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Home , Isaiah 51

Beloved, A voice cried out: now is the acceptable time spoken of by the "In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord Spirit; make straight in the desert a highway for the day of salvation, peace and reconciliation, the great season of Advent; our God. this season of hope, of mercy, Every valley shall be lifted up, of longing, and of solemnity. and every mountain and hill be made low; Let us celebrate it with faith and love, the uneven ground shall become level, offering praise and thanksgiving to the Father, for the fulfilment of all His promises and the rough places a plain. in the coming of Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, Christ . and all people see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. O Lord, open our lips 40:3-5 for our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Reveal among us the light of your presence: A READING FROM THE PSALMS that we may behold your power and glory.

God was in the beginning bringing wonder and light. Arise, shine out, for your light has come: and the glory of the Lord rises over us God is Though deepest night covers the earth and its people in the present the glory of the Lord appears bringing truth and love. The nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawning God will be Your gates will always stand open in the future and shut not night or day. bringing hope and joy. You will call your walls 'Salvation' and your gates 'Praise' The Lord will be your everlasting light and God will be your splendour Blessed are you, sovereign God of all, Therefore rejoice! And rejoice! to you be praise and glory for ever. Emmanuel shall come to you, O . Readings—Week beginning 14th Dec 2020 In your tender compassion Song of the New , from the dawn from on high is breaking among us Dec 14 Ps 40 :14-25 to dispel the lingering shadows of night. Dec 15 Ps 70 As we look for your coming among us this day, Dec 16 Ps 75 Isaiah 51:1-8 open our eyes to behold your presence READING FROM SCRIPTURE Dec 17 Ps 76 Isaiah 51:9-16 and strengthen our hands to do your will, that the world may rejoice and give you praise. Dec 18 Ps 77 Isaiah 51:17-end A few moments of reflection Dec 19 Ps 146 :1-12 Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit:

A few notes on the readings are at the end. Blessed be God for ever. The SONG of ZECHARIAH PRAYERS Awaiting his coming in glory, we pray confidently as our Saviour has taught us: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, O Lord our God, who has come to his people Our Father ... and set them free. make us watchful and keep us faithful

He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour, as we await the coming of your Son our Lord;

born of the house of his servant . that, when he shall appear, he may not find us sleeping in sin but active in his service Through his holy and joyful in his praise; God promised of old through Jesus Christ our Lord. to save us from our enemies, from the hands of all that hate us, We travel in time to show mercy to our ancestors, may God walk with us into eternity. A few moments to take our own thoughts, prayers and to remember his holy covenant. We travel in hope: and concerns to God. may God sing with us through the darkness. We travel in wonder; This was the oath may God dance with us in holy joy: God swore to our father : to set us free from the hands of our enemies, We take the light of our prayer into the world So may the blessing of the God of glory. free to worship him without fear, To pray for those unable to pray; traveller, story-teller, dancer, holy and righteous in his sight to offer ourselves as answers to prayer. be in us today and every day. all the days of our life. Amen. We take the light of our compassion into the world To come alongside those who are suffering And you, child, anguish of heart - anguish of mind shall be called the of the Most High, and be as Christ for them. for you will go before the Lord to Let us bless the Lord: prepare his way, We take the light of God's power into the world Thanks be to God. To give his people knowledge of salvation God's power made perfect by the forgiveness of all their sins. in powerlessness, strength made known in weakness,

life made known in dying. In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, God enters the hearts of all who pray To shine on those who dwell in darkness - and feel they are not heard and the shadow of death, suffers their pain, their humiliation, and to guide our feet into the way of peace. carries the burdens of the world Luke 1.68-79 and dies that we might live.

Glory to the Father and to the Son Come humbly, holy God, and to the Holy Spirit; be born into our rejoicing. Common Worship: services and prayers for the Church of England as it was in the beginning is now Material from which is included in this service, is copyright and shall be for ever: Come quickly, humble God, © The Archbishops’ Council 2000 Amen. AND REIGN! Our Readings this week… … ... Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Psalms: 40, 70, 75, 76, 77, 146 Let those who love your salvation Many of this weeks psalms are right in tune with the season in being psalms that seek deliverance from difficult situation—those in need of a saviour and redeemer. Even more connected are the say evermore, “God is great!” first two Pss40 and 70. And this reminds us that the ‘Book of Psalms’ were collected from vari- ous traditions, particularly from after the point where the David’s united Kingdom had been split into the northern (/Israel) and southern (Judea) King- doms. In the collection process duplication occurred several times and this is what we find between Pss40 & 70 where we find that the whole of Ps70 is identical to vv13-17 of Ps40! Even more so it is thought that Pss70 & 71 were originally one psalm. Nevertheless Ps70 is the shortest psalm in the Book so far—it is urgent and desperate—it is in a hurry— it ends ‘O LORD, do not delay!’ - a prayer for people in a hurry, and reminds us that faith-filled urgent and hurried prayers are

& GATTON TEAM GATTON & fine in the circumstances of life—there is a bold trust in it that understands ‘God is great’ and therefore able. It is from a believer that understands that God sits above the follies of the world and their scoffing and derision and that we will live in the salvation and life that comes from God—ultimately he is our deliver and life-giver. Sometimes we need to made such hurried prayers in the press of all that life throws in our path as we remember who our God passionately is for us.

