Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O depths of the earth. Break forth in song, O mountains, you forests and all your trees. For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and revealed His glory in Israel. Sing for joy, O heavensThe call to the heavens to "sing for joy" is a poetic device that personifies the heavens, inviting them to participate in the celebration of God's redemptive acts. The Hebrew word for "sing" (רָנַן, ranan) often conveys a sense of shouting or crying out with joy. This expression of joy is not just a human response but a cosmic one, indicating the universal impact of God's salvation. The heavens, representing the celestial realm, are called to witness and rejoice in the divine intervention and the fulfillment of God's promises. for the LORD has done it
This phrase emphasizes the completed action of God. The Hebrew name for God used here is "Yahweh" (יְהוָה), the covenant name of God, which underscores His faithfulness and unchanging nature. The phrase "has done it" signifies a definitive act of God, highlighting His sovereignty and the certainty of His promises. This assurance is a source of comfort and joy for believers, as it reflects God's active role in history and His ability to bring His plans to fruition. shout aloud, O depths of the earth
The "depths of the earth" refer to the lower parts of creation, possibly symbolizing the underworld or the most remote parts of the earth. The call for these depths to "shout aloud" (צָהַל, tsahal) suggests a loud, exuberant expression of joy. This imagery conveys the idea that all of creation, from the highest heavens to the deepest parts of the earth, is involved in the celebration of God's mighty deeds. It reflects the comprehensive scope of God's salvation, reaching every part of creation. Break into singing, O mountains
Mountains are often seen as symbols of strength and permanence in the Bible. The command for them to "break into singing" (פָּצַח, patsach) suggests a spontaneous and joyful eruption of praise. This imagery highlights the grandeur and majesty of God's creation joining in worship. The mountains, as part of the natural world, are depicted as active participants in the acknowledgment of God's glory and power. O forest, and every tree therein!
The forest and every tree are called to join in the chorus of praise. Trees are frequently used in Scripture as symbols of life and prosperity. The inclusion of the forest and its trees emphasizes the idea that all living things are to recognize and celebrate the Creator. This call to worship reflects the interconnectedness of creation and the universal acknowledgment of God's sovereignty. For the LORD has redeemed Jacob
The term "redeemed" (גָּאַל, ga'al) is a powerful word in Hebrew, often used in the context of a kinsman-redeemer who rescues or delivers a relative in distress. Here, it signifies God's act of deliverance for Jacob, representing the nation of Israel. This redemption is a central theme in the Bible, pointing to God's faithfulness in fulfilling His covenant promises. It serves as a reminder of God's grace and mercy towards His people. and revealed His glory in Israel
The revelation of God's glory (כָּבוֹד, kavod) in Israel signifies the manifestation of His divine presence and power. In the biblical context, God's glory is often associated with His holiness and majesty. The phrase underscores the idea that God's redemptive acts are not only for the benefit of His people but also for the demonstration of His glory to the world. This revelation serves as a testament to God's character and His desire to be known and worshiped by all nations. Persons / Places / Events 1. The LORD (Yahweh)The covenant God of Israel, who is the central figure in this passage, performing acts of redemption and revealing His glory. 2. JacobRepresents the nation of Israel, whom God has redeemed. Jacob is often used as a synonym for Israel, highlighting the personal and national aspects of God's relationship with His people. 3. Heavens and EarthThe entire creation is called to rejoice, symbolizing the universal impact of God's redemptive work. 4. Mountains, Forest, and TreesElements of nature personified to express joy and celebration, emphasizing the grandeur and completeness of God's salvation. 5. IsraelThe nation chosen by God, through whom His glory is revealed, and who is the recipient of His redemptive acts. Teaching Points Joy in RedemptionThe passage calls for a response of joy from all creation. As believers, we are invited to rejoice in the redemption God has provided through Jesus Christ, recognizing it as a cause for celebration. Creation's Response to GodThe personification of nature in this verse reminds us that all creation is under God's authority and responds to His acts. We should live in harmony with creation, acknowledging God's sovereignty over all. God's Glory RevealedThe redemption of Israel is a demonstration of God's glory. In our lives, we should seek to reflect God's glory through our actions and witness, showing the world the transformative power of His redemption. Universal PraiseThe call for the heavens and earth to sing emphasizes the universal scope of God's salvation. We are part of a global community of believers, and our worship should reflect the inclusivity of God's love and redemption. Hope in God's PromisesJust as God fulfilled His promise to redeem Israel, we can trust in His promises for our lives. This assurance should inspire hope and confidence in God's faithfulness. