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
Yet another promise in Isaiah fulfilled ultimately in Jesus. These verses that often we read and meditate on at Christmas are intended to be meditated on and rejoiced in all year long. For to us, a child is born, a son given. God gave his son. This is Jesus, and his name is…
Isaiah 9:6–7 Teaches that Jesus’ name is above all other names.
Just think about this, and I want to lead us to pray and just praise Jesus for these names. Wonderful Counselor. Oh, just think about it. He’s your counselor. When he sent his Holy Spirit, he said, “I’ll give you the counselor to live within you. You don’t have to walk through this world trying to figure things out on your own.” Jesus is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God.
As we prayed about in light of Isaiah 7, he’s God in the flesh, God with all his might and all his power in the flesh. This is Jesus. He is Everlasting Father. What a picture the son is called. Everlasting Father. The mystery of who Jesus is, fully human, fully divine, God in the flesh, the mystery of the Trinity. Oh, so much we can meditate on there.
And then Prince of Peace. He brings peace to our anxious, weary, worried souls. He brings peace to a world that is full of war, and strife, and conflict. And of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. He is coming to establish a kingdom with justice and with righteousness that will last forever from this time forth and forever more.
Isaiah 9:6–7 leads us to praise and worship Christ as the fully human, fully divine Son of God.
So when we read Scripture sometimes it leads us to pray for things in different ways, to ask for things in our lives, to ask for things in others’ lives. Sometimes, when we read Scripture, it leads us to repent in different ways. And sometimes, when we read Scripture, we just need to praise God for what we’ve just read, and that’s what I want us to do.
Oh, God, we praise you for giving your son, Jesus. We praise you as the Wonderful Counselor in our lives. Lord, we praise you for not leaving us alone as we walk through decisions, as we take every step we take today, and we do everything we do today. We praise you for your counsel, for the Holy Spirit, who is our Counselor in us.
Jesus, we praise you as the Mighty God, as Almighty God in the flesh. We praise you for your power over all things, your sovereign authority over everything. Lord, we praise you as the one to whom belongs all authority in heaven and on earth. We praise you as the Mighty God. We praise you as our Everlasting Father. God, we praise you for the privilege of knowing you as our Father, as a Father who loves us, cares for us, provides for us, protects us, leads us, and guides us. All glory be to your name for the privilege of being your sons and daughters. And we praise you, Lord Jesus, as the Prince of Peace. We praise you for the peace you bring to our anxious, worried minds and hearts.
We praise you for the promise that wars will one day cease. That conflict and strife will one day be known, or we praise you for the Prince of Peace. You are for the government of peace, that one day will be fully realized on this earth. Your peace, your justice, your righteousness reigning perfectly on the earth forevermore.
Prayer for the Sumra Sindhi People
Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. We praise you for who you are. And we pray that you would help us to trust you as our counselor, to trust your power, to trust you as our Father, to trust you as the Prince of Peace and our lives today, and to spread the good news of who you are to people around us and to peoples around the world.
God, we pray specifically today for the Sumra Sindhi people of Pakistan, for 250,000 of them, most of whom have little to no knowledge of who you are, Jesus, as the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. God spread the truth, the good news of Isaiah 9:6–7 to the Sumra Sindhi of Pakistan, we pray. Bless all who are working for the spread of the gospel to the Sumra, Sindhi in Pakistan, and use our lives, use our resources, use us in any way you want to make the good news of your grace known among them. Open their eyes, oh God, to Jesus as the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. We pray all of this in his beautiful, matchless holy 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.
