Isaiah 12:1-5 – In that day you will sing: “I will praise you, O Lord! You were angry with me, but not anymore. Now you comfort me. 2 Surely God is my salvation I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.” 3 With joy you will drink deeply from the fountain of salvation! 4 In that wonderful day you will sing: “Thank the Lord! Praise his name! Tell the nations what he has done. Let them know how mighty he is! 5 Sing to the Lord, for he has done wonderful things.     Make known his praise around the world.

Our worship is our witness to the world and Isaiah reminds us that we can praise God because He is our:

• Salvation

Three times in verses, 1, 2 and 3 Isaiah references and reminds us of our salvation:

1 In that day you will sing: “I will praise you, O Lord! You were angry with me, but not anymore. Now you comfort me. 2 Surely God is my salvation. 3 With joy you will drink deeply from the fountain of salvation.

As Isaiah talks about salvation he starts with our sin and God’s righteous anger and the freedom that salvation brings. The result of salvation is that God’s anger is turned away from us and instead of condemnation we have comfort. In Psalm 103:8-12 King David helps us understand this, where he said: “The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 9 He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. 10 He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. 11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. 12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” Part of salvation is admitting the truth about ourselves and our sin. In Proverbs 20:9, King Solomon asked a wise question: “Who can say, ‘I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?” The truth is that no one can say that. In Romans 3 Paul said “There is none righteous, no, not one” Because of sin the Holy God has a right to be angry with all of us yet His anger was turned away because of the sacrifice of the savior. We are sinners, so Jesus suffered on the cross so that we could have salvation. Often we fail to worship because we get focused on the symptoms of sin that surround us instead of the security of our Salvation. Today we need to stop and saturate ourselves with the reality of our salvation and what Jesus really did for us on the cross. Isaiah said “With joy you will drink deeply from the fountain of salvation” because being saturated with our Salvation is the only thing that will satisfy.

• Strength

Isaiah said that our Savior is the source of our strength. Today there are typically three places we turn when we look for strength and power: Money, Muscles and Minds.

Money, can you find strength in money? Not really, money may make life more manageable but money is not enough. Muscles, can you find your strength in your muscles? People power is puny and physical strength fades. Mind, can you find your strength in your mind? Even the sharpest mind falls short as we age it shrinks with disease, fatigue, and stress.

Pastor S.D. Gordon once told about an elderly Christian lady whose age began to take a terrible toll on her memory. She once knew much of the Bible by heart, but eventually only one part of one precious verse stayed with her. It was part of 2 Timothy 1:12, where Paul said: “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” As time went on, even that brief portion of Scripture began to slip away. In her last days as she hovered near death, her loved ones noticed her lips moving. They bent down to see if she needed anything. And they heard her saying over and over the one word she remembered from the Bible, “Him, Him, Him.” She had lost most of her mental abilities, but she never lost Him. She still had all the strength because she had Him her Savior and strength. Today like Isaiah will you trust in Him and not be afraid because the Lord God is your strength?

• Song

Our Savior is our song and we need to praise Him in our prayers and praise Him to other people. The song of salvation is our witness of worship. The salvation and strength of our Savior is our song. Ponder with me these words by Pastor Shadrach Meshach Lockeridge from his famous six and a half minute description of Jesus Christ, known as “That’s my King!”

He’s God’s Son. He’s the sinner’s Savior; He’s the centerpiece of civilization. He supplies strength for the weak. . . He’s available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathizes and he sees. He guards and he guides…He’s the key to knowledge, He’s the wellspring of wisdom, He’s the doorway of deliverance, He’s the pathway of peace, He’s the roadway of righteousness, He’s the highway of holiness. He’s the gateway to glory. . . He’s the master of the mighty, He’s the captain of the conquerors, He’s the head of heroes, He’s the leader of the legislators, He’s the governor of the governors, He’s the Prince of princes, He’s the King of kings, He’s the Lord of lords.

Today are you singing the song of your salvation? Is your worship a witness to the world?

Psalm 108: 1-5

My heart is confident in you, O God; no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart! 2 Wake up, lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn with my song. 3 I will thank you, Lord, among all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations. 4 For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. 5 Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens. May your glory shine over all the earth.

This passage of praise was penned by David who is remembered and respected for his heart for God. As we reflect on David’s life we are reminded that he was a shepherd, a poet, a mighty warrior, and an ancestor of Christ. He was one of the greatest men in The Word of God, yet alongside those memories there stand others. He was also a betrayer, a liar, an adulterer, and a murderer. We may not possess all of his strengths but his weaknesses could be present in any of us it not for the grace of God. Psalm 108 reveals the heart and what has, is, and should be taking place within the hearts of those who have placed their trust in God. It reminds us that the heart needs fixing and once fixed it can be focused on the Father. There is only One that can fix our heart and that is the One who made it and when God does a work in our hearts there are some wonderful results. The characteristics of a fixed heart are the evidence of God’s work.

• Fixed

When referring to the heart the king James uses the word fixed and the New Living uses confident, what David is reminding us of is that a fixed heart is a heart that is fixed on Him. We are all born with a heart that can be hardened by sin so that it becomes damaged and defective. Sin effects how we function and without a fixed heart we struggle through life carrying the baggage of our broken heart. Yet when we respond to the gift of God, His Son Jesus Christ, and receive Him as our Savior, He mends our broken heart. We are like Humpty Dumpty in the famous English nursery rhyme, who sat on a wall and had a great fall and all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again. Yet the good news is that what the king’s men failed to do the King did. God doesn’t just bypass the problem he fixes what is broken and the result is a steadfast, immovable heart. A wavering heart is replaced with a worshiping heart.  Has your heart been fixed, if so what is it fixed on?

• Filled

One of the results of a fixed heart is a filled heart. There is a God sized hole in our heart so we search for something to fill the emptiness inside. In our searching for significance and a healed heart we either turn to more sin or to the Savior. What we find is that sin never satisfies it only sacrifices, but the Savior fills up our emptiness and loneliness with peace, joy, and a love for both Him and others. David reminds us that a filled heart is a full heart, ready to pour out praise, “no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart.” Today we are drowning in a sin soaked society that seems to seek fun over fullness. The result is a shallow society empty of any depth. In our attempt to fill our lives with fun we have missed the truth that fun is a byproduct of a full heart not the way to fill a heart.  Happiness in this world doesn’t fill the hole. When we stop long enough to see where we were before we met Christ, and then to see what He did for us when He saved our souls from hell, we should of all people be happy. David reminds us of our fullness in that, without the Lord, we would be nothing and we would have nothing. The truth is that it is all or nothing, today is your heart full or empty? Is your praise full or partial, does it involve all your heart?

• Focused

A fixed heart is not just a full heart but a focused heart. Over and over in the Psalms, David repeatedly reminds us of the importance of giving praise to the Lord. But praise will always come out of a Heart that is focused on the Lord; on His person, His promises, His protection, and His provision for us. When we focus on the Father we come face to face with His forgiveness and faithfulness and we recognize that He alone is worthy and our worship. David’s desired was for the Lord to be exalted, our praise is about putting the Lord in the proper place of Honor. Its about waking the world with worship because we start our day in song.  He alone should have first place in our hearts, our homes, and throughout the highest heavens. When we place our whims before what God wants we have ceased to Honor Him and have instead placed ourselves in His position of praise. When we give God proper praise we direct all of the attention, all of the affection, all of the worship toward Him. That means that we move out of the way and make it about Him as we strive to have no one seen but the Savior. Our prayer today should be “Lord, Fix my heart, Fill my heart and Focus my heart on praise that pleases You.