Psalm 45 Publications

Part Five: “The Lord Will Come in Fire”

1. Introduction: Living in Light of the Lord’s Return

For four weeks now, we have been walking together through the magnificent and imposing book of Isaiah. At times, it has been overwhelming; and even now, perhaps, there remains some uncertainty as to what we will do with this amazing message. There have been glimpses of the perfect person and work of Christ that are thrilling and comforting; but the sheer vastness of this inexhaustible gospel message, the tyranny of the impinging temporal matters that surround us, and the lingering uncertainty about how to fit such a big, amazing message into the practical affairs of our little, mundane lives may cause us to feel like throwing up our hands in despair. In some ways, that is how I feel; and I don’t think I am alone. Continue Reading

Part Four: “Behold the Lamb of God”

1. Introduction: Four Servant Songs

Thus far in our journey through Isaiah, we have seen many amazing prophecies that far excel all human wisdom and imagination. The Immanuel-King complex of prophecies in chapters seven through twelve is the preeminent prediction in all the Old Testament of the incarnation of Christ. It is no accident that many of our favorite Christmas passages come from this portion of Isaiah; because hundreds of years before the virgin birth, he looked ahead with crystal clarity and probed to the depths the incomprehensible mystery of the birth of the God-Man. But for all this, the climax of his Messianic expectation had still not come. Continue Reading

Part Three: “A Shoot Springs Up”

1. Introduction: A New Light Dawns

We left off last week noting that God’s promise to save his people will not be thwarted by the unbelief of apostates such as Ahaz – for “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Rom. 11:29). The promised Christ will indeed come, and he will be an immovable Rock, a sanctuary for his people where God fully and perfectly dwells with them without consuming or terrifying them. This mystery of the incarnation of the eternal Son of God is at the very heart of the Christian faith. But what of those who disbelieve and look elsewhere for security? They will be shattered against this same Rock who is certainly coming, and utterly destroyed. This testimony was bound up and sealed, and was as irrevocable as God’s own character. But would the people rejoice to embrace this testimony? No, as Ahaz their leader, they would disbelieve and seek out wisdom and revelation from any other source they could find than the very Word of God come down in history to reveal God to his people. At the end of chapter eight, we can hear the anguish in Isaiah’s voice as he looks to a time in which the people stumble in thick darkness, where there is no dawn, and lift up their voices in rage against their God and King. Continue Reading

Part Two: “The Greatest Sign of All”

1. When crisis comes to the people of God (vss. 1-2)

Last week, we spent some time unpacking Isaiah’s central message that, although difficult days are ahead, there is a greater salvation coming for the people of God – God’s own purpose and promise guarantee it, and he will not let his glory be stained by failing to accomplish his plan of redemption in Christ. This is an immensely comforting message; but when those promised difficulties arrive, will the promise of salvation yet to come be enough to sustain our faith? In some measure, that is the question, not just of the faithful in Isaiah’s day, but of the faithful in every age. We are promised eternal joy in the presence of Christ and a home in the New Jerusalem; but also affliction, persecution, and the loving but faithful chastisement of God’s own hand in this life. What will happen to us when those afflictions spring up all around us? Will they choke out the fruits of our faith, like thorns? Or will we rejoice even in our diverse tribulations, knowing that God has designed them for a greater good? Continue Reading

Part One: “When He Saw His Glory”

1. Introduction to Isaiah

Isaiah is the premier prophet of the Old Testament in several ways: (1) temporally – as one of the first, he stands at the head of the amazing tradition of writing prophets before, during, and after the great captivity of Israel and Judah; and his message is so profound and monumental that everything written by the prophets afterwards is in some ways colored and shaped by his foundational work. (2) in volume – Isaiah is the longest prophetic book in the canon; his book, like his message, is big and broad, multi-faceted and all-encompassing, a microcosm of God’s whole purpose in human history. (3) in theme, style, and scope – there is simply no one else who wrote as diversely, as powerfully, as poetically, and as broadly as Isaiah. Martin Luther famously (and with good reason!) referred to the Psalms as a “little bible,” because they contain in some fashion every aspect of God’s gracious revelation to us. Isaiah is perhaps the only other book that could bear that designation with equal appropriateness. Reading Isaiah is like reading the Cliff’s Notes version of the bible – he takes you back to the eternal, inter-triune council before the foundation of the world, moves you along through fall, promise, failure, exile – then brings you to a stunning climax of redemption, which flowers into a brilliant conclusion of eternal significance. Isaiah is a truly astonishing and wonderful book: it is Gospel, like the Evangelists; it explains the theological truths inherent in those accurately depicted gospel-scenes, like John; it shouts from beginning to end that the person and work of Christ is superior to all that had come before, like Hebrews; it concludes the whole world in sin before having free mercy for all, by grace through faith alone; and it shows how the casting off of the Jews means salvation for the whole world, both Jew and Gentile, like Romans; it soars above and beyond human history and shows the coming eschaton in brilliant imagery, like Revelation. Continue Reading