Isaiah 12:2 “Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.”

This brief chapter is one of many reasons I like Isaiah so much. It is pure praise and adoration, and several parts of it have been put to music in multiple settings. This particular verse is a declaration of faith, a statement of who God is to the speaker, and as such should be joyfully trumpeted by every believer. It is worth noting that it doesn’t say, “God is my Savior,” it says, “God is my salvation.” That puts a little different slant on it. It isn’t focused on what He does for me, it is focused on who He is. When that is our focus, we can indeed “trust and not be afraid,” just as Isaiah wrote. Many English translations cover over the way the next line specifies the covenant name of God. The Japanese expresses it as, “Yah, the Lord.” It is a specification that this is Yahweh Isaiah is talking about, not Baal or Ashtoreth or any other god. Nothing besides our Creator is worthy of our total trust. Sadly, we need to keep being reminded of that. It is when we remember it fully that He is our strength and our song of praise, and indeed becomes our salvation.

I’m reminded of a chorus I’ve known for many years. “You are the words and the music; You are the song that I sing. You are the melody, You are the harmony; praises to You I will bring. You are the Mighty God, You are the Prince of Peace, You are the King of all kings. Now I return to You the song that You gave to me; You are the song that I sing.” I have long claimed that chorus as my motivation for singing. I teach it to my Speech Therapy students, since singing is an excellent tool for speech therapy, and I tell them that it indeed expresses my motivation. I encounter many things in life, and some are more difficult than others. Today we are expecting a full house, which is a good thing, but part of the motivation for that is that we will be having a program and barbecue in the afternoon and evening, which is a high stress thing for me. I don’t mind speaking in front of large groups, but being in charge of functions and needing to interact with many different people all together is not my cup of tea. I’m sure the end result will be excellent, but that doesn’t keep me from wanting to run away. I need to keep letting this verse run through my mind and heart throughout today, so that every visitor, and particularly everyone who doesn’t yet know the Lord, may be drawn and not repulsed, attracted by Christ manifested through me and this congregation, leading them to repentance and faith for their salvation.

Father, thank You for this extremely timely Word. Help me apply it fully, resting, relaxing, and rejoicing in You throughout today, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!