MERSTHAM MERSTHAM Isaiah 49:14 — 52:12 ‘Homeward Bound’ At the end of last week we noted that in 49:8-26 the end of the chapter three things are emphasised about the return of God’s people. First 49:8-13 was that God would guide his people. Second, 50:14-21, that God’s people would struggle believing, after being away for 70 years it was now a generation who remem- bered Jerusalem and the Temple, and the ways of their people with God. God pre-empts this loss with ‘But said, “The LORD has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.” Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. “ (Quoted in the beautiful hymn ‘Hark my soul, it is the Lord…’), and the remnant left behind will wonder with incredulities the great number of the returnees. And then thirdly, vv22-26, that God will be the planner and orchestrator of Israel’s great day of freedom, and that he will ‘contend’ with those who frustrate it, foreign kings and queens will serve and nurture his people (not the first or last time this image will appear), and all will know that it is the God of Israel who has done this. This may be right, but it is necessary in 50:1-13 for God chastise his people—he makes it clear that their loss and spiritual separation from him is entirely the conse- quences of their own actions—he holds no divorce paper for separating from them, or credit note for selling them to another—no, they caused it! No-one an- swered when he called, no one responded to his cry—he could save them, but this is their fault, and their predicament is the price for their sin.

50:4-9a brings us the second of the ‘’ This ‘song’ is written in 4 short verses all starting with God’s actions; the Lord has given me the tongue of a teacher, the Lord God has opened my ear; and, as a result - The Lord will help me…, The Lord will help me. This is an intricate chiastic poem—not time to pick apart here—but worth a look at the middle of the chiasma Verses 2 (5- 6) +3 (7-8) and contrast the ‘face’ imagery and ‘disgrace’ meaning across them. The servant will be humiliated, because of Israel’s sin, and will be vindicated by it. And in a postlude to the song (vv 9b-11) Isaiah then exhorts his audience that it is only in trusting God they will find the deliverance they need—it demands an active response of trust. To walk in the light of God, or perish in the fires of their own making. This whole part of Isaiah is a real roller-coaster between God’s peoples’ current condition and what it is hoped to be. Ch51:1-16 presents a challenge to the righteous to take stock of their situation, to look to their past (1-3), to look to the future (4-6), and to look to the present (7-8). This is a very Hebrew way of thinking: to look to the past to remember what God has done, and there- fore what he can do in the future, despite present circumstances. To live faithfully in the present to draw us into the blessing of the future promise. And so (9-11) Isaiah beseeches God for what he has done, and God replies (11-16) with what will be—and paints this The early part of the (= Yahweh saves ) tells us a lot about the person the wonderful picture of the return of his people to Zion and ‘everlasting joy shall be upon their heads… sorrow and sighing shall flee book is named after (Proto-Isaiah) - the probable author of chapters 1-39. He was the away…[and affirming to Zion] You are my people’. In their present circumstance this is an awesome picture and promise—if they son of (1:1) and rabbinic sources connect him to nobility, possibly royalty. He was married to a prophetess (8:1) though we do not know her name, and had two sons Shear- would trust him. (51:11 is repetition of 35:10—that chapter which is an extraordinary glimmer of hope in the darkest of times). Jashub ( =a remnant will return) 7:3, and Maher-shalal-hash-baz (=swift is the plunder, speedy is the prey) 8:1-4 - both of whose names are associated with their father’s work. Isaiah continues with a three-fold way of looking at this Good News for Jerusalem/Zion—(51:17-52:12). First, the Jerusalem that was Part of Isaiah's story can be followed in 2 Kings 19:2-20:19) a drunkard as a result of continuously drinking from the ‘cup of wrath’ would be sobered. Second, Jerusalem will be freed (52:1-2) After King (aka Azariah) died the future of looked precarious and fragile, and when all the evidence of its slavery will be removed, and would then adorn herself with the splendid garments as befits God’s peo- Isaiah become the mouthpiece of God for the nation. Amongst later kings he served were Jotham, , and . Recent excavations in Jerusalem have turned up two seal ple, and with a reminder in v3 that this is a result of God’s choice and prerogative for his people. And, third, vv7-12, that when the impressions—one of which appears to be Isaiah’s (on the left) , and found nearby one word reaches Jerusalem via ‘the beautiful… feet of the messenger who announces peace…’ there will be much rejoicing, for the Lord that belonged to Hezekiah (on the right). There is work to be done to authenticate this, but finds like these do bring the very human story of extraordinary individuals of faith would have rolled up his sleeve (‘bared his holy arm’) and achieved the work of redeeming his people and restoring Zion. and trust, such as Isaiah, into perspective for us.

Week starting 14th Dec 2020