Isaiah · chapter 12 of 66
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Isaiah 12 is a short hymn of praise that God's people will sing on that day. It acknowledges that the Lord was angry but his anger has turned away and he is now their salvation, strength and song. It invites people to draw water with joy from the wells of salvation, to give thanks, to make his deeds known among the peoples and to sing because the Holy One of Israel is in the midst of Zion.
Chapter 12 closes the great section of chapters 1 to 11, which mixes judgment and promise and culminates in the kingdom of the shoot from Jesse. As a response to the announced salvation, Isaiah puts into the mouth of the redeemed people a song in two stanzas, one personal and one communal.
The chapter begins by announcing that on that day the people will say: I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. I will trust and will not be afraid, for the Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. This first song is personal and acknowledges that God's anger, described in earlier chapters, has given way to comfort.
The next image is of joy: with gladness they will draw water from the wells of salvation. Water represents God's life and provision, which in the wilderness satisfied his people.
On that day they will also say: give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, remember that his name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for he has done gloriously, and let this be made known in all the earth. The hymn ends with an invitation to the inhabitant of Zion to shout and sing for joy, for great in her midst is the Holy One of Israel.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The people trust and do not fear, because the Lord is their salvation, strength and song. The phrase echoes Moses' song after the Red Sea and shows that the final deliverance is again God's work.
With joy they will draw water from the wells of salvation. The image suggests that God's salvation is an abundant spring that gives life to anyone who comes to it with gladness.
The saved people invite one another to give thanks, to call on the Lord's name and to make his deeds known among the peoples. Praise does not remain a private experience but becomes a testimony to the nations.
The inhabitant of Zion is invited to shout for joy because the Holy One of Israel is great in her midst. The presence of the Holy One, who terrified Isaiah in chapter 6, is now a reason for joy for his forgiven people.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: It has turned away, and the Lord has comforted his people. — Isaiah 12:1
Answer: Their strength, their song and their salvation. — Isaiah 12:2
Answer: From the wells of salvation. — Isaiah 12:3
Answer: Make the Lord's deeds known and remember that his name is exalted. — Isaiah 12:4
Answer: Because he has done gloriously, and this should be known in all the earth. — Isaiah 12:5
Answer: The Holy One of Israel. — Isaiah 12:6
Isaiah 12 teaches that salvation produces song. After the judgments and warnings of earlier chapters, the people's response is not pride but gratitude. In a small group, a good exercise is to remember specific times when the Lord comforted us and to express it in prayer and praise.
The song also reminds us that our praise has a missionary reach: we make known among the peoples what God has done. Sharing what God has done in our lives with neighbors, coworkers and family is part of responding to his salvation.
Isaiah 12 closes the first great section of the book with a song of praise celebrating God's salvation. From chapter 13 on, the oracles against the nations begin, starting with Babylon.
They are a poetic image of God's salvation as a source of life and joy. In Israel's context it evokes the water God gave in the wilderness. In John's Gospel, Jesus speaks of living water and of himself as the one who gives it (John 4:10-14 and 7:37-38), which many Christians connect with this image.
Verse 2 takes up words from the song Israel sang after crossing the Red Sea, where the Lord is strength, song and salvation. Isaiah suggests that the future deliverance will be like a new exodus, which deserves a new song.
God's redeemed people, on that future day. First they speak in the singular (vv. 1-3), like each believer who has experienced comfort, and then as a community (vv. 4-6), inviting the nations to know the Lord.