What Day Is That? (2)

Then you will say on that day, “I will give thanks to You, Lord; for although You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.  Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation.”  Isaiah 12:1-2 NASB

Trust – What is the basis of my trust in God?  When the world is such a chaotic place, when I have plenty of trials and tribulations, when life pummels me with difficulties, what can motivate me to continue to follow Him?  Is it the hope of eventual reward?  Is it the promise of heavenly bliss?  Do I just hold my breath until it’s finally over?  Or do I take pleasure where and when I can and just deal with all the rest?  Paul Little wrote the famous Chistian book, Know Why You Believe, offering historical and theological proofs, but I’m wondering if any of us really believe on the basis of some analysis of ancient texts or a collection of traditional doctrines.  It seems to me that believing is much more existential/emotional than it is rational/logical.  My guess is that most people really can’t articulate the logical basis of belief because in an important sense believing isn’t logical.  It might become logical as I work my way through all the subsequent implications, but it doesn’t start with a logical argument.  It starts with an emotional response.

That seems to be Isaiah’s approach here in these verses.  I’ve been under God’s thumb, or so it seems to me.  Life has been a struggle filled with suffering.  Perhaps not to the brim, but consistently enough for me to feel as if God has been angry with me.  And now, almost suddenly, things have changed.  Isaiah’s proclamation of redemption for the people has become personal for me:

“Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.  “Speak kindly to Jerusalem; and call out to her, that her warfare has ended, that her guilt has been removed, that she has received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” (Isaiah 40:1-2 NASB)

Certainly this is what we all want to hear, corporately and individually.  And while we wait for corporate redemption, Isaiah 12 tells us that the individual experience of comfort is available now.  As it is written:

הִנֵּ֨ה אֵ֧ל יְשֽׁוּעָתִ֛י אֶבְטַ֖ח וְלֹ֣א אֶפְחָ֑ד כִּ֣י עָזִּ֚י וְזִמְרָת֙ יָ֣הּ יְהֹוָ֔ה וַֽיְהִי־לִ֖י לִישׁוּעָֽה

Hi-ne El yeshooati evtach velo efchad ki oozi vezimrat Yah YHVH vayhi-li lishooah

Notice that both the official title “God” (El) and the personal name YHVH are found in this verse.  The first statement “Behold, God is my salvation,” is a declaration that only the Being with the status of “God” is the true Rescuer.  Nothing else can accomplish this.  Therefore, the first step in the change of heart is to acknowledge that there is no other means of true redemption from my current state of existence.  Without “God,” I am lost no matter what else I may think offers me the comfort I long for.

But this is not quite enough.  Rescue is wonderful, but there is still life to be lived.  If I am pulled from the fire, I am certainly grateful . . . but now what?  Isaiah answers: life without fear.  You see, rescue doesn’t remove the threat of another consuming blaze.  Rescue is the preamble to another level of living—life without fear.  The Being “God” may rescue, but it takes a relationship to provide life without fear, and that’s what’s involved in the personal name of God.  In fact, rescue is but the aspect of the process of ḥesed.  It’s the other three aspects of ḥesed that secure life without fear.

We’ve spent a lot of time over the years thinking about ḥesed.  Now we can add one more insight.  Trust and life without fear is the product of ḥesed—and the demand!  When the process is in operation, when every aspect of ḥesed is working, we travel full circle and declare that “He has become my salvation,” and, of course, the pronoun refers to the One Being Who is also the personal YHVH, both God and my God.

So, when is “that day,” the day when I am rescued and experience a new kind of life?  Well, today, of course, today.  The day I change how God and I interact.

Topical Index: ḥesed, God, YHVH, El, trust, fear, rescue, salvation, Isaiah 12:1-2