Isaiah looks at the sin-bearing servant of the Lord and has one thing to say to us: 'Break forth into singing and cry aloud' (54:1). In other words, 'Let joyful song explode out of you!' We resist that. Isaiah 54:1 may be one of the most disobeyed commands in the Bible. Our exaggerated sense of decorum is the last bastion of pride holding out against the gospel. Some churches make it a virtue. But God doesn't. In his exuberance he's creating a new world of boisterous happiness through Christ. We must rejoice with him, or we risk making our hearts impervious to salvation, because that holy but raucous joy is salvation.How are we doing? Are we full of "that holy but raucous joy" that "is salvation"? Are we marked by "boisterous happiness through Christ"? Is this the feel of our corporate gatherings? Or is there more of a cool and calm detachment about it all, perhaps on account of "our exaggerated sense of decorum"? This may be "the last bastion of pride holding out against the gospel." And it may betray more concern about what we think others would think of us (which is man-centeredness) if unrestrained praise and worship broke forth from full hearts moved by grace to dance and sing, to shout and leap for joy!
May God be pleased to overwhelm us with gladness in the glories of the Gospel of the grace of God!
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