Recounting the gracious deeds of God in the past is helpful when
the homecoming is not as hospitable as one hoped it would be. Isaiah 63 is
written at a time when the ransomed of the Lord had returned unto Zion with
singing (Isaiah 35:10) but their song had been stilled by the harsh reality of
a Zion laid waste and neglected during their long exile in Babylon. Which is
why they sing the old songs, the ones their captors mocked, (Psalm 137:3) because
in the singing of the familiar the present sounded more like the past even if it was not nearly as sweet. But they were free, no longer weeping by
the waters of Babylon, and even if their freedom was as difficult as their
captivity it would be lived on their terms. It is same for us held captive by situation
and circumstance. We remember God’s faithfulness in our past to trust that God
will remember us in our present and move us into that more perfect future for the
God who has carried us “all the days of old” is more than able to carry us every
day.
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