Read Isaiah 24:7-25:2.

I heard a story a couple of weeks ago from a friend named Chuck. Chuck was telling me about this couple who had a son that was diagnosed with a form of deadly cancer. What was tragic about it was that their son was only 13 years old. Many people had come up to them expressing their condolences and grief, telling them that they were sorry for this tragic situation. This couples response was amazing. They told all these people that they should be praising God rather than apologizing to them. To add onto this story, this couple had also tried to have three other kids before this one but each had miscarried and now it seemed they were about to lose a fourth that had made it into his teens. My response to this was, God! How could you? But they told these people to praise God. It takes a whole different level of trust in God, with a situation like this, to still be able to praise God. Did you happen to notice the transition between chapters 24 and 25? Notice any sharp contrasts? What was Isaiahs response after hearing about the curse that he had put on the earth? Praise to the Lord, right? My first time reading through this, I found it to be a bit odd and so I became very intrigued by the passage. I had to ask myself, Why would anyone want to praise God after writing down all these terrible things that God is going to do to the earth? The simple answer inside my head was, No one would. But there has to be something more that wasnt being taken into consideration for someone to praise God for these things. This fundamental consideration is Gods redemptive will. In other words, God, in these passages, is describing the process by which redemption is going to take place. God is making earth pure and sinless like he intends. God will once again be king over the earth and ultimately he will be victorious against all his enemies. Chapter 24 verses 7-13 describe the human emotions of the people on earth. Some of these emotions include: groaning, happiness stilled, joyfulness silenced, and crying. These verses also describe complete and utter destruction of the land. After reading these verses I had to ask myself, God, what were you doing here? Primarily, God was showing his power over evil and his ability to destroy it. Gods power to destroy is fully visible when he begins to scatter, ruin, and consume all that is exalted in both heaven and on earth. Sin and sinners will eventually be no more which will in turn free the world from their deadly influence. Thus, after all sin has been removed, there will be nothing to defile what God has made.

Does Isaiahs response of praise to God seem a little bit more appropriate now? There is a sense of rejoicing in the idea of the majesty and glory of God in action, righteously dealing with sinners and purging the world of the unrighteous. Another huge reason why Isaiah begins to praise God is because he knows that the ultimate and final victory will come to those who trust and worship God. Isaiah knows that one day God will reign in power over the heavens and the earth and he wants to rejoice in that. Isaiah feels an overwhelming sense of confidence and trust in God, thus, the only response he can think of, is to praise God. Praise God, because we can confidently trust God for today, tomorrow, and forever, no matter what the circumstance.