments prepared for all of the guests! It did not cost them a penny. But like many of us, we believe that our garments are as good, or probably better, than the one that Jesus has prepared for us. After all, we reason, salvation must cost something! And it does! Jesus is the one who paid the price. It was so costly, that we could not afford it! Even if we sold all that we had, we could not come up with sufficient to pay for our salvation! Only Jesus could afford it! So to us, it is free, but it is in no way cheap! “Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe…”
“For as the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the things that grow in it to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.” As we see the scenes of destruction and desolation left by some of the natural disasters this world has endured, it may be hard for us to imagine the earth in full bloom. But as our text reminds us, the earth bringing forth its bud, and the garden causing things that grow to “spring forth” are taking place simultaneously with the rebirth of righteousness and praise!
Dear friends, it was sin that caused the thorns and thistles to become a part of the rose (Genesis 3: 18). It was sin that caused us to work to the point of sweating, in order to eat; and it was sin that caused death (19)! But when the curse of sin is gone, new life will spring forth, and righteousness and praise, shall be the order of the day! No more tsunamis; no more fires, no more hurricane season, no more floods, no more storms. No more accidents, no more death, no more crying, no more sorrow, no more parting, no more disappointments.
It will be heaven at last! I can hardly wait for the day to come! What about you?