Commentary - Isaiah 12:4-6

Bird's-eye view

Isaiah 12 is a short, magnificent hymn of praise, a song that erupts from the heart of a redeemed people. It functions as a conclusion to the first major section of Isaiah's prophecy, which deals with judgment and promise centered on the coming Messiah, the Branch from the stump of Jesse (Isaiah 11). After the terror of God's judgment and the glorious announcement of the Messianic king who will rule in righteousness, the necessary response is worship. This chapter is that worship. It is a song for "that day," the day of salvation, when God's anger has turned away and He has become our comfort and strength. Verses 4-6 broaden the scope of this praise from the personal and internal (vv. 1-2) to the public and global. The redeemed are not saved to be silent; they are saved to be heralds. Their testimony is a command to give thanks, to call upon His name, to make His deeds known, and to shout for joy because of the greatness of the God who has taken up residence among them.

This is a profoundly evangelistic and missional text. The joy of salvation is not a private treasure to be hoarded but a public proclamation to be broadcast. The personal experience of God's grace ("He has become my salvation") naturally and rightly overflows into a corporate and worldwide declaration ("Let this be known throughout the earth"). The reason for this explosive joy is the central truth of the covenant: God is with His people. The "Holy One of Israel" is not a distant, abstract deity, but is "great in your midst." This is an Old Testament foretaste of the gospel of Immanuel, "God with us," a reality fulfilled in the incarnation of Jesus Christ and applied by the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church.

Outline

Context In Isaiah

This chapter is the capstone on the "Book of Immanuel" (Isaiah 7-12). This section begins with the threat of invasion and the promise of a virgin-born son, Immanuel (Isa 7:14). It continues through prophecies of judgment on Israel and the nations, but is shot through with glorious promises of a coming King. Isaiah 9 gives us "For unto us a child is born," and Isaiah 11 describes the reign of this Branch of Jesse, a reign of perfect justice and peace, where the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. After such a crescendo of prophecy, what else could there be but a song? Isaiah 12 is the song that the redeemed remnant will sing in "that day" when the Messiah has established His kingdom. It is the liturgy of the new covenant people, a response of pure gratitude for the salvation accomplished by the King. It looks forward to the day when God's people, gathered from the four corners of the earth (Isa 11:12), will draw water joyfully from the wells of salvation.

Key Issues

The Exploding Joy of Zion

Salvation in the Bible is never a quiet, private, tucked-away affair. When God saves a man, He does not just change his legal status; He gives him a new heart, and that new heart comes with a new song. And that new song is not a lullaby; it is an anthem. The prophet Isaiah here gives us the lyrics to that anthem. The grammar is imperative: "Give thanks... call... make known... make them remember... praise... cry aloud and shout!" This is not a gentle suggestion for the overly emotional. This is the commanded, necessary, and fitting response to the majestic deeds of God.

The joy described here is an exploding joy. It begins in the heart of the believer who recognizes that God's wrath has been turned away (v. 1), and it cannot be contained. It must be made known "among the peoples" and "throughout the earth." This is a picture of gospel-centered, centrifugal worship. The greatness of God in the midst of His people, Zion, creates a pressure that pushes the proclamation of His name and deeds outward to the ends of the earth. This is the logic of Christian missions. We do not witness because we are commanded to against our will; we witness because a God this great, who has done such majestic things, cannot be kept secret.

Verse by Verse Commentary

4 And in that day you will say, “Give thanks to Yahweh, call on His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; Make them remember that His name is exalted.”

The phrase in that day points to the time of fulfillment, the age of the Messiah. While it had a partial fulfillment in the return from exile, its ultimate fulfillment is in the era inaugurated by Jesus Christ. The first thing the redeemed do in that day is speak. And what they say is a cascade of commands directed at one another. This is corporate worship; "you will say" this together. The first command is to Give thanks to Yahweh. Gratitude is the foundational posture of the redeemed. We are not saved because we are impressive, but because He is merciful. Thanksgiving is the only sane response. Next, call on His name. This is not just about prayer, but about public invocation and identification. To call on His name is to align yourself with Him, to proclaim Him as your God. Then the mission becomes external: Make known His deeds among the peoples. The "peoples" here are the nations, the Gentiles. The salvation of Israel was never meant to terminate on Israel. It was meant to be a light to the world. And what are we to make known? His deeds. The gospel is not a set of abstract principles; it is the news of what God has done in history, supremely in the death and resurrection of His Son. Finally, we are to cause them to remember that His name is exalted. Our goal is not to make our name great, or our church's name great, but to see His name lifted high. All our evangelism, all our testimony, must be aimed at this one thing: the exaltation of the name of God.

5 Praise Yahweh in song, for He has done majestic things; Let this be known throughout the earth.

The proclamation is to be musical. Praise Yahweh in song, or "sing to the Lord." The Hebrew word here is the root for "psalm." God's people are a singing people. Why? For He has done majestic things. The content of our songs must be the mighty acts of God. Our worship is not based on our feelings, our circumstances, or our subjective experiences. It is grounded in the objective reality of God's glorious work. He has created, He has redeemed, He has conquered. These are majestic, excellent, noble things, and they are worthy of song. And again, the scope is universal: Let this be known throughout the earth. The song sung in Zion is meant to be heard in Babylon, in Rome, and in the uttermost parts of the earth. Every tribe and tongue is the intended audience for the song of redemption. The majestic deeds of God are not local news; they are global headlines.

6 Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

The volume is turned all the way up. Cry aloud and shout for joy. This is not the quiet hum of polite religion. This is unrestrained, full-throated exultation. Who is to do this? The inhabitant of Zion. In the Old Testament, this was the resident of Jerusalem, the city of God. In the New Testament, Zion is the Church, the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22). We who are in Christ are the inhabitants of Zion. And what is the reason for this ecstatic joy? It is the central truth of everything: For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. The greatness of our God is not a distant fact. He is great in your midst. He has tabernacled among us. The Holy One, the transcendent God who is utterly set apart from sin, has chosen to dwell in the middle of His people. This is the glory of the incarnation, where the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. This is the glory of Pentecost, where the Spirit of God came to dwell within the Church. And this is the glory of the New Creation, where the dwelling place of God will be with man. The greatness of God's presence is the source of all our joy and the reason for all our shouting.

Application

This passage is a diagnostic tool for our hearts and for our churches. Does our worship reflect this kind of explosive, outwardly-focused joy? Or has our gratitude cooled into a kind of respectable, but quiet, appreciation?

First, our worship must be grounded in God's deeds. We are to sing and shout because of what He has done. This means our worship must be saturated with the gospel story. We recount His majestic acts in creation, His faithfulness to Israel, His incarnation, His perfect life, His atoning death, His victorious resurrection, His ascension, and His promised return. Worship that is not about these things is just noise.

Second, our salvation must lead to proclamation. The joy of being an "inhabitant of Zion" is not a private club membership. It is a commission. A church that is not passionate about making God's deeds known among the nations is a church that has forgotten the greatness of the God in its midst. The joy of a truly saved person is irrepressible. It wants out. It wants to tell someone. If you have no desire to make His deeds known, you should seriously question whether you have truly grasped the majesty of those deeds for yourself.

Finally, we must remember the reason for it all. The Holy One is in our midst. Christ, by His Spirit, dwells with His people. This is not a metaphor. The living God is present when we gather for worship. He is present in our hearts. This reality should change everything. It should banish our fears, fuel our praise, and compel us to shout for joy. The greatness of God is not "out there" somewhere. He is here, now, with us. And that is a truth worth singing about, loudly, and to the whole world.