Isaiah 66:5-11

⁵ Listen to this word from Yahveh, you who are anxious about keeping his word: Your own people who hate you and exclude you for my name’s sake have said, “Let Yahveh show his glory, so that we may see why you are joyful”; but it is they who will be put to shame. ⁶ Listen, an uproar from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of Yahveh, dealing retribution to his enemies! ⁷ Before she was in labour she gave birth; before her pain came upon her she delivered a son. ⁸ Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be delivered in one moment? Yet as soon as Zion was in labour she delivered her children. ⁹ Will I open the womb and not deliver? says Yahveh; will I, the one who delivers, shut the womb? says your God. ¹⁰ Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her with joy, all you who are mourning over her– ¹¹ to testify that you will nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious full breast.

the “show me” State

Long before Missouri, Israel was the “show me” State, but it was not a compliment. The atheistic Jews looked at the righteous remnant and dared them to show evidence of the glory of Yahveh. They said, sarcastically “Let Yahveh show his glory, so that we may see why you are joyful.” But they really didn’t mean it. Yahveh was going to prove his existence to them, but in a coming destruction. Meanwhile the righteous remnant of true believers within that nation are urged to keep rejoicing in the future deliverance. It will be like Jerusalem has given birth in a day. And the joy in worship that true believers show in anticipation of that deliverance is a testimony of faith in its sure coming.

There are plenty of “show me” sceptics today. They also demand proof before they will ever acknowledge the claims of true believers. The proof that we have to show them is the joy of the anticipated deliverance that is coming. Even if the residence of the “show me” State do not get it, and brand us all as lunatics, we should keep singing. The king is coming!

LORD, come and deliver your holy city. We will keep singing with joy as we watch for your return.