Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
Thou shalt be a crown of glory means Zion and Jerusalem, God's people and church in her restored standing, are precious, honored and treasured as His own possession displaying His glory, held securely in His care under His hand. For her sake there is no rest until her righteousness shines as brightness and her salvation burns like a lamp before the Gentiles and kings, and she is called by a new name from the Lord's own mouth. She is no more termed forsaken and desolate but delighted-in and married, because the Lord delights in her and joins her land to Himself as a public sign of His favor. That honor comes from belonging to God and being clothed in forgiven righteousness, valued as His jewels by a measure higher than the world's measure of money and lands, to exalt His name among all nations. It becomes hers as she follows Christ's example and lets His law and gospel shine through goodness, mercy and faithful service, until it is fulfilled in the renewed earth where the New Jerusalem is the radiant metropolis of the glorified home where God dwells with His people and rejoices in them forever.
Crown Image and Addressee
The one spoken of as a crown is Zion and Jerusalem in her restored standing, which is God's people and His church. Jerusalem in this standing is an honored possession belonging to the Lord, made precious and honored by Him like a crown held in His hand. The promise gave hope to those who saw free forgiveness and the coming of righteousness and salvation in Christ's mission, with righteousness and salvation becoming visible so that Gentiles and kings see the glory. This word stands within Isaiah's testimony about Christ, presenting the one addressed as honored before God.
To be a crown of glory and a royal diadem is to be precious, honored, glorious and treasured as God's own possession, belonging to Him and displaying His glory. That restored standing is a public sign of His favor, with former desolation and a forsaken condition replaced by a new name and delight. To be in the hand of the Lord and in the hand of God is to be held securely in His hand under His care, belonging to Him. So held, this royal treasure cannot be seized by Satan, and God's people are perfectly secure from the enemy's subtlety while they trust unwaveringly in God.
At the triumphal entry, Jerusalem with its temple, seen from Olivet and from the crest of Olivet, was a picture of unsurpassed loveliness. The temple of pure white marble gilded by the setting sun appeared as a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord and a royal diadem in the hand of God. That loveliness expressed the glory God designed to rest upon Israel as His chosen nation.
Surrounding Restoration Promise
For Zion's and Jerusalem's sake there is no peace nor rest until her righteousness goes forth as brightness and her salvation burns like a lamp. That shining righteousness and burning salvation is the work Christ accomplishes through those who follow His example and hold fast their confidence firm to the end. It is also the mighty working of the Lord by His Spirit in bringing deliverance to His people. When that deliverance comes, the righteousness, salvation, glory and light become openly visible, so that the Gentiles see the righteousness and all kings see the glory. God's purpose in this is to exalt His name among all nations through Zion and Jerusalem.
God's people in that restored standing are called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord Himself names. That new name belongs together with the shining righteousness and salvation before the nations and with being kept as a crown of glory and royal diadem in the hand of God, giving reason for praise with faith and hope. They are no more termed Forsaken and their land is no more termed Desolate. They are called Hephzibah, meaning delighted-in, and their land is called Beulah, meaning married, because the Lord delights in them and their land is joined to Him in marriage. In this the former forsaken and desolate condition is replaced by honor, value, delight and restoration as a public sign of God's favor and care amid the final work of warning and calling people out of Babylon.
God's Delight and Valuation
The crown pictures the honor and value God gives His people as He delights in them and restores them from desolation, holding restored Zion as precious and honored like a crown of glory and a royal diadem in His hand. Their former forsaken and desolate condition is replaced by a new name, and they are no longer called forsaken or desolate because the Lord delights in them. Their restored standing is a public sign of His favor, with their righteousness and salvation becoming visible so that the nations see it. This is His promised care for His people amid the final work of warning and calling people out of Babylon.
Christ places a different value on His people than the world places, for the world measures a person by money and by house and furniture or by acres of land, while those who obey His commandments are His jewels. He will not hold His peace nor rest until their righteousness goes forth as brightness and their salvation burns like a lamp, until the Gentiles see their righteousness and all kings see their glory, and they are called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord Himself names. God's forgiven people, restored and clothed in righteousness, are precious to Him, and this promise gave hope to those who saw in Christ's mission free forgiveness and the coming of righteousness and salvation. Therefore those who face accusations and discouragement can hold fast their confidence in God.
Their honor comes from belonging to God, and His purpose is to exalt His name among all nations through them, with their righteousness and salvation seen by the Gentiles and by kings. This will be the experience of those who hold fast the beginning of their confidence firm to the end, and the whole chapter pictures the work Christ will do through those who follow His example.
