Daily Devotions
Isaiah
"Awake, awake, put on strength"
Text: Isaiah 51:9
A HEARTFELT CRY TO THE LORD
Isaiah responded to the LORD’s word with a heartfelt prayer. He prayed that the LORD would awaken His arm of strength as in the days of old.
“Awake, awake, put on strength,
O arm of the LORD!
Awake as in the ancient days,
In the generations of old.
Are You not the arm that cut Rahab apart,
And wounded the serpent?
Are You not the One who dried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
That made the depths of the sea a road
For the redeemed to cross over?
So the ransomed of the LORD shall return,
And come to Zion with singing,
With everlasting joy on their heads.
They shall obtain joy and gladness;
Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
Isaiah 51:9-11
1. The arm of the LORD.
a) The prayer was made to the LORD.
b) The reference to God’s arm is the focus on His power.
c) This was a prayer for God to rise up in a powerful way to help Israel.
2. References to the past.
a) The drying up of the seas is a reference to the crossing of the Red Sea.
b) The children of Israel walked on the seabed dry-shod when God parted the waters of the Red Sea (Exodus 13).
c) This was a historic miracle that demonstrated the might of God’s arm.
3. The ransomed of the LORD.
a) The LORD would have to stage another redemptive miracle.
b) The people who will be released from Babylon would be “the ransomed of the LORD”.
c) They will return to their homeland:
i) With singing.
ii) With everlasting joy.
iii) They will have joy and gladness.
iv) They will no longer by sorrowing and sighing.