Sunday 2003/11/30 Morning
Rev. Scavo
Isaiah 12:3-6
THE BLESSING OF PRAISE

3 Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation. 4. And in that day you will say: "Praise the LORD, call upon His name; Declare His deeds among the peoples, Make mention that His name is exalted. 5 Sing to the LORD, For He has done excellent things; This [is] known in all the earth. 6 Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, For great [is] the Holy One of Israel in your midst!"

1. Joy (v3).

Change in person from singular to plural. God saves individuals into the Church. We are united together.

Romans 12:5 "so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another".

Ephesians 4:4-6 "4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."

Westminster Confession Chapter 26:
CHAPTER XXVI.
Of the Communion of the Saints.
I. All saints that are united to Jesus Christ their head, by his Spirit and by faith, have fellowship with him in his graces, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory: and, being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other’s gifts and graces, and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as to conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man.

Joy - gladness for temporal or eternal blessings.

Psalm 4:7 You have put gladness in my heart,
More than in the season that their grain and wine increased.

Water is a picture of salvation. God provided the water Israel needed in the wilderness. God continues to bless us with mercy.

1 Cor 10:4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.

Psalm 42:2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?

Well - source of water. We die if the well goes dry. Without the lifegiving well, people perish.

John 4. Jesus is living water.

Psalm 36:8-9 8 They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.
9For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.

John 7:37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.

Revelation 22:1-2 1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

2. Praise (v4).

This is an Imperative, a command. "You will say…"

Name - God’s name is not magic formula, but the qualities and character of God.

Exodus 20:7 "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

1 John 3:23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.

Rom 10:13-14 13For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." 14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

Public. The group of saved make known to the whole world what God has done.

Psalm 66:1-4 1 Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!
2Sing out the honor of His name;
Make His praise glorious.
3Say to God,
"How awesome are Your works!
Through the greatness of Your power
Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.
4All the earth shall worship You
And sing praises to You;
They shall sing praises to Your name."

We don’t just accept the blessings. We remember them and proclaim to others and to ourselves what God has done.

1 Pet 2:9-10 9But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

1 Cor 15:3-4 3For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

3. Proclaim (v5-6).

Sing - This is the proper response to God. We should do it with feeling, but above all, we should do it. God is worthy of worship.

Psalm 150 - 1 Praise the LORD!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty firmament!
2Praise Him for His mighty acts;
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
3Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;
Praise Him with the lute and harp!
4Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
5Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
6Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD!

Mat 28:18-20. 18And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

First we should tell people how wonderful God is. After that we tell them what He has done to fix our sin problem. This is ultimately about God and His glory, not about man and his problem.

Verse 6 has another change of person. It is singular and female. This reminds us of Miriam who led the praise at the Exodus.

Exodus 15:20-21 - 20 Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. 21And Miriam answered them:
"Sing to the LORD,
For He has triumphed gloriously!
The horse and its rider
He has thrown into the sea!"

The change to feminine singular is a picture of the Church worshiping God.

Isaiah 9:6 6For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 11:9 9They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
As the waters cover the sea.

Jeremiah 31:34-35 34No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, "Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
35Thus says the LORD,
Who gives the sun for a light by day,
The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night,
Who disturbs the sea,
And its waves roar
(The LORD of hosts is His name):

Cry out and shout - Literally: "Cry at the top of your lungs." In our praise for God, we are to be like city on a hill that can not be hidden.

Matthew 5:14-15 14"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Isaiah is encouraging the remnant of his day that things will get better. We are living in those better days was speaking of. We should be crying out what God has done for us.