Has that psalm been your experience? Remember that time when you kept guilty silence? There's nothing but misery for you when you kept guilty silence, his hand waxed heavy upon you. But oh, the joy and the blessedness of knowing your sin's forgiven and your trespass is covered. the blessing of the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin. Take the counsel of Psalm 32, be not as the mule that has to be led about with bit and bridle. This shall everyone that is godly pray when a time when thou mayest be found. I acknowledge my sin unto thee. and my iniquity have I not hid. I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. We're turning to Isaiah chapter 54 this morning. Isaiah chapter 54. Last week we began to study these two chapters, Isaiah 54 and 55. We're memorizing chapter 55 together and so we want to spend some time this spring in the context here and making sure that we have a good thorough understanding of what it is that we're memorizing as a congregation. And so we've begun in chapter 54 because these two chapters do go together. And I remind you of what we saw last week. of how these two chapters, 54 and 55, how they flow out of the revelation of the atoning work of Jesus in 53, and they give to us four responses to the atoning work of Christ. And so in chapter 53, you have, let's just look at verses five and six. where we have these familiar words, he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. And so it says at the end of verse 11, that this righteous servant will justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. And so how are we to respond to such a revelation of the atonement of Jesus? Chapter 54, and let's read the first 10 verses together. Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear. Break forth into singing and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child. For more are the children the desolate than the children the married wife, saith the Lord. enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy inhabitants. Spare not, lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes, for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Those three verses contain the first two responses. to the work of Jesus. The first committed response, sing, rejoice, expect great things from God. He addresses Israel as a wife that's been forsaken by her husband and then left barren because his grieved husband has forsaken her. And he tells her to rejoice. because she's going to have more children than in the days of her youth when she was living in reconciliation with her husband. And because there's going to be this enlarged family, verse two, second response, enlarge the place of your tent. Not only expect great things from God, but attempt great things for God. Enlarge, put on an addition, make ready all of this fruitfulness that you will enjoy, all due to the work of Jesus, the entirely successful, guaranteed work of our Savior. So in verse four, which is our text today, is the third commanded response. Fear not. For thou shalt not be ashamed, neither be thou confounded, for thou shalt not be put to shame, for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood anymore. And so the third commanded response is that these people for whom atonement has been made should not fear. You see, for those blessings that were enumerated in the first three verses to be true, for this desolate woman to bear children again, there's going to have to be a reconciliation between the nation And the Lord. And so the third command of verse three or verse four. Is to not fear. To return to your husband without fear. Because you're not going to be ashamed. You're not going to be confounded. You're not going to be put to shame. All three of those references having to do with having a hope and then being disappointed. Thinking and expecting one thing and then the rug be pulled out from underneath you, surprisingly. He says, if you return, that won't happen to you. You won't be ashamed. You won't be confounded. You won't be put to shame. You are not going to be disappointed. Have confidence that you can return to your husband. And what's gonna happen if you return is that the blessings to you will be so numerous and grand that when you remember the days when you were desolate and, as it were, a widow, it'll be as if that's just the backdrop to a glorious, bright, shining diamond now. That'll be your perspective on those days. Such will be the blessing that'll be poured out upon you. You won't be put to shame. And if you tend to doubt that, like we all do, because we know ourselves and we know what we deserve, and we think, why would he ever do that for me? Well, you look at the next verses, and what's the word that every verse begins with? For. He's gonna reason with you now. Here's why not to fear. Here's how you, a sinner who has destroyed and ruined yourself, here's how you can return unto the Lord without fear, confident that you won't be put to shame. First reason, verse five. For thy maker is thine husband. The Lord of hosts is his name. and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall he be called. Second reason, for the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit and as a wife when thou wast refused, saith thy God. Third reason, Four, because a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. And then here's a fourth reason. Verse nine, four. This is as the waters of Noah unto me. For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee. Neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee." Here is a passage where backsliding, self-destroyed Israel is encouraged to return unto the Lord without fear. Now here's the critical matter. We're not just talking about Israel here. We're not just talking about a nation 2,500 years ago. Israel in their relationship to the Lord in this day that we're reading of is an apt picture of a backslider. She was in covenant union with God. She had a relationship with the Lord. And she'd confessed her