Isaiah · chapter 62 of 66
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Isaiah 62 promises that the Lord will not keep silent or rest until Zion's righteousness shines like the dawn. Zion will receive a new name, no longer Forsaken but My Delight Is in Her, because the Lord will rejoice over her as a bridegroom over a bride. Watchmen are set who give the Lord no rest, and the arrival of salvation is announced with a people called Redeemed.
Isaiah 62 is the third of the chapters on Zion's glory (60-62). After the light of chapter 60 and the anointed one of chapter 61, the speaker promises again that he will take no rest until the city is vindicated. It is a text about persevering in prayer and about the Lord's love for his people.
The speaker, who may be the prophet or the anointed one of the previous chapter, says that for Zion's sake he will not keep silent and for Jerusalem's sake he will not rest until her righteousness goes forth as brightness and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations will see her righteousness and all kings her glory, and she will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. She will be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord and a royal diadem in the hand of her God.
You will no more be called Forsaken, and your land will no more be called Desolate. You will be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married, for the Lord delights in you and your land will be married. As a young man marries a young woman, so your sons will marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you.
In verses 6 through 9 the Lord has set watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem, who will never be silent by day or night. Those who put the Lord in remembrance must take no rest and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth. The Lord has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm that he will no more give your grain as food for your enemies, and foreigners will not drink the wine for which you have labored; those who gather it will eat it and praise the Lord, and those who gather the grapes will drink it in the courts of his sanctuary.
The chapter closes with a call: go through, go through the gates, prepare the way for the people, build up the highway, clear it of stones, lift up a signal for the peoples. The Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth: say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your salvation comes, his reward is with him. They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord, and you will be called Sought Out, a City Not Forsaken.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The speaker promises not to keep silent or rest for Zion's sake until her righteousness shines like the dawn. It is a commitment to persevering intercession for the city of God.
Zion will no longer be called Forsaken or Desolate, but My Delight Is in Her, because the Lord takes pleasure in her. The name changes because the Lord himself changes her situation.
As a bridegroom rejoices over a bride, so God will rejoice over his people. The image shows a God who not only saves but delights in those he saves.
The people will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord, and Zion will be Sought Out, a City Not Forsaken. The new names reflect the identity the Lord gives his people through his work.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: For Zion's sake, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness and her salvation as a torch. — Isaiah 62:1
Answer: A new name, which the mouth of the Lord will give. — Isaiah 62:2
Answer: No longer Forsaken or Desolate, but My Delight Is in Her, and her land Married. — Isaiah 62:4
Answer: To the joy of a bridegroom over a bride. — Isaiah 62:5
Answer: Watchmen who will never be silent by day or night. — Isaiah 62:6
Answer: The Holy People and the Redeemed of the Lord. — Isaiah 62:12
Isaiah 62 encourages persevering prayer. The watchmen who do not keep silent are a model for those who intercede for their family, church or city, even when the answer is slow. A class can form prayer pairs and commit to praying for a concrete need over several weeks.
The text also conveys something deep about identity: God gives new names. Someone who has felt forsaken or desolate can hear that the Lord delights in his people. For young people and those who feel defined by their past, this promise of a new name offers hope. And the invitation to prepare the way reminds us that the church is called to announce the coming of salvation.
Isaiah 62 ends with a people with new names and a salvation that is coming. Chapter 63 opens with a question about who is coming from Edom in garments stained red and becomes a prayer of lament for the people.
The text describes them as guards set on the walls who do not keep silent, and the expression is normally understood as people who remind the Lord of his promises in prayer. They may be prophets, priests or the whole faithful people. What matters is the insistence on praying until God fulfills what he has promised.
In Hebrew Hephzibah means My Delight Is in Her and Beulah means Married. Isaiah 62:4 says Zion will no longer be called Forsaken or Desolate but by these names, to express that she will be the object of the Lord's delight and will be united to him like a wife.