Biblical Perspectives Magazine, Volume 28, Number 2, January 4 to January 10, 2026

The Importance of Remindingf the Lord

Isaiah 62:1-12

By Dr. Frank M. Barker, Jr.

January 2, 2011 – Morning Sermon

Isaiah 62:6-7 says 6 On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest, 7 and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth. May God bless the reading and hearing of His Word.

Our church's focus this coming year is going to be particularly on prayer and on the Word of God – spreading the Word, learning the Word, etc. In Isaiah 2, early on in Isaiah there is a scene where you have the exaltation of the mountain of the Lord hosts of Mount Zion where Jerusalem sat. It's not a large mountain but it gets elevated in this vision that Isaiah has and then the Word goes out from the mountain and people from all over the world begin to flow to the mountain. Mount Zion symbolizes the true church of God. A time was coming and it was 700 years off when that would begin to take place, the true Israel, the true Zion, the true church would begin to see all these Gentiles come and flow in to be part of it. Isaiah 60:1-3 says

1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you (speaking of Zion or the true Jerusalem). 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples (All around the world there will be spiritual darkness); but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. You read in the New Testament book of Hebrews 12 where the writer is telling true believers what they are apart of and this is what he says in Hebrews 12:22-23 says 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect. Who are the spirits of the righteous made perfect? It is not you because you're not made perfect yet. It is Christians who have already gone on to heaven.

You are part of this body of believers where some of them are already in heaven and some are still here. The church triumphant is there (heaven) and the battling church is still here (earth). He continues in Hebrews 12:23-24, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. We sing 'O Zion haste, Thy mission high fulfilling to tell to all the world that Christ is life that He who made all the nations is not willing that any should perish, lost in shades of night.' That is us and we sing about that.

In Isaiah 62 we see God's promise not to rest until this exaltation of the true Jerusalem takes place. Notice what He would not do in Isaiah 62:1, 1 For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. He wouldn't rest until the righteousness of Jerusalem goes forth here from Zion. Are you apart of God's true church? If you are then you are righteous. Scripture says there is none righteous, no not one as far as no one having the perfect obedience which God's law requires. God's law reads like this; whosoever shall offend in one part of the law... Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever gotten mad at somebody? Whosoever shall offend in one part of the law is guilty of all. You're going to hell. That's the way the law works. There is none righteous. No one has that perfect obedience.

There is only One righteous man that ever lived and that's Jesus Christ but when you become a Christian, when you come to faith in the sense that you believe that Jesus Christ was the God the Son, who has always existed but who at a point in time became man, was fully God and fully man, who lived under the law, kept it perfectly then went to the cross to die and pay for your sin. Then He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. When you believe that and don't just believe it but then because you believe in it you put your trust in Jesus Christ as your approach to God. Upon a life I did not live upon a death I did not die, another's life, another's death, I stake my whole eternity. That's faith in Jesus Christ and the other side of that is surrender to Jesus Christ.

When you become a Christian you are entering the Kingdom of God where He's your King and you have to surrender your will to Him as your Master and that's called repentance. When you truly surrender your will, where you are purposing to obey Him but you won't always obey Him but you're serious about it and you're really tacking that and you're relying on Him alone as your Savior, then you are reckoned righteous. The Scripture says "God made Him, Jesus, to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of Christ in Him, God in Him." God laid our record on Christ on the cross before you were ever born and now when you surrender your will and put your trust in Christ your record is on Him and His perfect record is credited to you. That's settled and you'll never need that again. That's what the Bible calls justification, justification by faith alone in Christ.

Also, you are legally adopted into God's family. He is now your heavenly Father and you're his child. Also He has come to live in you literally by His Holy Spirit. That's actually what enabled you to surrender your will and put your trust in Christ. He called you. Whom He predestined He also called and the effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit whereby convincing us of our sin in misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ and renewing our will (that's a heart operation). He persuades and enables us to embrace Jesus Christ (through repentance and faith) freely offered in the Gospel. As a result of that inner change there is going to be a growing trend of obedience. He says "I take the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh and I will write My Law on your heart. I put My Spirit in you and cause you to walk in My statues and judgments and do them." So there will be a progressive trend of obedience and that is the evidence that you really did make that commitment to Christ, where you are swimming up hill in this world, this stream.

