Isaiah 25:9

My Notes

What Does Isaiah 25:9 Mean?

Isaiah envisions the day of ultimate deliverance: and it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

It shall be said in that day — the eschatological day when God's purposes reach fulfillment. The statement is communal — it shall be said — the whole people speaking together.

Lo, this is our God — the exclamation of recognition. After centuries of waiting, promises, prophecies, and partial fulfillments, God arrives — and the response is: this is him. This is our God. The recognition is personal (our God) and exclamatory (Lo — behold). The waiting is over. The God they trusted has appeared.

We have waited for him — the waiting (qavah — to bind together in expectation, to hope) is emphasized by repetition. We waited. The waiting was not passive. It was active hope — sustained expectation through difficulty, exile, oppression, and delay. The we connects the current generation to every generation that waited before them.

And he will save us — the confidence is total. He will save. Not he might. Not we hope he will. He will. The waiting produced certainty, not doubt. The longer they waited, the more certain they became that salvation was coming.

This is the LORD; we have waited for him — said twice. The repetition is worship. The identification is repeated because the moment is too significant for one declaration. This is our God. This is the LORD. The double statement expresses the overwhelming joy of the moment — the God they waited for has arrived and they cannot stop saying it.

We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation — the response to the arrival is joy — glad (samach) and rejoice (gul — to spin around with joy, to exult). The waiting produced endurance. The arrival produces celebration. The salvation is his — accomplished by him, belonging to him, flowing from him.

Reflection Questions

• 1.What does the double declaration 'this is our God... this is the LORD' express about the moment of God's arrival?
• 2.How does the repeated 'we have waited for him' connect every generation of faithful waiting to the moment of fulfillment?
• 3.What does 'he will save us' — absolute confidence after long waiting — reveal about the relationship between patience and certainty?
• 4.What are you waiting for — and how does this verse shape your expectation for the moment when God arrives?

Devotional

Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him. Imagine the moment. After all the waiting — the years, the decades, the centuries of expectation. After all the promises heard and not yet seen. After all the prophets who spoke of a day they would not live to see. And then — he appears. And the first words out of every mouth: this is our God. This is him. He came. He is here.

We have waited for him, and he will save us. The waiting was not wasted. The hope was not disappointed. Every year of expectation produced the certainty that is now vindicated: he will save us. Not might. Will. The confidence forged in the waiting is confirmed in the arrival. What we hoped for has happened. What we trusted in has proven true.

This is the LORD; we have waited for him. They say it twice. Because once is not enough. This is our God. This is the LORD. The repetition is the sound of joy too large for a single statement. The identification needs to be made again because the reality is too good to say only once.

We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. The waiting is over. The gladness begins. The rejoicing erupts. Not polite appreciation. Gladness and rejoicing — the deep, spinning, exultant joy of a people who have received what they waited for.

You are waiting for something. A promise not yet fulfilled. A salvation not yet visible. A God who has not yet appeared in the way you need him to. This verse is your future — the moment when the waiting ends and you say: Lo, this is my God. I waited. And he came. And his salvation was worth every day of the wait.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture