Isaiah 24

If this wasn’t such serious business, there could be something almost comical about the way these doom and gloom prophecies keep escalating. First, it was doom prophesied on the average nations, then the bigger and stronger nations, and now… the whole world: “Look! The Lord is about to destroy the earth and make it a vast wasteland. He devastates the surface of the earth and scatters the people. Priests and laypeople, servants and masters, maids and mistresses, buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, bankers and debtors—none will be spared. The earth will be completely emptied and looted. The Lord has spoken!” (vs 1-3)

If you have spent any time reading the book of Revelation, the thought of the “end times” has probably crossed your mind once or twice. I know I’ve thought about it—especially as it seems so many things in the world are in upheaval right now! It’s hard to imagine where it could all go or just how bad things could get.

As Isaiah goes on in this chapter, he certainly doesn’t paint a very nice picture of the conditions to come: “Therefore, a curse consumes the earth. Its people must pay the price for their sin. They are destroyed by fire, and only a few are left alive. The grapevines waste away, and there is no new wine. All the merrymakers sigh and mourn. The cheerful sound of tambourines is stilled; the happy cries of celebration are heard no more. The melodious chords of the harp are silent. Gone are the joys of wine and song; alcoholic drink turns bitter in the mouth. The city writhes in chaos; every home is locked to keep out intruders. Mobs gather in the streets, crying out for wine. Joy has turned to gloom. Gladness has been banished from the land. The city is left in ruins, its gates battered down.” (vs 6-12)

Wow, check out all the negative words in that preceding paragraph—curse, sigh, mourn, silent, bitter, gloom, ruins. As the cheap pleasures of the world are stripped away, the artificial joy they created also quickly disappears. There is no more joy or gladness or singing; now, there is only gloom and crying and chaos.

Oh, but not so fast. Isaiah continues: “Throughout the earth the story is the same—only a remnant is left, like the stray olives left on the tree or the few grapes left on the vine after harvest. But all who are left shout and sing for joy. Those in the west praise the Lord’s majesty. In eastern lands, give glory to the Lord. In the lands beyond the sea, praise the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. We hear songs of praise from the ends of the earth, songs that give glory to the Righteous One!” (vs 13-16)

There is some music after all, and notice who is singing—a remnant who are faithful to the Lord. It is very important to understand why they are singing. It is not because they have been spared from the awfulness of the Earth’s destruction; no, Isaiah says that the story is the same throughout the Earth. Their song has not been inspired by their circumstances; it has been inspired by their God.

When all the sinful mirth and worldly glee has come to an end, the joy of the saints is as full and lively as ever because the foundation of all their hopes and the fountain of all their comforts can never fail. They have not built their security on the things of this world; thus, when the things of this world disappear, they remain secure. They can sing when it seems there is nothing to sing about.

God is a muse, inspiring songs of joy and praise and peace in the midst of the worst storms this life can muster. Either God can be fully trusted or He can’t, but if He can, then those who rejoice in Him may rejoice even when everything is falling apart. Those who rejoice in Him may rejoice when everything appears hopeless.

God is a muse, inspiring the most beautiful of songs in the ugliest of circumstances. And just as the stars shine most brightly when the sky is pitch black, so do our songs of praise about our trustworthy God sound sweetest when the world says we should have nothing to sing about.

God is a muse. You cannot truly know Him and not sing.