Isaiah 25:1 “O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.”
While in prayer, Isaiah details practical reasons for us to worshipfully “praise” the Holy “name” of the “LORD” our “God”. He refers to both his practical experiences with the “LORD” and to the prophecies of the coming Lord Jesus Christ and what He would do on this earth in the latter days; we can now look back on these prophecies and greatly rejoice, for our Lord has fulfilled all these prophecies. In this Chapter, He explains that the “LORD” always gets the victory and defeats all His adversaries; He forever removed the sin and the separation it caused between men and God; He established His Church, first in Jerusalem; then, He drew the Gentiles into His Church. He addresses his prayer to the “LORD” and proclaims, “thou art my God”. As the “LORD” He is Jehovah, the Self-Existing-One. He derives His existence and power from none other than Himself. His power exceeds all others and is not dependent upon anyone or anything other than Himself. As “God”, He is Elohim, the Divine, Ruling Judge. His authority and power are absolute and cannot be questioned or thwarted. To “exalt” the “LORD” is to lift Him up by proclaiming His Holiness and Greatness by the things we speak, the things we do, and by our obedience to Him and to His Holy Word. In this context, to “praise” is to worshipfully confess and declare that the “LORD” is my “God”; that is, I joyfully acknowledge my Lord’s power and authority over me and over all my troubles and fears and anxieties and temptations and sins! The “wonderful things” are the “things” that we wonder at, “things” that we cannot explain by human or natural means. These are the “things” that our “LORD” has done and does, both in our daily deliverance and in our Eternal Salvation. Because of our sinful nature, it is a wonder that the Lord would help or save anyone; thus, we rejoice in His Mercy and Grace! His “counsels of old are faithfulness and truth”; that is, His “counsels” are those things that God has purposed within Himself to do; in particular, concerning the deliverance and salvation of His people. His “counsels” “are faithfulness and truth” because it is impossible for “God” to lie! Therefore, let us commit ourselves to worshipfully “praise” the Lord our God!