love to him. She'd made a solemn commitment to be faithful to him. But then she left him. She left her first love. And she broke her promises. And other loves crept in, and her heart went after those loves. And her sin took her further than she wanted to go and made her pay far more than she wanted to pay. And she was enslaved by her sin. And it got to the point where she wondered if there was any hope left for her at all. Was there any way there could ever be a putting back of this relationship so that things were like they once were? And that probably describes some people here. I mean, left your first love and having gotten so far down that wayward path that you wonder if there could ever be a reconciliation so that things would be in the future what they used to be. You know that you've left off private prayer. You know that you are not walking with the Lord. You've been caught up in the distractions of an over busy life. Sin doesn't bother you the way it once bothered you. You make little time to the Lord. You can't remember the last time when you set about to purposely draw near to him as an individual. If there's any communion at all, it's very shallow. And truth be told, you feel yourself little better than Israel, God's adulterous wife in this context. This is a word Therefore, for self-destroyed backsliders who desire to be returned, who desire to be restored, it is a verse full of assurances, a whole passage full of assurances that you can return unto the Lord your God without fear, fear not. Be confident. Confident in what? One of those verses that we just read, verses four through 10, there is a particular word that appears three times in those verses. It appears in verse number seven. For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. The same word is in verse eight. In little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee. You see it in verse number 10. The mountains shall depart, the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. And then if you look across the page to chapter 55 and look at verse number seven. It says, let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous men his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon thee. Four times the same word is used. in this context of not fearing to return. And so this morning I want to preach to you on the theme of confidence in God's mercy. Confidence in God's mercy. And we'll confine ourselves to verses four through 10 of Isaiah chapter 54. and we're gonna let God himself reason with us so that we will be confident of the mercy of God for returning, backsliding sinners. His first reason for confidence is verse number five. If you're fearful, if you're timid, about returning to the Lord, and that is a very real state that we all fight with, then consider your husband. Consider your husband. Verse number five, he begins by assuring you that your husband has the ability to reverse your condition. Your husband is your maker, your creator. His name is the Lord of hosts, it says. And that title is used in scripture for God as the Lord, the commander of all the angelic armies of heaven. as far gone as you are, as grievous as the effects of sin have been in your life, and tangling it all up in a knot that you don't think will ever be untangled. He is able to reverse all the miserable effects of your sin. He's your maker. He's the Lord of hosts. Consider your husband. He's your husband, underscore that word. He chose you to be his bride. He willingly entered a relationship with you knowing full well what you would prove to be. He knew all of the disappointment and all the grief that you would cause him. And he married you anyway. Ultimately, he's your God. And ultimately, you did not choose him, he chose you. And he made himself yours and yours for himself. He's your husband. And then he uses that word redeemer. In verse five, your Redeemer. It brings to mind that terrific account, that illustration of redemption in the book of Ruth, where you had that young widow who was bereft of everything and reduced to gleaning behind the harvesters and hoping to find a little something in the corners of the field that had been left behind. And there's this beautiful story of this older man who comes to tenderly love her and purchases back at his own expense the lands of her mother-in-law's family that were forfeited in her impoverishment. and she's taken into his embrace and she bears a child and the day came when the remembrance of the days of her widowhood were a distant past. It was all a backdrop to the mercy that she received from God through Boaz, your Redeemer. And think of your Redeemer. Think of what Isaiah 53 said about your Redeemer. How the Lord sent His Son to be despised and rejected of men. How He was marred more than any man, wounded for your transgressions. How the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of you. How His righteous servant justified many. He bore their iniquities. He's your Redeemer. And it says in verse five, he's your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Your Redeemer. Think about that phrase in Isaiah. Your Redeemer is the Holy One that Isaiah saw, exalted on the throne. with the seraphim surrounding Him. Chanting, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory and His train fills the temple. Your Redeemer is the Holy One that Isaiah saw in his vision in Isaiah 6. And even though you are so sinful that God has chastened you, yet he still identifies himself even in his holiness with you and calls himself the Holy One of Israel. You think about the mercy and the grace embedded in that statement. and he's the God of all the earth. Consider your husband the God of the whole earth. That's your husband. So don't doubt that he can reverse everything. Fear not. Have confidence in his mercy. Consider your husband. And then consider this, verse six. Consider his call of you. Verse six, for the Lord hath called thee. And he calls you in your forsakenness and in your abandonment. He