“And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing. Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain gladness, and joy, and sorrow, and sighing shall flee away.”
– Isaiah 35:10
This verse is particularly encouraging in light of Isaiah 34:10, which we looked at on a previous episode. We thought about the eternal reality of hell, and how God’s holy judgment will last forever and ever.
Isaiah 35:10 Reminds Us That God Gives Us Everlasting Joy
God’s gracious salvation brings everlasting joy for His people.
Well, one chapter later, in Isaiah 35:10, we hear, “The ransomed of the Lord,” so, those who have trusted in Him to save them from sin, who have been bought by Him, the picture of ransom that we see all over the Bible, exemplified in Christ, what He has done on the cross is, He has purchased us for God, He has paid the price of our sin on our behalf so that we can know God. “The ransom of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing.” And, then this phrase, “Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.” Everlasting joy.
In Isaiah 34:10, we thought about everlasting, never-ending judgment that goes on forever and ever. Now, instead of judgment we’ve got joy that goes on forever and ever. It’s everlasting, never-ending. You think about the things of this world that we find happiness or joy, so to speak, in, and they fade; the things of this world, what we enjoy.
I think about when my kids get a present from me as their parent, and we would give them this present, my wife and I, and they love it for like a week, and then the next week it’s kind of old, and they’re ready to move onto something else, and that’s the way the things of this world work. Not just for kids, it’s the way it works in all of our lives.
The reality is though, Isaiah 35:10 is holding out hope of, “everlasting joy,” that when you come to God through Jesus, there is a joy that will never, ever, ever end that you have.
This Verse Leads Us to Praise God for His Promises
We pray, oh, God, we praise you for the joy that’s found in Jesus. We praise you for the joy that’s found in the ransom of our souls, and your forgiveness of our sins, we have come to the fountain of everlasting joy; a joy that nothing in this world can take away.
God, we praise you for your promises all throughout your Word; for a joy that transcends suffering, a joy that supersedes circumstances; that we can know in you we have found, not only the savior from our sin, but the satisfaction of our souls, and we have, “everlasting joy on our heads.”
God, help us. Help us to rejoice in you always as your Word says, knowing that, “For all of eternity, forever and ever, we will have your joy.” All glory be to your name, for that promise, for that reality, for, “everlasting joy on our heads,” according to Isaiah 35:10.
In Jesus’ name we praise you, and we pray that you help us to live the overflow of that joy. 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.