Prophecy and Final Home
In a time of general departure from truth and righteousness, those who build the old waste places, raise up the foundation of many generations, repair the breach, turn from Sabbath-breaking, and call the Sabbath a delight and holy will become a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord and a royal diadem in the hand of God. Their righteousness will go forth as brightness and their salvation as a burning lamp, until the Gentiles see that righteousness and kings see that glory, and they are called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord Himself shall name. They shall no more be termed Forsaken and their land no more termed Desolate, but shall be called Hephzibah and their land Beulah, because the Lord delights in them and their land is married to Him. The promise of honor instead of a forsaken condition is God's care for His people amid the final work of warning and calling people out of Babylon.
Jerusalem might have enjoyed a bright future of prosperity and glory if she had known the time of her visitation and accepted Christ as Redeemer. She would have been healed of her grievous malady and exalted as the metropolis of the world and the favored citadel of truth, with no Roman army at her gates and no Roman yoke upon her shoulders, sending peace forth to all nations of the earth as God's honored diadem. As seen from the crest of Olivet at the triumphal entry, Jerusalem with its temple of pure white marble gilded by the setting sun was a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord and a royal diadem in the hand of God, a picture of unsurpassed loveliness expressing the glory designed to rest upon Israel as the chosen nation. That glory was soon to be removed because the disobedient city would reject its King and God and crucify the Redeemer, have its temple desolated and its house left desolate, and no longer hear the grace that brings salvation. This caused weeping not for self but for those who despised love and rejected mercy.
The verse belongs to the promise of the inheritance of the saved as a real country and home on the renewed earth, where God's people dwell in peace with no hurting or destroying in His holy mountain. There iniquity is forgiven, and there is no more death, tears, sorrow, crying, pain, or sickness. The New Jerusalem, the metropolis of the glorified new earth, is that crown of glory and royal diadem held in God's hand, precious to Him and radiant with His glory. God rejoices and joys in His people and dwells with them as their God, and the light of the city draws the saved nations and earthly kings.
Light to the Nations
The law and the gospel were entrusted to God's people to be presented to the whole world, and their righteousness going forth as brightness and their salvation as a burning lamp is how the work of Christ is pictured through those who follow His example. It is God's purpose to exalt His name among all nations through Zion and Jerusalem, with Gentiles seeing that righteousness and kings seeing that glory. They are called by a new name named by the mouth of the Lord Himself, and are kept as a crown of glory and a royal diadem in the hand of God, honored as precious and glorious in His hand and as His honored possession. This is the promised experience of those who hold fast the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end.
That honor is joined to a life of obedience, self-denial, goodness, mercy, compassion, and faithful service, with righteousness and salvation becoming visible to the nations so that Gentiles and kings see their light. Such fruit of goodness, mercy, and compassion could lead many to glorify God and be converted.
Becoming this crown happens as God's goods are used where help is needed and the vineyard is worked instead of left barren. Laborers are multiplied to one hundred where there is now one, and centralizing in one or two places and multiplying facilities and buildings where there are already too many is abandoned. Believers are spread over a larger surface as working agencies, ministers leave preaching to those who know the truth and go to new and destitute regions to warn those in darkness and ignorance, and means are rightly applied to give the world the last message of mercy. When God's people wake from careless indifference to unceasing activity, they commune with Him to be imbued with His Spirit and take up their neglected work first in their families and then beyond them to bestow received grace on those in need. Darkness has covered the earth and gross darkness the people, with many far from Christ wandering in sin as strangers from the covenant of promise. Then their righteousness goes forth as brightness and their salvation as a burning lamp until Gentiles and kings see it, they are called by a new name named by the Lord, and they are made Jerusalem a praise in the earth as watchmen who never hold their peace and as the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, sought out and not forsaken.
Faithful Life and Service
The promise is the experience of those who hold firm the beginning of their confidence to the end, and it pictures the work Christ will accomplish through those who follow His example. Those who persevere in service to God may, when the earthly struggle is over, receive a glorious reward in heaven described by the royal diadem image. Therefore those facing accusations and discouragement can hold fast their confidence in God, since His forgiven people restored and clothed in righteousness are precious to Him.
Stopping complaining and evil conduct and repenting is connected with the Lord manifesting His power to convict and convert souls. Honor as precious in the Lord's hand comes through true exaltation, which is cherishing the meekness and lowliness of Christ. That character appears when the love of God is a living principle in the heart, so there is no vexing one another, no dissension, no strife, and no hasty speech. The same honor belongs with a life of obedience, self-denial, goodness, mercy, compassion, and faithful service, whose fruit can lead many to glorify God and be converted.
The words may be said of those who act as God's helping hand by waking to do on earth the work Christ did. They let God accomplish His desired work through willing servants so His name is constantly glorified, opening prison doors to those that are bound. They crowd all goodness and love and compassion into the life and thereby obtain a rich experience of God's goodness. This mighty working of the Lord by His Spirit for His people brings sweet solemnity, gratitude, praise and thanksgiving. It is met with faith and hope and with offerings of gratitude so His work may go forward with power.
