"…plans formed of old, faithful and sure."

The first verse of Isaiah 25 says, "O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure." 

Those words of Isaiah are a profound statement of trust and faith in God.  Isaiah lives during some hard times for the people of God.  They are a people surrounded by enemies and it has been Isaiah's job to proclaim God's word of judgment on those enemies.  

For the people of God that should be good news.  God's enemies have harmed God's people, and God is going to set things right.  But, as they say on TV, "Wait, there's more!"  And perhaps to the surprise of the Hebrew people, the "more" that Isaiah brings to them isn't good news.

Isaiah also has to make known to God's people that they haven't been blameless.  They may be God's people but they haven’t been living according to God's ways, and as a result some bad things are going to be coming their way too.  But even that news of judgment is not the end of this part of Isaiah's story. 

As Chapter 25 begins Isaiah proclaims his own faith in God.  He says that the Lord is his God.  He doesn't hold up any idols as the place where he puts his trust.  His trust is in the Lord, and the Lord is the one he exalts, the one he worships. 

In this verse Isaiah also remembers the things that God has done in the past.  He isn’t specific about what those things are.  They could be things that God has done for His people, or they could be things that God has done for Isaiah.  Whatever it is that God has done, Isaiah calls these things "wonderful."  And then comes the part of the verse that really catches my attention, where Isaiah mentions God's "plans formed of old, faithful and sure."  Isaiah is looking back here, but he is also pointing us forward. 

Isaiah is reminding God's people, both of his time and of ours as well, that God doesn’t make his plans on the fly, adapting them when they don’t seem to be working out.  God's plans are "of old," and of old means that that they were in place before the act of creating the world. 

And God's plans are "faithful and sure."  We don't need to have any doubts about God's plans, particularly the plans He has to hold the people He has claimed as His own.  Plans to hold them today and throughout eternity.  It is a plan that Isaiah points toward and is shown most clearly in Jesus, who comes as the Savior and Lord of God's people. 

May you find peace and hope knowing that God's plans for you, to hold you as His precious child, are faithful and sure in Christ Jesus.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.