calls thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, a wife of youth when you were refused, saith thy God. When you're grieved in spirit and you think there's no hope for you spiritually, you consider your husband is calling you to return. He wants his wife back. Calls. Reminds me of James chapter four. In fact, we may need to actually lay our eyes on this verse. Look at James chapter four. Turn over there. It's a really perfect cross-reference, I think. It's one of those cross-references worthy of putting in the margin in Isaiah 54. In James chapter four, in verse number four, we'll just spend a moment here, but I want you to see this. Look at James 4.4 and how he addresses us. Same context. Ye adulterers and adulteresses. Same context. People with a relationship to God, but they've fallen. And then look what he says in verse number five. Do you think? That the scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy. Now that's an awkward translation of that phrase. The key here is to think about that word lusteth. And if you look up the other places that word is used, it has to do with a longing, an eagerness. Like the apostle longing to go to Rome to have fruit among them. Eager to go there. And then you think about the word envy. Maybe a synonym would be better. We are in the context of adultery. So how about we use the word jealousy here? And the assurance of verse number five is the scripture did not speak in vain when it says that the Holy Spirit earnestly longs for your return. Like a jealous husband, he longs for you to return. He's calling his wife back. Consider that. Adulteresses and adulteresses. He'll have you back and He's calling you back. That's what verse 6 of Isaiah 54 is saying. The Lord hath called thee. God's own free invitation to return is your warrant to return without fear. You don't need anything else. So what if Satan is discouraging you? So what if your sins are pleading against you? So what if guilt and unbelief and shame all combine to impede your way? If the God of all the earth says return and I'll show mercy to you, then return without fear. He's calling you back. That ought to be sufficient for you. His own call, his invitation, he earnestly longs to have his wife back. He's willing to receive you back and to pardon your sins and to forget all of your ingratitude and to heal your backslidings and to restore your soul. That is all the broad warrant that you need to return in the face of all the opposition and all the discouragements from without and within. He's calling you to do so through his word today. For the Lord has called thee. You're hearing his call through his word to come back into fellowship with him. And then in Isaiah 54, there's a third reason. to be confident in his mercy. Verse seven. Here is where he comes to his own character, to consider your husband, consider his call, consider his character. In verses six and seven and eight, God is conceding that he had, yes, for a brief moment, forsaken Israel. Israel has been a youthful wife who's been temporarily refused. He had, he admits in verse eight, in a little wrath, concealed himself from her. And it may be that you can identify with that if you're out of fellowship with God this morning. Feels like God is hiding his face from you. You feel yourself under his chastening hand, and it may, as he is hiding his face from you and as you're under his chastening hand, it may feel like, it may feel like he's utterly forsaken you, that he's hidden his face from you forever, that it's all over with you, but that's not true. From God's perspective, it's just for a moment, a small moment. You think about how long he has loved you even from before the foundation of the world. And the time he's hidden his face from you is very short compared to that. And you think about how long he will love you. And the time during which he chastens you compared to that is just a very small moment, isn't it? You think of how long you deserve to be under his wrath and condemnation in hell. And the little moment in which you've known his indignation is indeed nothing compared to the eternal misery you would have merited if he had not intervened in your life. Small moment. But on the other side of that small moment is promised in verses seven and eight, great mercies, everlasting kindness, will I have mercy on thee. You think about those two words, about the character of God, kindness and mercy. I already pointed out the words for mercy here three times in this section. That word mercy there in verses seven and eight, It's a word for compassion. You know the root of that word is the noun for a mother's womb. It has reference to the deep emotional moving over something that is loved. You can't even explain it. Like a mother's womb gives birth to a child that she can never forget and never cease to love. And God says, don't fear. You put away all the shame that you've experienced as a forsaken and abandoned wife. Our marriage is going to be restored because of my great compassion over you. This word is used in Jeremiah 31. He says, is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I often spake against him, And he sure did often speak against Israel, didn't he? Has it ever seemed like in your Bible reading that God often speaks against you? And you well know that everything he says is justified because of your own unfaithfulness to him? Which says, though I often speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still. Therefore, my bowels are troubled for him. I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord. And every parent knows what it is to be grieved with their children. But notwithstanding, you never cease to be moved with compassion for them. It just goes, moms, it just goes with having given birth. And that instinct that you have of compassion for your children, that no matter what they do is still there, is there because you were made in the image of God. It's God-likeness that he's implanted in you. That's what