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the imagery of creation rejoicing in Isaiah 44:23 enhance your understanding of God's redemptive work? 2. In what ways can you personally "sing for joy" in response to God's redemption in your life? 3. How does the concept of God's glory being revealed in Israel relate to the New Testament understanding of God's glory revealed in Christ? 4. What practical steps can you take to reflect God's glory in your daily interactions with others? 5. How can the assurance of God's faithfulness in redeeming Israel encourage you in your current life circumstances? Connections to Other Scriptures Psalm 96This psalm also calls upon creation to rejoice in the Lord, highlighting the theme of universal praise for God's righteous acts. Romans 8Paul speaks of creation eagerly awaiting the revelation of the sons of God, connecting the redemption of Israel to the broader redemption of all creation. Revelation 5The heavenly scene of worship where all creation praises God for His redemptive work through Christ, echoing the call for universal praise in Isaiah 44:23. People Cyrus, Isaiah, JacobPlaces Israel, JerusalemTopics Aloud, Beautify, Beneath, Break, Burst, Cause, Cry, Deep, Depths, Displays, Forest, Forests, Forth, Glorified, Glorify, Glory, Heavens, Jacob, Joy, Joyfully, Loud, Lower, Lowest, Mountains, O, Redeemed, Shout, Shows, Sing, Singing, Song, Therein, Tree, Trees, Voices, Woods, WroughtDictionary of Bible Themes Isaiah 44:23 1193 glory, revelation of
1403 God, revelation
4114 angels, and praise
4448 forests
5528 shouting
7960 singing
7963 song Isaiah 44:21-28 6722 redemption, OT Isaiah 44:22-24 1315 God, as redeemer Isaiah 44:23-24 4203 earth, the Library Feeding on Ashes
'He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?'--ISAIAH xliv. 20. The prophet has been pouring fierce scorn on idolaters. They make, he says, the gods they worship. They take a tree and saw it up: one log serves for a fire to cook their food, and with compass and pencil and plane they carve the figure of a man, and then they bow down to it and say, 'Deliver me, for thou art my god!' He sums up the whole …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureWriting Blotted Out and Mist Melted
'I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins.'--ISAIAH xliv. 22. Isaiah has often and well been called the Evangelical Prophet. Many parts of this second half of his prophecies referring to the Messiah read like history rather than prediction. But it is not only from the clearness with which the great figure of the future king of Israel stands out on his page that he deserves that title. Other thoughts belonging to the very substance of the gospel appear in …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Jacob --Israel --Jeshurun
'Yet now hear, O Jacob My servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen.... Fear not, O Jacob, My servant; and thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. --ISAIAH xliv. 1, 2. You observe that there are here three different names applied to the Jewish nation. Two of them, namely Jacob and Israel, were borne by their great ancestor, and by him transmitted to his descendants. The third was never borne by him, and is applied to the people only here and in the Book of Deuteronomy. The occurrence of all three here …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Source of My Spirit's Deep Desire
"I will pour water on him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground." -- Isaiah 44:8. Source of my spirit's deep desire For living joys that shall not perish, The patient hope Thy words inspire, Still let Thy tender mercy cherish. On Thee my humbled soul would wait, Her utmost weakness calmly learning, And see Thy grace its way create, Through thorns and briers which Thou art burning. Gladly my inmost heart would know The love that now it faintly traces, And see the streams from Zion flow …
Miss A. L. Waring—Hymns and Meditations To the Afflicted, Tossed with Tempests and not Comforted. Isa 44:5-11
To the afflicted, tossed with tempests and not comforted. Isa 44:5-11 Pensive, doubting, fearful heart, Hear what CHRIST the Savior says; Every word should joy impart, Change thy mourning into praise: Yes, he speaks, and speaks to thee, May he help thee to believe! Then thou presently wilt see, Thou hast little cause to grieve. "Fear thou not, nor be ashamed, All thy sorrows soon shall end I who heav'n and earth have framed, Am thy husband and thy friend I the High and Holy One, Israel's GOD by …
John Newton—Olney Hymns Fourteenth Day for the Church of the Future
WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Church of the Future "That the children might not be as their fathers, a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God."--PS. lxxviii. 8. "I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thy offspring."--ISA. xliv. 3. Pray for the rising generation, who are to come after us. Think of the young men and young women and children of this age, and pray for all the agencies at work among them; that in association and societies …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession The Nature of Justification
Justification in the active sense (iustificatio, {GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA}) is defined by the Tridentine Council as "a translation from that state wherein man is born a child of the first Adam, to the state of grace and of the adoption of the sons of God through the second Adam, …
Joseph Pohle—Grace, Actual and Habitual Catalogue of his Works.