Isaiah 62:1b-2 says "Her (Zion's) righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. 2 The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. The people around see this change in your life, the way you treat people, the way you behave and all. Here is this light of the Gospel shining out through us. Notice the crown in Isaiah 62:3; 3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. The church described here is a beautiful jeweled crown that God is fashioning. You are a diamond in the rough but He's fashioning you and making you beautiful spiritually in a sense. That's what it's all about there.

He has a new name here in Isaiah 62:4; 4 You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. God's delight is in you. The church is married in a sense to these people who come flowing in to be a part of God's true Zion. Isaiah 62:5 says 5 For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. These are people coming in to be a part of God's true church, in marrying the church in a sense but also you're married to the Lord, as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. The word for 'married' is Beulah and so the true church is Beulah land, married to the Lord and married to these people coming in.

We see God's promise not to rest until this exaltation of Zion takes place, until His church spreads worldwide, is built up, is demonstrating His righteousness and people are being drawn into it. We have seen this happen. This exaltation began 2000 years ago when Jesus Christ came and the Spirit was given full away to the disciples to equip them to go out into all the world to share the Word. The Word went out and the nations have been drawn in but also notice the provision of watchmen for the walls of Jerusalem. Isaiah 62:6 says 6 On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. These watchmen are in a sense faithful ministers that God has appointed to preach the Gospel and be the church, protect the sheep in one sense, things like this. God told Ezekiel He had appointed him as a watchman and that's what ministers are to do.

This applies also to all of us where all of us are to be doing what this watchman is doing. Notice what we're to do here. Isaiah 62:6 says 6 On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest. You who remind the Lord, take no rest. He is talking about prayer here. Don't give yourself any rest about that. Put the Lord in remembrance. You that remind the Lord, take notice there. He goes on to say in Isaiah 62:7, 7 and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth. You seem to remind God of something He has forgotten yet God doesn't forget but our prayers are a real part of Him doing it. John Calvin says "This means to render the church glorious here to establish the Jerusalem makes it a praise in the earth."

Notice the basis of their and our prayers here. God says in Isaiah 62:8-9, 8 The LORD has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: "I will not again give your grain to be food for your enemies, and foreigners shall not drink your wine for which you have labored; 9 but those who garner it shall eat it and praise the LORD, and those who gather it shall drink it in the courts of my sanctuary." God has sworn that you will be victorious. He won't permit Jerusalem's enemies to come in and plunder them. He will not rest here until He makes this accomplishment. Daniel went into captivity a hundred years after Isaiah's preaching this and he warned them they would go into captivity with Babylon. Daniel was one of the first ones to go into captivity in Babylon and after he had been there quite a while he read where Jeremiah who had been back in Jerusalem when he went into captivity had predicted that they would be there 70 years. He realized the 70 years were up and he began to pray to God to remind God, "God, You said 70 years!

God don't forget! God remember." God sent Gabriel the angel to Daniel and said "Because you prayed, we're starting to move. We're going to set them free and let them go back." There was the Medo-Persian Empire that conquered the Babylonian Empire and then the leader there allowed them to go back and rebuild and so on. God used Daniel's prayers as a part of that plan there. Prayer helps the promise bring forth. John Owen, a great puritan writer said, "Because a woman's time has come to have a baby, therefore shall she have no midwife? No, therefore give her a midwife to help with this. He that appointed their return appointed that it should be the fruit of prayer that Daniel would pray as a result." That's what happened.

So His promise is the basis but He commands us to give Him no rest, to remind Him of that promise. God said to Moses, "Moses let Me alone for I'm going to wipe out this group we brought out of Egypt here that keep rebelling against Me in Exodus. I'll start over and I'll begin with you and build a new nation." Moses said, "God, You don't want to do that. Have You thought about Your reputation? Lord, the Egyptian will say that You just brought them out here to wipe them out because that's the kind of God You are. Please don't do that Lord!" The Lord said, "All right Moses I won't do that." Now God has planned everything. It's all predestined and so on but our prayers are a very real part of the plan. Had Moses not prayed God would have wiped them out but it was His plan that Moses would pray. But it's crucial that we pray and that we do our end of this thing. Our earnest intercession is a crucial part of the accomplishment of God's plan.