he's like. Compassion. And that is the key when I find myself backsliding under the chastening hand of God, God's compassion. And then there's the other word used in verses seven and eight. Verse eight speaks of everlasting kindness. And that word again appears in verse number 10 and is also translated kindness there, my kindness shall not depart from thee. And that word has to do with God's loving kindness, his steadfast love, his covenant faithfulness. It speaks of God's passionate covenant keeping. He's not like you and me. When we make a covenant, and then maybe we regret it, but we begrudgingly have to fulfill the terms of the covenant, that's not God. He loves to keep his covenant. You would think that in this situation, if this were you and I, we would regret this. We would regret this covenant. And that, because we're true and because we're faithful, we'll go through the motions of keeping it, but we don't like it. That's not God. He has loving kindness. He loves to keep his covenant. He keeps his covenant passionately. Steadfast love. That is the character of your Redeemer. I know how touching and soul-subduing and heart-melting that must be. It ought to be to us. Your husband is merciful to receive you and merciful to pardon you and merciful to heal you. Oh, the boundless mercy of God in Christ toward every soul who returns from his or her wanderings. Will this not draw you? Consider your husband and consider he calls you back and consider his character, merciful, loving-kindness. God has had every opportunity to walk away from Israel altogether and to move on from this relationship. and he's at every opportunity to walk away from you. But he hasn't. How many invitations have you spurned? And how many prayers for your soul have been grieved by you? And how often have you been ungrateful and complaining and even blamed God for your plight? Yet he's still faithful, still pleading, still calling you to come, still assuring you of his steadfast love and his compassion. That's the character of God, is a merciful, sin-pardoning God. And it is held out to you as a motive and an encouragement to return without fear. And that's just the view of God that every backsliding soul needs and wants. You have everything in your circumstances to discourage your return. But here is everything to encourage your return. He is compassionate and he is full of everlasting kindness. So consider his character. Consider your husband, consider his call, consider his character, and then consider his covenant. Verses nine and 10. And here God offers an illustration. He says, call to mind that time when I judged every living thing on earth with a great worldwide flood. And on the other side of that tumult, When Noah and his family stepped off that ark for the first time in a year, God said to Noah, I'll never do that again. And I want you to know that in the future when you see clouds gathering and you hear distant thunder and flashes of lightning, and the rain begins to fall, I want you to know, I want you to be confident, I am never going to destroy the earth with a flood ever again. And if you have any doubtfulness about that, then I'm gonna give you a sign. And the only time the sign is gonna show up is when there are clouds and when it's raining. and yet surprisingly sunshine peeks through, then there'll be a remembrance, a remembrance of my covenant, and I'll put this beautiful bow in the sky. So when you have the gloom of the cloud that reminds you of this terrible disaster, you'll have the glorious rainbow. It's the sign of my covenant that I'll never destroy the earth again like that. And then God says, Israel, your captivity is just like that. And I swore to Noah, and I've kept my word on that, and now I'm swearing to you that I will never be everlastingly angry, I will never be permanent in my rebuke with you, and I will just as surely keep this covenant as I'm keeping that covenant. So even if the mountains depart, verse 10, and the hills are removed, my passionate, loving loyalty will not be removed from you, and my covenant of peace, it will not be removed, says the Lord, who is deeply moved over you with compassion. Consider his covenant. Consider your husband. Consider his call. Consider his character. Consider his covenant. And then your eyes go across the page to chapter 55 and verse number seven. So let the wicked forsake his way. And the unrighteous man his thoughts. and let him turn unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him. And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Can you believe that what God assures Israel of, he assures anyone of? Anyone who thirsts, anyone who's hungry, anyone who has no money, Anyone who is wicked, but he forsakes his way. Anyone whose thoughts are being contrary to God, but he forsakes those thoughts. Let him come and God will have this kind of compassion on him. Have you done that? Should you do that? Why won't you? Why haven't you? If you are resolved to come to God through Jesus Christ, through that perfect servant of the Lord, who perfectly obeyed God on your behalf and satisfied all of God's justice for you, taking your punishment on himself as your sins were laid on him, then stop fearing. You have nothing to be humiliated about. This God, your husband, calls you to return to fellowship with him and he has promised compassion and his loving kindness. Be hopeful. Venture faith on him and on his promises. Don't fear. And come. and he will abundantly pardon. Let us pray. Lord, our gracious God and heavenly Father, certainly there are souls today who need to get right with thee. and return unto their husband, their maker, their redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth. And so I pray that you would compel them to come through these perfect divine arguments of your word about your call and your character and your covenant. And Lord, be merciful. Keep your word. May we ever be confident in thy mercy. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.