Isaiah 63:7-9

Isaiah 63:7-9 (NRSV)

⁷ I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord,

the praiseworthy acts of the Lord,

because of all that the Lord has done for us,

and the great favor to the house of Israel

that he has shown them according to his mercy,

according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

⁸ For he said, “Surely they are my people,

children who will not deal falsely”;

and he became their savior

⁹      in all their distress.

It was no messenger or angel

but his presence that saved them;

in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;

he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. 

Isaiah 63:7-9 is the beginning of a community lament that continues to 64:12. The psalm of the decimated post-exilic community of the Jewish people recounts the magnalia Dei — the mighty redemptive acts of the Lord by which the Israelites’ ancestors were delivered from bondage — and pleads for a similar deliverance from their current distress. The dynamic in the passage is retrospect as the basis for prospect. The writer offers a prospectus. This is what God has done. This describes the relationship of the Lord to us. This describes our relationship to the Lord. We can expect this valued relationship to continue in the future. As is typical of a lament, it begins with a recitation of earlier deliverance from the Lord. ⁷ I will recount as in meditate on and live by what he remembers, the gracious deeds of the Lord, the praiseworthy acts of the Lord, which were the deliverance from Egypt and the preservation of the Hebrews through 40 years of wilderness wandering (cf. vv. 9, 11-12), those twin events — collectively described as “the exodus” — remaining for the duration of the biblical period and beyond the defining event in Israel’s theological memory, because of all that the Lordhas done for us, and the great favor to the house of Israel that he has shown them according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his steadfast love. ⁸ For he said, “Surely they are my people. The Lord will give them a heart to know the Lord, so that they will be the people of the Lord (Jeremiah 24:7, 30:22). A day is coming when all the families of Israel will be “my people” (Jeremiah 31:1). A day is coming when the Lord will write the law on the hearts of the people, and they will be the people of the Lord (Jeremiah 31:33). The Lord will gather the exiles in such a way that they shall be the people of the Lord (Jeremiah 32:38). God will become the God of the descendants of Abraham (Genesis 17:7-8). The Lord promises the exiles they will gather in the land again and be the people of the Lord (Ezekiel 36:28) A day is coming when David will rule, the sanctuary rebuilt, the people shall know they belong to the Lord, and the nations shall witness it all (Ezekiel 37:27). The Lord will refine the remnant so that they will call upon the Lord, and the Lord will answer that they are my people (Zechariah 13:9). Those who persevere through tribulation will inherit eschatological blessings and become the children of God (Revelation 21:7). As people who belong to the Lord, they shall become children who will not deal falsely”; children is unusual, becoming typical in the New Testament, but in parallel with the typical “my people,” and he became their savior ⁹ in all their distress. It was no messenger or angel but his presence that saved them;In Genesis 32:24-32 we have the origin of Peniel, “face of God,” with Jacob wrestled. One can also see Exodus 14:19, where the angel of God went before and behind the Israelite army, Exodus 33:14-15, where the Lord assures Moses of the personal presence of the Lord, Deuteronomy 4:37-38, where the direct presence of the Lord brought the people out of Egypt, and Numbers 6:24-26, where the priestly benediction is that the face of the Lord shine upon them. Such presence will later have an identification with the Spirit of God in Isaiah 63:10-14, where the Spirit is the one who led the people out of Egypt and protected them, as well as Psalm 139:7 and 51:11, where the spirit and the presence of the Lord are in poetic parallelism. In his love and in his pity he redeemed (ga'al) them. The root word for "redeem" appears 25 times in Isaiah 35, 41-63, including 63:9, 16; (kinsman) redeemer, redeem and redemption, along with the kindred word "ransom," appear frequently elsewhere in Scripture. He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. See Exodus 19:4, where the Lord carried Israel on the wings of an eagle to carry them to the Lord, Deuteronomy 1:31, where the Lord carried them as one carries child from Egypt to the Promised Land, Deuteronomy 32:11, where the Lord carried them like an eagle carries its young on its wings, Isaiah 40:11, where the Lord will gather the people like a shepherd carries the lambs, Isaiah 46:4, where the Lord carried Jacob in its youth and will carry them in their old age. The point is, God has fulfilled his end of the covenant, delivering them from their enemies; now, would they remain loyal to him, trusting in him alone and obediently following the stipulated requirements of his covenantal laws/instructions? 

           Such remembering of the past deeds of the Lord among the people of God historically, and possibly among a particular community, and even in our personal lives, may well be a good spiritual discipline. In times of uncertainty, doubt, and distress, we will find some strength, comfort, and guidance for our future as we remember the past gracious acts of the Lord. A journal would be an effective way to do this. It could be helpful to write a prospectus at the end of the year. What is the state of our lives? Do we have prospects? What are they? On what basis might we say that the future looks bright? Or does it not?