Remind the Lord saying, "Lord, You said that You would exalt Zion and that its righteousness would go out and attract others. God You said You would bless Your church. God I want to remind You of that promise. I want to remind You of Your promise to bless the Gospel that it would not return void. It would accomplish the purpose for which You sent it as the rain and snow come down from heaven and cause the earth to bring for growth so shall My Word be that goes forth out of My mouth, it shall not return void. God You promised now do it in this case here. Do it in this life here." Maybe you and I are going to get to heaven and you'll say "God my neighbor Mary died two years ago and she's not here." God will say "You didn't remind Me to save her." You might say "God my son is not here." He will say "You didn't remind Me to work in your son's life." That's quite a way of picturing prayer and our responsibility.

God says in Isaiah 62:6-7 6 On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest. 7 and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth. And He does this and this and this... When God does work in His church the impact it is around the world and all is tremendous.

George Truitt was a famous pastor at the First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas in the early part of the last century. He tells about what he calls the most dramatic conversion he ever saw. He was preaching at a great outdoor Texas meeting. The conditions religiously were dreadfully hard and bad where such meetings were held. He says he never knew them worse. Men with white locks about there ears were lost and even their grandchildren followed in forbidden paths. He said "I shall never forget the repeated story of the people there at that meeting concerning one of their citizens. He was a man known for a radius of hundreds of miles. They called him 'Big Jim.' They said he would come to the meeting once this year. Then he will curse you and the meeting out. He will curse the churches and then wait another year and come again. That's his style. Don't waste any preaching on him."

One night he looks out in the audience and here's this huge guy, Big Jim and that night I preached and God's Spirit moved upon the audience mightily. Men with their white locks and stooped shoulders were like little children that night. They turned to the Savior. Yonder sat Big Jim like a granite shaft. After the meeting was over some people stayed around to talk. They were talking about Big Jim. They said "Well, he won't come back." One said, "I don't know he looked different tonight. I think he will come back." As Truitt was going back to the cottage where he was staying he heard two men in the dark talking. He didn't mean to ease drop but he listened and they were praying. They were saying to God, "Mighty God, the people are saying that Big Jim is too much for You. Break to pieces our unbelief and let all this country know that God is master of the situation and that You can save even the chief sinner here. Master, we plead Your promise to your disciples that if two of you agree as touching anything they ask it shall be done of My Father in heaven. We agree together to ask You to save Big Jim and to stop the mouths of gang Sayers once and forever in this section of the world." Truitt went quietly back on to his cottage.

The next night when he stood up to preach in came Big Jim. He prayed "Father, give me the Word of life for this brother." He preached on the prodigal son who had rebelled against his family, took his inheritance, went out and wasted it away and then when he was feeding the pigs he thought about how stupid he had been and went back to his father. He said to his father, "Father forgive me I've sinned against heaven and you and I'm not worthy to be called your son so just let me be your servant." His father embraced him and said "No, you're my son" and he takes him back into the family. The man said, "Father I did not come back to ask to be your boy but I've sinned against you and heaven and I'm not worthy to be called your son so I'll just have a servants place." The father kills the fatted calf.

Then Truitt said "I bring to you the Gospel that I have anchored my soul to and I'm willing to die by it and I'm trying to live by it. I'm going to meet God with it and stand before Him in judgment with this Gospel. I came one day and surrendered to that Savior whom God the Father sent. Is there a man here who will surrender to Him now?" Big Jim started down the aisle and more than half a thousand men were on their feet amazed and watching. Were they dreaming? Was it too good to be true? Down that long aisle came Big Jim and when he reached Truitt he caught his hand and said "I put you on your sacred honor, will Jesus Christ save me tonight if I give up to Him?" Truitt said, "On my sacred honor I answer He will." Big Jim said, "You must remember I'm the worst man out of hell." Truitt said, "My Savior died for the worst man out of hell and He is able to save him now." Once more Big Jim looked at Truitt and said "When would He save me if I were to surrender to Him right now?" Truitt said, "On the authority of Jesus Christ on which I have rested my soul from now to eternity I declare that He will save you right now and you yourself may be the judge of that if you will surrender to Him right now." Then Big Jim turned that great bronze face toward heaven, pitiful in his anguish and said this prayer, "Lord Jesus, the worst man in the world gives up to You right now."

Truitt said I can't tell you all the rest and I don't know if the angels could tell it but God unloosed his tongue and Big Jim witnessed for Jesus then and there as I've never heard him witness to before or sense. Old grizzled men came and kissed him. Women came and kissed him. Little children came and kissed him. The chief of sinners was saved and then the word went to and fro as fast as the wind would carry it that God was in the midst of the people forgiving sin. That's the exaltation of the church and it will happen has we remind God as those two men reminded God of His promise of if two agree on something we ask. They asked that it would apply to Big Jim and look at the fruit that came from this. That's what we are challenged to do here. Charles Spurgeon said "A prayer-less church member is a hindrance. He is in the body like a rooting bone. From my own self personally I say that no man can do me a truer kindness in the world than to pray for me." Mueller says "To pray right, it's not enough to continue for a time to pray but we must patiently, believingly, continue in prayer until we have obtained the answer."

