Isaiah 55 begins with a word that goes out from the Lord’s mouth as an invitation to the thirsty to come and buy, without money and without cost, food and drink that delights. It is a word for a recently released captive people returned to Zion and suffering under the weight of harsh conditions while attempting to rebuild a ruined country. As sure as the seasons, Isaiah tells them, God’s word will water your work and even the mountains and hills will sing while the trees and fields keep the beat. It is a word that requires faith, which is not the same proof, but without the word of hope the wicked return to their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts which leads inevitably to despair. To hope in the Lord, to trust the promise, is to anticipate the everlasting sign, which is not yet and at the same time already, which means we sing the future song even while the fields are choked by thistles and the hills covered with briers.
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