There is no absolutely complete edition of Eusebius' extant works. The only one which can lay claim even to relative completeness is that of Migne: Eusebii Pamphili, Cæsareæ Palestinæ Episcopi, Opera omnia quæ extant, curis variorum, nempe: Henrici Valesii, Francisci Vigeri, Bernardi Montfauconii, Card. Angelo Maii edita; collegit et denuo recognovit J. P. Migne. Par. 1857. 6 vols. (tom. XIX.-XXIV. of Migne's Patrologia Græca). This edition omits the works which are …
Eusebius Pamphilius—Church History Moses' Prayer to be Blotted Out of God's Book.
"And Moses returned unto the Lord and said. Oh! this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou--wilt, forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray they, out of thy book which than hast written." In the preceding discourse we endeavored to show that the idea of being willing to be damned for the glory of God is not found in the text--that the sentiment is erroneous and absurd--then adduced the constructions which have been put on the text by sundry expositors, …
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects Centenary Commemoration
OF THE RETURN OF BISHOP SEABURY. 1885 THE RT. REV. SAMUEL SEABURY, D.D. FIRST BISHOP OF CONNECTICUT, HELD HIS FIRST ORDINATION AT MIDDLETOWN, AUGUST 3, 1785. On the ninth day of June, 1885, the Diocesan Convention met in Hartford. Morning Prayer was read in Christ Church at 9 o'clock by the Rev. W. E. Vibbert, D.D., Rector of St. James's Church, Fair Haven, and the Rev. J. E. Heald, Rector of Trinity Church, Tariffville. The Holy Communion was celebrated in St. John's Church, the service beginning …
Various—The Sermons And Addresses At The Seabury Centenary "But if Ye have Bitter Envying and Strife in Your Hearts, Glory Not," &C.
James iii. 14.--"But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not," &c. It is a common evil of those who hear the gospel, that they are not delivered up to the mould and frame of religion that is holden out in it, but rather bring religion into a mould of their own invention. It was the special commendation of the Romans, that they obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine into which they were delivered, (Rom. vi. 17) that they who were once servants, or slaves of sin, had now …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Impiety of Attributing a visible Form to God. --The Setting up of Idols a Defection from the True God.