Thou shalt be a crown of glory means Zion and Jerusalem, God's people and church in her restored standing, are precious, honored and treasured as His own possession displaying His glory, held securely in His care under His hand. For her sake there is no rest until her righteousness shines as brightness and her salvation burns like a lamp before the Gentiles and kings, and she is called by a new name from the Lord's own mouth. She is no more termed forsaken and desolate but delighted-in and married, because the Lord delights in her and joins her land to Himself as a public sign of His favor. That honor comes from belonging to God and being clothed in forgiven righteousness, valued as His jewels by a measure higher than the world's measure of money and lands, to exalt His name among all nations. It becomes hers as she follows Christ's example and lets His law and gospel shine through goodness, mercy and faithful service, until it is fulfilled in the renewed earth where the New Jerusalem is the radiant metropolis of the glorified home where God dwells with His people and rejoices in them forever.
Crown Image and Addressee
The one spoken of as a crown is Zion and Jerusalem in her restored standing, which is God's people and His church. Jerusalem in this standing is an honored possession belonging to the Lord, made precious and honored by Him like a crown held in His hand. The promise gave hope to those who saw free forgiveness and the coming of righteousness and salvation in Christ's mission, with righteousness and salvation becoming visible so that Gentiles and kings see the glory. This word stands within Isaiah's testimony about Christ, presenting the one addressed as honored before God.
To be a crown of glory and a royal diadem is to be precious, honored, glorious and treasured as God's own possession, belonging to Him and displaying His glory. That restored standing is a public sign of His favor, with former desolation and a forsaken condition replaced by a new name and delight. To be in the hand of the Lord and in the hand of God is to be held securely in His hand under His care, belonging to Him. So held, this royal treasure cannot be seized by Satan, and God's people are perfectly secure from the enemy's subtlety while they trust unwaveringly in God.
At the triumphal entry, Jerusalem with its temple, seen from Olivet and from the crest of Olivet, was a picture of unsurpassed loveliness. The temple of pure white marble gilded by the setting sun appeared as a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord and a royal diadem in the hand of God. That loveliness expressed the glory God designed to rest upon Israel as His chosen nation.
Surrounding Restoration Promise
For Zion's and Jerusalem's sake there is no peace nor rest until her righteousness goes forth as brightness and her salvation burns like a lamp. That shining righteousness and burning salvation is the work Christ accomplishes through those who follow His example and hold fast their confidence firm to the end. It is also the mighty working of the Lord by His Spirit in bringing deliverance to His people. When that deliverance comes, the righteousness, salvation, glory and light become openly visible, so that the Gentiles see the righteousness and all kings see the glory. God's purpose in this is to exalt His name among all nations through Zion and Jerusalem.
God's people in that restored standing are called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord Himself names. That new name belongs together with the shining righteousness and salvation before the nations and with being kept as a crown of glory and royal diadem in the hand of God, giving reason for praise with faith and hope. They are no more termed Forsaken and their land is no more termed Desolate. They are called Hephzibah, meaning delighted-in, and their land is called Beulah, meaning married, because the Lord delights in them and their land is joined to Him in marriage. In this the former forsaken and desolate condition is replaced by honor, value, delight and restoration as a public sign of God's favor and care amid the final work of warning and calling people out of Babylon.
God's Delight and Valuation
The crown pictures the honor and value God gives His people as He delights in them and restores them from desolation, holding restored Zion as precious and honored like a crown of glory and a royal diadem in His hand. Their former forsaken and desolate condition is replaced by a new name, and they are no longer called forsaken or desolate because the Lord delights in them. Their restored standing is a public sign of His favor, with their righteousness and salvation becoming visible so that the nations see it. This is His promised care for His people amid the final work of warning and calling people out of Babylon.
Christ places a different value on His people than the world places, for the world measures a person by money and by house and furniture or by acres of land, while those who obey His commandments are His jewels. He will not hold His peace nor rest until their righteousness goes forth as brightness and their salvation burns like a lamp, until the Gentiles see their righteousness and all kings see their glory, and they are called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord Himself names. God's forgiven people, restored and clothed in righteousness, are precious to Him, and this promise gave hope to those who saw in Christ's mission free forgiveness and the coming of righteousness and salvation. Therefore those who face accusations and discouragement can hold fast their confidence in God.
Their honor comes from belonging to God, and His purpose is to exalt His name among all nations through them, with their righteousness and salvation seen by the Gentiles and by kings. This will be the experience of those who hold fast the beginning of their confidence firm to the end, and the whole chapter pictures the work Christ will do through those who follow His example.
