Text: Isaiah 59:15b
"Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice."

Scripture Reading:
Isaiah 59

Singing: (Psalms and Hymns are from the "Book of Praise" Anglo Genevan Psalter)
Psalm 108:1,2
Psalm 112:1
Hymn 29:1,2
Hymn 1A
To table: Hymn 44:1,2
Psalm 147:1,4

Beloved Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ!

The words of our text this morning portray for us a covenant God who wasn’t happy with what He saw. Says the text literally: "it was evil in His eyes that there was no justice." We read this passage, and our thoughts go straightaway to the evitable punishment we’ve come to expect when a people don’t do justice. We recall what the prophet had said in the first verses of chapter 59 about the iniquities of Israel, about how Israel’s "hands are defiled with blood" (vs 3), how Israel’s "lips have spoken lies" (vs 3), how the people "run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood" (vs 7). So we expect that the Lord in our text –He’s seen what’s going on, and "it displeased Him that there was no justice"– we expect that the Lord in our text is setting the stage to announce punishment, destruction, pour out His covenant wrath. We know: the people have earned it.

But see, beloved, punishment is not what the following verses describe! The Lord saw what was going on amongst His people, but now He doesn’t move Isaiah to warn of destruction; now the Lord portrays Himself as acting to save! The Lord observed that there was no man who could stand between depraved, sinful Israel on the one hand and Himself on the other, none on earth who could stand in the breech made by Israel’s sins (cf vs 2). So what did God do?? Says the prophet: "therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him" (vs 16). Vs 17: the Lord dressed Himself with righteousness, the Lord put on the helmet of salvation, the Lord put on the garments of vengeance, clad Himself with zeal. That imagery is meant to portray God as acting, as Himself organising justice, redemption, salvation for this people now so buried under their sins. Israel’s sins separate this people from God, and there’s no man who can bridge that distance, reconcile the people with God. So God Himself comes into action; He doesn’t want that distance, and therefore sets to work to find an intercessor who can bridge the gap.

That’s God’s plan. And so certain are the results, says the prophet, that there’s no doubt about it: peoples from all lands, from east to west, shall "fear the name of the Lord". Truly, what a God these Israelites had, that He should act with such mercy to save such sinful people!

It was a word of immense comfort that Isaiah could speak to sinful Israel. For us who live today, the word has greater depth yet. By nature, neither you nor I are any less sinful than were the people of Israel in the days of Isaiah. It may be true that we do not see the blood on our hands, do not hear the lies our lips speak. That’s not, though, because our hands are clean of blood and our lips free of lies. That’s rather because our depravity is so great that we don’t see the sins of which we’re guilty. And, as with Israel of long ago, our sins separate us from God – simply because God remains so holy. So we certainly don’t belong in His presence today.

Yet the words of our text hold true for us too: the Lord sees our iniquities, sees the resulting distance, and it displeases Him much that there isn’t any justice, displeases Him much that His covenant people can generate no intercessor to stand between ourselves and Him. And here, beloved, is the gospel for us: in the time since the days God spoke through Isaiah, He has dressed Himself such that salvation was achieved. For He’s sent His only Son to earth to stand in the breech between God and men, has sent His only Son to earth to reconcile sinners to God. Today, in the midst of our sins and iniquities, the Lord comes to us with the bread and the drink of the Lord’s table, in order to spell out to us in our sins that Yes, God wasn’t happy with our lostness and so He did something about it. What you receive today, brothers and sisters, is not what you’ve earned in the week past; what you receive today is grace granted despite what you’ve earned in the week past. And that, beloved, that points up just how incredibly merciful your God is! He saw you, saw your lostness, saw your iniquities, and it displeased Him – and so did something about it!

That’s why He prepared this table for you today, more, that’s why He instructs you to sit down with Him at this table. God would impress upon us that the distance sin generates between holy God and sinful people has been overcome by the Intercessor God Himself put forward. That, that is grace! Amen.