This is a text full of exuberance and joy, which is absolutely indicative of the impact that revivals have upon the spirit of the Church. Every revival is essentially a revival of joyful praise among the people of God. Many of our hymns were written during periods of spiritual awakening. This was especially true of the Evangelical Awakening in 18th Century Britain. Charles Wesley’s hymns gave poetic expression to what God was doing among His people and throughout the nation. Virtually every book recording the histories of revival makes mention of the singing of the Lord’s people:

And he hath put a new song in my mouth,
even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.

Psalm 40:3

Isaiah wrote these words a generation before the Babylonian Exile. The prophet didn’t just foresee the captivity but he also anticipated the return. Isaiah recorded the words which describe the joyful return to Jerusalem in two places; Chapters 51 & 35:

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them;
and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice
even with joy and singing:
the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it,
the excellency of Carmel and Sharon,
they shall see the glory of the LORD,
and the excellency of our God.
Strengthen ye the weak hands,
and confirm the feeble knees.
Say to them that are of a fearful heart,
Be strong, fear not:
behold, your God will come with vengeance,
even God with a recompence;
he will come and save you.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart,
and the tongue of the dumb sing:
for in the wilderness shall waters break out,
and streams in the desert.
And the parched ground shall become a pool,
and the thirsty land springs of water:
in the habitation of dragons, where each lay,
shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
And an highway shall be there, and a way,
and it shall be called The way of holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those:
the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
No lion shall be there,
nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon,
it shall not be found there;
but the redeemed shall walk there:
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return,
and come to Zion with songs
and everlasting joy upon their heads:
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Isaiah 35:1-10

While it is true that these words relate historically to Israel it even more true that they bear relation to the New Testament Church. I would argue that the return from Babylon was only a partial fulfilment of these passages. In keeping with Isaiah who as “the Evangelical Prophet” foresaw the Church in a most remarkable manner, these verses relate to the people of God being renewed and revived in this New Testament age, as the Spirit of God is poured out upon them. CH Spurgeon adopted this interpretation and explained it with clarity:

This is a promise to God’s Church. There are some who would have us always restrain Isaiah’s prophecies to the Jews, as though this was their exclusive application. I have no objection to your so understanding them in their original and literal sense, nor have I any objection to our friends labouring for the Jews especially, as a class; far rather would I commend them. Only, I would have them recollect that no Scripture is of private interpretation that, in God’s sight, neither Jews nor Gentiles are recognised under this dispensation of the gospel, for he has made both one in Christ Jesus. I, therefore, as a Christian minister, when I preach the gospel, know neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, bond nor free, but I simply know men as men, and go out into the world to “preach the gospel to every creature.” It seems to me that this is the order in which God would have his Church carry out every evangelical enterprise, forgetting and ignoring all fleshly distinctions, understanding that now men are either sinners or saints. As to circumcision or uncircumcision, vast as its importance in the kingdom of Israel, it is of no account in the kingdom of God. The text, we believe, whatever may be its relation to the Jews as a people, belongs to the Church of God and the disciples of Christ; for “all things are yours.” Zion was the stronghold of Jerusalem. Originally a fortress of the Jebusites, it was taken by a feat of arms by David and his valiant men. It became afterwards the residence of David, and there, too, was the residence of the Great King; for in it was built the temple which became the glory of all lands. Hence the Church of God—which has been captured by Christ from the world, which is the palace where he dwells, which is the temple where he is worshipped—is frequently called “Zion,” and the Zion of this passage, I believe, we are warranted in interpreting as the Church of the living God.

Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit 3514

The People Who Praise

the redeemed of the LORD

The word translated “redeemed” in Isaiah 51 and “ransomed” in Isaiah 35 is the same Hebrew word signifying deliverance upon the payment of a price. This promise of extreme happiness and joy only applies to those who are saved; because it is based upon the ransom paid by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

For Israel, being released from their bondage, there was a renewed understanding of God’s mercy through which they were forgiven. The reason for their captivity was rooted in the idolatry which they had practised and tolerated as a people. Isaiah makes reference in Chapter 51 to the pit which Israel found herself in during these years of bondage:

Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD:
look unto the rock whence ye are hewn,
and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.

The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed,
and that he should not die in the pit,
nor that his bread should fail.

Isaiah 51:1,14

The captive hastening to be loosed refers to the longing soul anticipating deliverance.

But now the deliverance has come and those who return have a fresh insight into the meaning of redemption; a God who is merciful, longsuffering, kind and forgiving.