1. God is opposed to idols, that all may know he is the only fit witness to himself. He expressly forbids any attempt to represent him by a bodily shape. 2. Reasons for this prohibition from Moses, Isaiah, and Paul. The complaint of a heathen. It should put the worshipers of idols to shame. 3. Consideration of an objection taken from various passages in Moses. The Cherubim and Seraphim show that images are not fit to represent divine mysteries. The Cherubim belonged to the tutelage of the Law. 4. …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion The Unity of God
Q-5: ARE THERE MORE GODS THAN ONE? A: There is but one only, the living and true God. That there is a God has been proved; and those that will not believe the verity of his essence, shall feel the severity of his wrath. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.' Deut 6:6. He is the only God.' Deut 4:49. Know therefore this day, and consider it in thy heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath, there is none else.' A just God and a Saviour; there is none beside …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity Hiram, the Inspired Artificer
BY REV. W. J. TOWNSEND, D.D. The Temple of Solomon was the crown of art in the old world. There were temples on a larger scale, and of more massive construction, but the enormous masses of masonry of the oldest nations were not comparable with the artistic grace, the luxurious adornments, and the harmonious proportions of this glorious House of God. David had laid up money and material for the great work, but he was not permitted to carry it out. He was a man of war, and blood-stained hands were …
George Milligan—Men of the Bible; Some Lesser-Known A Few Sighs from Hell;
or, The Groans of the Damned Soul: or, An Exposition of those Words in the Sixteenth of Luke, Concerning the Rich Man and the Beggar WHEREIN IS DISCOVERED THE LAMENTABLE STATE OF THE DAMNED; THEIR CRIES, THEIR DESIRES IN THEIR DISTRESSES, WITH THE DETERMINATION OF GOD UPON THEM. A GOOD WARNING WORD TO SINNERS, BOTH OLD AND YOUNG, TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION BETIMES, AND TO SEEK, BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, TO AVOID, LEST THEY COME INTO THE SAME PLACE OF TORMENT. Also, a Brief Discourse touching the …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 In the Last, the Great Day of the Feast'
IT was the last, the great day of the Feast,' and Jesus was once more in the Temple. We can scarcely doubt that it was the concluding day of the Feast, and not, as most modern writers suppose, its Octave, which, in Rabbinic language, was regarded as a festival by itself.' [3987] [3988] But such solemn interest attaches to the Feast, and this occurrence on its last day, that we must try to realise the scene. We have here the only Old Testament type yet unfilfilled; the only Jewish festival which has …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah The Song of the Redeemed
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou ... hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation ... T he extent, variety, and order of the creation, proclaim the glory of God. He is likewise, ^* Maximus in Minimis . The smallest of the works, that we are capable of examining, such for instance as the eye or the wing of a little insect, the creature of a day, are stamped with an inimitable impression of His wisdom and power. Thus in His written Word, there …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2 Of the Decrees of God.
Eph. i. 11.--"Who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."--Job xxiii. 13. "He is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth." Having spoken something before of God, in his nature and being and properties, we come, in the next place, to consider his glorious majesty, as he stands in some nearer relation to his creatures, the work of his hands. For we must conceive the first rise of all things in the world to be in this self-being, the first conception …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Third Stage of the Roman Trial. Pilate Reluctantly Sentences Him to Crucifixion.
(Friday. Toward Sunrise.) ^A Matt. XXVII. 15-30; ^B Mark XV. 6-19; ^C Luke XXIII. 13-25; ^D John XVIII. 39-XIX 16. ^a 15 Now at the feast [the passover and unleavened bread] the governor was wont { ^b used to} release unto them ^a the multitude one prisoner, whom they would. { ^b whom they asked of him.} [No one knows when or by whom this custom was introduced, but similar customs were not unknown elsewhere, both the Greeks and Romans being wont to bestow special honor upon certain occasions by releasing …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel The Water of Life;
OR, A DISCOURSE SHOWING THE RICHNESS AND GLORY OF THE GRACE AND SPIRIT OF THE GOSPEL, AS SET FORTH IN SCRIPTURE BY THIS TERM, THE WATER OF LIFE. BY JOHN BUNYAN. 'And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.'--Revelation 22:17 London: Printed for Nathanael Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, 1688. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Often, and in every age, the children of God have dared to doubt the sufficiency of divine grace; whether it was vast enough to reach their condition--to cleanse …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 The Being of God
Q-III: WHAT DO THE SCRIPTURES PRINCIPALLY TEACH? A: The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man. Q-IV: WHAT IS GOD? A: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Here is, 1: Something implied. That there is a God. 2: Expressed. That he is a Spirit. 3: What kind of Spirit? I. Implied. That there is a God. The question, What is God? takes for granted that there …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity Links Isaiah 44:23 NIVIsaiah 44:23 NLTIsaiah 44:23 ESVIsaiah 44:23 NASBIsaiah 44:23 KJV
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