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Growing non-prickly

Isaiah 55:12-13 is a beautiful end to a beautiful chapter. 

"For you will go out in joy
    and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
    will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
    will clap their hands.
Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,
    and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the Lord’s renown,
    for an everlasting sign,
    that will endure forever."

The great call of the chapter (v1-7) is to come to the free banquet of grace, to open ears as if mouths to eat, to seek the Lord, to come to him who is the feast. And then there are three reasons given:

v8-9 - this Lord is nothing like you imagined,
v10-11 - His Word is coming down from heaven to earth to bring life,
v12-13 - this is all for joy

God's great plan is the joy project. We are heading towards eternal joy - the greater Exodus - "led forth in peace." Miriam singing and dancing on the far side of the Red Sea. And this time all creation joins in. The hills are alive with the sound of music. Like something out of Disney or Tolkien, a billion trees are cheering. Right now there is sorrow and rejoicing; one day there will only be rejoicing. 

A couple of applications:

  1. Out of a heart of joy, singing bursts forth. If the mountains and hills sing at the Exodus of God's people then surely we sing as well. As the rocks and stones can't contain their joy and 'burst', how much more will the hearts of God's people burst with uncontainable joy. And "This will be for the Lord's renown" (v13) - it's John Piper's point - God is most glorified in that he has a people bursting with joy in Him. So let's take joyful singing seriously. Let's invest in music when we come together as a church. Let's get people looking at Jesus before they sing so their hearts are ready to burst forth. 
  2. Out of the soil of joy, non-prickly things grow. The transformation in v13 from thorn and brier to juniper and myrtle is clearly Edenic language. The reversal of the curse. The renewal of all creation. But as with the singing mountains being a pointer to God's singing people, so the replacement of thorn by juniper is also a picture (as the older commentators like Matthew Henry and John Gill note) of the transformation of God's people from 'hurtful and vexatious' to 'graceful and useful.' Thorns and briers are spiky and obstructive. Juniper and myrtle (the exact plants are uncertain) are evergreen, fragrant and fruitful - a blessing and a shade. This has got immediate implications for conversations around our dinner tables and for relationships in our churches. In a very prickly world, let's be more myrtley. That's also part of the Lord's renown - that he has a joyfully transformed people.
Blessed Lord God, happy God, who glories in the joy and transformation of your people, please would we so taste your goodness and be filled with joy in your Son that we would both sing for joy in Him and also grow more like Him. Please take away our spikiness and quickness to take offense. Please replace harsh words with gentle answers. Please keep us from being a frustration and hurt to those around us and make us a blessing and a shelter. For your renown, Amen

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