“For to us a child is born. To us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end. On the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
– Isaiah 9:6–7
As we have been praying through the minor prophets leading up to Christmas it seems appropriate on Christmas day to look back to one of the most well-known prophecies of Jesus in the Old Testament from Isaiah and to pray according to Isaiah 9:6–7. God’s word says, “For to us a child is born. To us, a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end. On the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
Jesus, the Son of God
The good news we celebrate on Christmas day is that Lord of hosts sent His son.
The good news we celebrate on Christmas day is the zeal of the Lord of hosts has done this. A child has been born, a son has been given and the government of the universe is on his shoulder. His name is wonderful counselor. Jesus is the mighty God, the everlasting father, the prince of peace and of the increase of his government and his peace there will be no end. On the throne of David over his kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and with righteousness, with perfect justice and pure righteousness forever and ever and ever. Behold Jesus, rejoice in Jesus, worship Jesus today, proclaim Jesus, ascribe glory to Jesus in your life and proclaim the glory of Jesus to the world.
So Jesus, we praise you today. We praise you as the child born, the son given, the wonderful counselor. So Jesus, thank you for the counsel, the guidance, the shepherding love you give in our lives. You are the mighty God. We praise you for your power, your sovereign authority overall all. All authority in heaven and earth belongs to you. So God, we praise you for your might. You are the everlasting father. The one who cares for us as children with compassion for us as sons and daughters.
Isaiah 9:6–7 Praises Jesus as the Prince of Peace
Above all else you are the prince of peace. There is no peace apart from you yet you have made peace, eternal peace possible for us, a reality for all who have trusted in you. And we praise you that though government leaders come and go, all of them imperfect, you the perfect leader, the perfect governor will reign forever and ever and ever. Of the increase of your government and of peace there will be no end. And you reign, Jesus you reign with justice, you reign with righteousness. Forever and ever and ever we praise you. We exalt you. There is none like you. We worship and celebrate you today and every day. We pray for your glory Jesus to be made known among all the peoples of the earth.
So God, we pray today specifically for the Ogaden people of Yemen, one and a half million of them living in severe poverty today with no knowledge of the good news of who you are and what you have done. God among the Ogaden people of Yemen no known believers. So God change that we pray. People would come to know the son that given, the child born, the wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace. Bring the good news of Jesus to the Ogaden people of Yemen. God help us to take it to them. So God, we pray that would change this year that next year at Christmas there would be Ogaden people praising you Jesus for the salvation they’ve experienced in you. God, please bring it about.
Isaiah 9:6–7 Prays for the Hope of Jesus to Reach All People
We pray for all Yemen, for so many people across that country suffering in so many ways. God causes the good news of Jesus and his peace and his government and his justice and his righteousness to be made known among the people of Yemen. God we pray for that, we plead for that. Use our lives, our families, our churches, toward that end we pray. So, Jesus, we love you. We praise you. We exalt you. And we pray that all these things that were prophesied about you thousands of years ago be made known among the nations today. In your name Lord Jesus, we honor and glorify you and we pray all these in your name amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
