rejoice: Hallelujah, the Lord is come!

Isaiah 61.10-11

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD;
   my soul shall exult 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 like a priest with a beautiful headdress,
    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
   and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,
so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise
   to sprout up before all the nations.

Have a Merry Christmas, everyone!

rejoice: reasons for today

I am rejoicing today because…

…I got to cuddle with my kids
…they are just sick with something annoying and not something serious
…they got to celebrate “Christmas Eve” (OK, a little early) with my family in spite of being sick — I would have been so sad to do it without them
…I have a DVR. And PBS. And a Veggie Tale movie from the library.
…my bed has an electric blanket. Which makes me feel like an old lady. But a very warm old lady.
…my son is kind and sensitive and he loves Jesus and I like being with him
…chiles rellanos exist. And my mother knows how to make them
…there are so many good stories in the world and enough good storytellers
…I have snow tires. And “StabiliTrak”. Whatever that is
…my family is great and we like each other and they make me laugh and that is a wonderful thing
…someone invented washable markers
…God gives us joy even when we try to look for it in other places

rejoice: words of joy

No coherent thoughts, just some “rejoice-themed” words from Isaiah I was enjoying this morning…and weird, random comments…

Isaiah 25.1

O LORD, you are my God;
    I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
    plans formed of old, faithful and sure.

I can rejoice in the present, whatever my circumstances, because God HAS done good things and has, from long ago, decided to give me good things.

Isaiah 60:18

Violence shall no more be heard in your land,
   devastation or destruction within your borders;
you shall call your walls Salvation,
   and your gates Praise.

I love how the walls of salvation are what protect us and that the gates of praise are part of that wall.

Isaiah 63:7

 I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD,
   the praises of the LORD,
according to all that the LORD has granted us,
    and the great goodness to the house of Israel
that he has granted them according to his compassion,
   according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

It is God’s goodness and grace that earned for us our blessings…we did not earn or acquire them ourselves. We can rest and rejoice in this. 

Isaiah 25:9

It will be said on that day,
   ”Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
   This is the LORD; we have waited for him;
    let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

I like that this call to praise is before the deliverance, the salvation. What faith!

Isaiah 29:19

The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD,
   and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.

Fresh joy. I love that. Not old joy, faithful joy, hand-me-down joy — fresh joy.

Isaiah 48:20

Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea,
   declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it,
send it out to the end of the earth;
   say, “The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!”

I kind of like the idea of standing out on my deck and proclaiming in a loud voice, “The LORD has redeemed his servant Michelle!”

Isaiah 49:13

 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
   break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the LORD has comforted his people
   and will have compassion on his afflicted.

Tidings of comfort and joy!

Isaiah 51:11

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
   and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
   they shall obtain gladness and joy,
   and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

I like the picture of sorrow and sighing high-tailing it out of here.

Isaiah 52:7-9

 How beautiful upon the mountains
   are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
   who publishes salvation,
   who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice;
   together they sing for joy;
for eye to eye they see
   the return of the LORD to Zion.
Break forth together into singing,
    you waste places of Jerusalem,
for the LORD has comforted his people;
   he has redeemed Jerusalem.

A favorite passage, for sure, the image of a messenger running back to the city to report success, the victorious king following closely behind.