DAYS OF DELIVERANCE
Isaiah 26:1-2. In that day shall this song be sung, &c.
There are days in the history of God’s people when they specially need His interposing power. This is their prayer (Psalms 30:10). This their glad confession (Psalms 90:17). At such seasons of direct deliverance the natural expression of the heart is one of gladness. If the poetic faculty be strong within them, as in the case of the king of Israel, they sing in lyric splendour, as in Psalms 18.
1. That historic period referred to by the prophet Isaiah in this chapter was such a day. They had been marvellously protected from the invading Assyrian. His host had been smitten as by the blast of the Lord. When from the city walls they saw the thin relics of that grand army hasten away, then would this song of salvation be echoed through the city. When under the imperial protection of Cyrus the exiles returned to their own land, that was another day of deliverance. They rebuilt the temple and renewed the temple service. Then they sang in their own land, the land of Judah, the songs of Zion.
2. But the first great event in their history, the birthday of their nation, their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, was specially memorable as “that day.” And in every subsequent national deliverance, from the times of the Judges, all through the splendid leadership of David and the heroic days of the Maccabean brothers, that first deliverance seemed to be renewed, and the old song from the Red Sea shore was again chanted (Exodus 15:6).
3. In the infant days of the Primitive Church, meeting then in the upper room in Jerusalem, when its two leaders, Peter and John, were seized and confronted with “their rulers, and elders, and scribes,” and sternly threatened “not to speak at all or teach in the name of Jesus.” That was a day of deliverance. Then was seen how gloriously transformed were these two Galilean fishermen under the inspiration of the Kingdom of Christ, how sublimely fit they were to lead the forlorn hope of the Church through the breach of Judaism and heathenism on to the conquest of the world. See Acts 4:19-20; Acts 4:23-24. How deeply and rapturously impressed was that little church with the conviction that the power of Him who had made heaven and earth was then resting on their own chiefs, and making them bold to speak “His name.” They shook the very walls of the room with the volume of their song: “We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.”
4. Another day of deliverance came to the early Church, when the cry of the primitive martyrs was heard (Revelation 6:9-10). That “little season” soon passed, and their cry was answered; rest came to the martyred Church. No more holy men were thrown to the lions, no more delicate women thrust into caldrons of boiling pitch; the sword slept in its scabbard, and crucifixions were ended. Then the churches had rest, and this hymn was joyously sung. Since those early centuries, God’s Church has passed through many a fiery furnace, and has come out all the purer and all the stronger. And many a song of deliverance has floated up to heaven.
5. This season of gladness has been realised by God’s people individually.
(1.) When a consciousness of the forgiveness of sins has come. When in the temple of the soul this voice has been heard: “Thy sins are forgiven thee; go in peace.”
(2.) When the child of God has been delivered from some dark calamity, so threatening that no human help could deliver.
(3.) But the grandest deliverance is the final one. The best wine is kept for the last cup. When the death-river is crossed, and the crystal gates respond to the command, “Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.” Then, when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, when standing within that city where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest, will the redeemed of the Lord shout this song as never before: “We have a strong city, salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.”—William Parkes.