Do we not need this spirit today? Too often we treat the Gospel with the contempt of familiarity. Oh that God would teach us afresh what it means to be forgiven from loathsomeness of sin by the ransom price that flowed from Immanuel’s veins!

The Path For Praise

shall return,
and come with singing unto Zion;

The path that the redeemed of the Lord took was one of return. It was a way that led them directly to Zion, their spiritual home. This was a true revival because the people were getting right with the LORD, returning to the land of their forefathers. In Chapter 35 Isaiah wonderfully describes the rightness of the way calling it “The way of holiness”, which cannot fail. When we are on this path there will be joy because it is the Lord’s way. The eastern people as they travelled in groups would frequently have sang to break the monotony and wearisome nature of the journey. How soul stirring must it not have been to have heard the first wave of returning captives singing as they made their home under Zerubbabel!

Revival always represents a return to the Lord:

PARAPHRASE 30

COME, let us to the Lord our  God 
With contrite hearts return; 
Our God is gracious, nor will leave 
The desolate to mourn.
His voice commands the tempest forth,
And stills the stormy wave;

And though his arm be strong to smite,
 ‘Tis also strong to save.
Long hath the night of sorrow reign’d;
The dawn shall bring us light: God shall appear, and we shall rise 
With gladness in his sight.

Our hearts, if God we seek to know,
Shall know him, and rejoice; 
His coming like the morn shall be, 
Like morning songs his voice.
As dew upon the tender herb,
Diffusing fragrance round;

As show’rs that usher in the spring, 
And cheer the thirsty ground:
So shall his presence bless our souls,
And shed a joyful light;
That hallow’d morn shall chase away 
The sorrows of the night.

Sadly, as Christians, we can lose out with the Lord, our relationship with Him is soured by our sin – we allow ourselves to become chained to sin, to addiction, to our own foolish pride. We need to make our return to Lord and be restored to the joy of God’s salvation.

Many Jews chose to stay in Babylon. They had their home and their businesses. They did not see the necessity of claiming the heritage of the Lord. They opted for the comforts of Babylon rather than the challenges of doing God’s will. Many Christians are like that today. They are in the world, one foot in the Church but with a divided heart. And as a result they are losing out on the best that God has for them. May the Lord give us the returning spirit. Such a spirit requires commitment, conviction, humility – but it is the path of blessedness.

The Pith In Praise

and everlasting joy shall be upon their head:
they shall obtain gladness and joy;
and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

The pith refers to the heart of the matter. The praise that God visits upon His people is everlasting joy that dispenses with the sorrows of sin forever. In Christ we have a joy which never can be erased. Earthly joys will fade. The joy of health gives way to the onset of illness. The joy of youth is replaced by the fading decline to the grave. Every occasion for happiness in this life is like the rose cut from the bush – it quickly perishes. BUT the joy that we have in Christ is eternal. It never fades, it never grows old.

the joy of the LORD is your strength

Nehemiah 8:9

These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

John 15:11

In conclusion I leave you with two quotations which highlight the importance of praise during revival; one from 1859 Ulster revival and the second from the Welsh awakening in the 18th Century.

A person writing from Ulster on 2nd June 1859, says:

“The 23rd, 40th, and 116th Psalms seems to be Psalms of power in the hands of the Spirit in imparting indescribable joy. THey are heard at the midnight hour, sung by bands of persons, old and young, returning from their prayer meetings. Old ‘Martyrdom’ thus accompanied, and thus heard at twelve o’clock on the midnight breeze, has a wonderfully solemnising influence”

Ian RK Paisley, The ’59 Revival

Howel Harris was in the habit of attending the parish church at Talgarth on Sabbath morning. At the close of the service he unusually went out and stood on a tombstone, or on the wall of the churchyard, to address the dispersing congregation. On one of those occasions there stood among his audience a young medical student from Carmarthenshire, who was at the time pursuing his studies at the neighbouring town of Hay. The words which to which he then listened were blessed to his conversion, and he eventually resolved to relinquish his medical studies and to devote himself to the ministry of the gospel. This young man became one of the mightiest instruments of the revival. He afterwards became known as the Rev. William WIlliams of Pantycelyn, eminent minister of the gospel, but eminent still as the sacred poet of Wales. Very often in those early days was the smouldering fire which had been kindled by the sermon fanned into a flame by the hymn of W. Williams which was sung at the close.”

Welsh Calvinistic Methodism, William Williams