Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 12

Verses 1-6

Songs of Praise and Trust (12:1-6)

At this point, which is at the end of the first major section of Isaiah’s prophecies, two fragments of psalms of praise are introduced (vss. 1-2 and 3-6). The origin and date of these psalms are unknown, yet in the editing of Isaiah’s prophecies their insertion at this point is quite appropriate. In the terrible historical disasters which the Hebrew people in Palestine must suffer at the hands of the Assyrian army, and this as the judgment of God, there is nevertheless a future still to be hoped for in the Lord.

For this, God can be praised even in the darkness of disaster. Verses 1-2, like many of the psalms in the Psalter, are a personal expression of thanks, or rather praise, to God. Although the psalmist had been in great difficulty he had trusted in God, he was not afraid, and God had been his salvation. Such a personal psalm when used in public worship would have expressed the faith and trust of every member of the congregation who had been in similar difficulty. The second psalm (vss. 3-6) has many echoes in other psalms and hymns in the Old Testament. The inexhaustible wells of God’s salvation can always be drawn upon. For this, the whole congregation is called to sing and shout for joy, “for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”