Posts tagged Isaiah

Isaiah 35:10
“And those the LORD has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”

My friend Lee Younger posted this verse and to me it holds such promise for those of us who are called Beloved.  Goodness is coming.  I don’t mean the kind of goodness we experience when we eat a triple-chunk gooey chocolate brownie or a slice of the Strawberry Summer Cake I made yesterday evening for our college/career Bible study, but the goodness Martha was jealous of Mary for having within the presence of the Lord.  There is a Sara Groves song called “What Do I Know” and the last line of the song is the best:  ”I know to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord, and from what I know of Him, that must be very good.”

The verses previous to Isaiah 35:10 are lovely as well.  They speak of a the Holy Road (this is what it’s called in the Message Remix).  Starting at verse 8- “It’s for God’s people exclusively— impossible to get lost on this road.  No lions on this road, no dangerous animals— nothing and no one dangerous or threatening.  Only the redeemed will walk on it.”  I like how this version words verse 10, too.  Imagine Aslan or Gandalf reading this to you: “The people God has ransomed will come back on this road.  They’ll sing as they make their way home to Zion, unfading halos of joy encircling their heads.  Welcomed home with gifts of joy and gladness as all sorrows and sighs scurry into the night.”