Prophecy and Final Home
In a time of general departure from truth and righteousness, those who build the old waste places, raise up the foundation of many generations, repair the breach, turn from Sabbath-breaking, and call the Sabbath a delight and holy will become a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord and a royal diadem in the hand of God. Their righteousness will go forth as brightness and their salvation as a burning lamp, until the Gentiles see that righteousness and kings see that glory, and they are called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord Himself shall name. They shall no more be termed Forsaken and their land no more termed Desolate, but shall be called Hephzibah and their land Beulah, because the Lord delights in them and their land is married to Him. The promise of honor instead of a forsaken condition is God's care for His people amid the final work of warning and calling people out of Babylon.
Jerusalem might have enjoyed a bright future of prosperity and glory if she had known the time of her visitation and accepted Christ as Redeemer. She would have been healed of her grievous malady and exalted as the metropolis of the world and the favored citadel of truth, with no Roman army at her gates and no Roman yoke upon her shoulders, sending peace forth to all nations of the earth as God's honored diadem. As seen from the crest of Olivet at the triumphal entry, Jerusalem with its temple of pure white marble gilded by the setting sun was a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord and a royal diadem in the hand of God, a picture of unsurpassed loveliness expressing the glory designed to rest upon Israel as the chosen nation. That glory was soon to be removed because the disobedient city would reject its King and God and crucify the Redeemer, have its temple desolated and its house left desolate, and no longer hear the grace that brings salvation. This caused weeping not for self but for those who despised love and rejected mercy.
The verse belongs to the promise of the inheritance of the saved as a real country and home on the renewed earth, where God's people dwell in peace with no hurting or destroying in His holy mountain. There iniquity is forgiven, and there is no more death, tears, sorrow, crying, pain, or sickness. The New Jerusalem, the metropolis of the glorified new earth, is that crown of glory and royal diadem held in God's hand, precious to Him and radiant with His glory. God rejoices and joys in His people and dwells with them as their God, and the light of the city draws the saved nations and earthly kings.
Light to the Nations
The law and the gospel were entrusted to God's people to be presented to the whole world, and their righteousness going forth as brightness and their salvation as a burning lamp is how the work of Christ is pictured through those who follow His example. It is God's purpose to exalt His name among all nations through Zion and Jerusalem, with Gentiles seeing that righteousness and kings seeing that glory. They are called by a new name named by the mouth of the Lord Himself, and are kept as a crown of glory and a royal diadem in the hand of God, honored as precious and glorious in His hand and as His honored possession. This is the promised experience of those who hold fast the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end.
That honor is joined to a life of obedience, self-denial, goodness, mercy, compassion, and faithful service, with righteousness and salvation becoming visible to the nations so that Gentiles and kings see their light. Such fruit of goodness, mercy, and compassion could lead many to glorify God and be converted.
Becoming this crown happens as God's goods are used where help is needed and the vineyard is worked instead of left barren. Laborers are multiplied to one hundred where there is now one, and centralizing in one or two places and multiplying facilities and buildings where there are already too many is abandoned. Believers are spread over a larger surface as working agencies, ministers leave preaching to those who know the truth and go to new and destitute regions to warn those in darkness and ignorance, and means are rightly applied to give the world the last message of mercy. When God's people wake from careless indifference to unceasing activity, they commune with Him to be imbued with His Spirit and take up their neglected work first in their families and then beyond them to bestow received grace on those in need. Darkness has covered the earth and gross darkness the people, with many far from Christ wandering in sin as strangers from the covenant of promise. Then their righteousness goes forth as brightness and their salvation as a burning lamp until Gentiles and kings see it, they are called by a new name named by the Lord, and they are made Jerusalem a praise in the earth as watchmen who never hold their peace and as the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, sought out and not forsaken.
Faithful Life and Service
The promise is the experience of those who hold firm the beginning of their confidence to the end, and it pictures the work Christ will accomplish through those who follow His example. Those who persevere in service to God may, when the earthly struggle is over, receive a glorious reward in heaven described by the royal diadem image. Therefore those facing accusations and discouragement can hold fast their confidence in God, since His forgiven people restored and clothed in righteousness are precious to Him.
Stopping complaining and evil conduct and repenting is connected with the Lord manifesting His power to convict and convert souls. Honor as precious in the Lord's hand comes through true exaltation, which is cherishing the meekness and lowliness of Christ. That character appears when the love of God is a living principle in the heart, so there is no vexing one another, no dissension, no strife, and no hasty speech. The same honor belongs with a life of obedience, self-denial, goodness, mercy, compassion, and faithful service, whose fruit can lead many to glorify God and be converted.
The words may be said of those who act as God's helping hand by waking to do on earth the work Christ did. They let God accomplish His desired work through willing servants so His name is constantly glorified, opening prison doors to those that are bound. They crowd all goodness and love and compassion into the life and thereby obtain a rich experience of God's goodness. This mighty working of the Lord by His Spirit for His people brings sweet solemnity, gratitude, praise and thanksgiving. It is met with faith and hope and with offerings of gratitude so His work may go forward with power.