“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” Isaiah 61:1-3 NKJV
God of Glory,
We move on reading through our Bible and we see Isaiah looking deep into the future and seeing a time to come in 700 years! Though I am not sure he knew the dates. He speaks of the One to come the Messiah. A day of vengeance and yet the acceptable year of the Lord. A time of comfort, of beauty from death’s ashes and joy from mourning and praise at a time of heaviness. But out of that death, mourning and heaviness would come righteousness planted in Your people.
Not just these called Your people – but for people of all the nations. No longer having to prove lineage from Abraham to call upon You, God. But free to choose You as God and Saviour, and belong to Your family. Jesus, emmanuel, You God with us, healing the brokenhearted, setting free those made captive to sin. Those who need to be released from their past sin and shame. Those who want to be made new and start afresh.
It is the thread of the promised of life which weaves through the Old Testament and bursts into the new. The thread of the promise of life, renewal, hope and a future. Isaiah spotlights it and for those of us who know Jesus we rejoice in His light in our hearts. Now we too have the Spirit of the Lord, Your Spirit in us, and upon us, to preach the good news. Help us to find opportunities, to speak of You.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen
Worship Monday 4th August 2025
Two hymns because I wasn’t sure about the first one but . . . so I added the other one too.
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon you
Because he has anointed you to preach good news
(Repeat)
He has sent you to the poor (This is the year)
To bind up the broken hearted (This is the day)
To bring freedom to the captives (This is the year)
And to release the ones in darkness
(This is the year) of the favour of the Lord
(This is the day) of the vengeance of our God
(This is the year) of the favour of the Lord
(This is the day) of the vengeance of our God
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon us
Because he has anointed us to preach good news
(Repeat)
He will comfort all who mourn (This is the year)
He will provide for those who grieve (This is the day)
He will pour out the oil of gladness (This is the year)
Instead of mourning you will praise
Lyrics: Andy Park.
Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.
Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.
Repeat first 4 lines
Lyrics: Charles Wesley.