Isaiah 44:23 Sing, O you heavens; for the LORD has done it: shout, you lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, you mountains… The text is a magnificent call to heaven and earth to join in singing the glories of redemption. I. IN WHAT PARTICULARS REDEMPTION CALLS FOR A SONG. Redemption calls for a song when we remember — 1. Its Author. "The Lord hath done it." "The Lord hath redeemed Jacob." Herein is indeed a marvel of grace, demanding the highest anthems ransomed lips can raise. What could man have been to Him? What shadow of an obligation was there on His part to put forth the slightest effort to save a single one? The Lord hath done it alone. With whom took He counsel in this matter? Who paid part-price with Him? Redemption is no work of the many; it is God's own in plan and execution. 2. Its cost (1 Peter 1:18, 19). 3. Its completeness. Christ hath so gloriously completed the work of redemption that nothing can possibly be added to it. Unlike the atonement made by the Aaronic priesthood, it lasts for ever. 4. Its comprehensiveness. It will take eternity to reveal all. If we are Christ's, then have we been redeemed from the hand of Satan. From the guilt of sin. With the guilt, away goes the power of sin. We are also redeemed from the consequences of sin. From the power of death (Hosea 13:14). Christ hath redeemed the bodies of His saints for the glories of the resurrection morn. 5. The chiefest cause for song is redemption "being" that in which God. has been pleased to glorify Himself the most. "The Lord hath glorified Himself in Israel." All the attributes of God are most gloriously to be seen in redemption work. II. WHO THOSE ARE WHO SHOULD SING THE SONG. 1. Heaven! "Sing, O ye heavens," and well you may, for redemption has shed a fresh lustre on your glories. The highest joy the angels can have, is that which arises from seeing their King glorified. Behold also the redeemed in heaven! Listen to their song, sweeter even than an angel's, "Unto Him that loved us." All heaven unites in this redemption song. 2. Let the ransomed on earth take their part. "Shout, ye lower parts of the earth." Behold your serfdom gone — your bonds broken — your chains snapped — your sins forgiven — your heaven secured, and then sing. 3. Surely who that have loved ones that have been redeemed should join us in the song. 4. The trembling sinner has good cause to join his voice with ours. "The Lord hath done it." If done, then there can be no necessity for any addition of thine. (A. G. Brown.) Parallel Verses KJV: Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel. |
    |