Now notice man's preparation for the coming exaltation of Zion in Isaiah 62:10 which says, 10 Go through, go through the gates; prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway; clear it of stones; lift up a signal over the peoples. Prepare for the people coming through the gate of God's true church here. Lift up a standard which is the Gospel. Remove any stones. Are there some stones in your life that's a stumbling block to somebody in your family or something wrong where you haven't forgiven somebody or some stones that you need to remove? Let's make the way for people to come in.

Notice the preparation for the Savior coming to do His work in Isaiah 62:10-11 which says 10 Go through, go through the gates; prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway; clear it of stones; lift up a signal over the peoples. 11 Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, "Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him." Notice salvation is a Person, Jesus Christ, coming as He has come.

Then there is the preview of how they will be regarded as a result of His coming which is seen in Isaiah 62:12 which says, 12 And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the LORD; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken. People will see that God is with them and His church will be exalted. God sets a pattern for us. He says "I won't rest and don't you rest and you remind Me." Pray.

As we head into the New Year (2011) let's get serious about prayer, personal prayer, your time with the Lord, praying with others in groups, agreeing together about the things we pray for. This can make all the difference in the world, in your life, in the church and our community and the rest of the world as we lay hold of prayer. Over the years we can recount amazing things that have happened through prayer.

We were at a retreat years ago and one of the officers said "We pray about a lot of things but we don't exercise faith. We pray to ask God to call people into full time ministry but if we don't set any goals we don't exercise faith. Why don't we set a goal?" They decided to call forth one person a month into full time ministry from our congregation a year and that was a big goal. That was more than in all the years previous to that. Every Sunday I would stand in the pulpit and say "God, we as a church are asking You to call from our congregation an average of one person a month into full time ministry." The officers would get together and pray, other groups and women's groups would do the same. At the end of the year thirteen had gone into full time ministry. Then we set a goal of fifteen and at the end of the year seventeen had gone. The following year we set a goal of twenty one and at the end of the year twenty two had gone. The next year we set a goal of twenty seven and at the end of the year twenty eight had gone. The next year we set a goal of thirty six and at the end of the year twenty eight had gone. Uh oh, the next year we didn't set a goal. That jig was up.

It makes such a difference when we take these promises seriously and we remind the Lord by saying "Lord, You said pray to You the Lord of the harvest and You will thrust forth laborers. We remind You of that prayer Lord, and we plead with You to do this because we want Your church to be exalted and Your name to be glorified." Let's get serious about it this year and let's structure our lives in a way that incorporates this into our families.

There is a poem by an unknown writer that says, "There is a place where thou canst touch the eyes of blinded men to instant perfect sight; There is a place where thou canst say, arise! To dying captives bound in endless night. There is a place where thou canst reach the store of hoarded gold and free it for the Lord. There is a place upon some distant shore, where thou can send the worker and the word; There is a place where heavens resistant power Responsive moves to thine instant plea; there is a place – a silent trusting hour- where God himself descends and fights for thee. Where is that secret place? Does thou ask where? O' soul, it is the secret place of prayer."

It could be that you're here and you're a 'Big Jim.' You have resisted and never really turned your life over to Him and the challenge to you today would be to do that today. Surrender to Him and put your trust in Him alone. I guarantee if you do that He will change your life and you'll see the fruit. Others will be drawn to Him through you. Let's pray.

Prayer:

As our hearts are bowed, what is your practice of prayer? What do you need to do to improve it? How can you involve others and lay hold of these promises and remind the Lord? Lord, we want to do that. We want to remind You. We want to be serious about it. If you are like Big Jim and you have never surrendered your life to Him but you want to do it today pray in your heart like this; "Lord, I'm Big Jim, I'm the person who needs a Savior. Lord, I'm guilty and I acknowledge it. I purpose to obey You. I invite You to come into my life to make any changes and I trust You alone as my Savior to forgive me as a gift. Amen."

This article is provided as a ministry of Third Millennium Ministries(Thirdmill). If you have a question about this article, please email our Theological Editor