Isaiah 65:19, commentary and pictures

God will rejoice in Jerusalem and delight in His people, and they will rejoice together with Him there. In that city the sound of weeping and crying will never be heard again, for sorrow, distress and mourning come to a final end. This belongs not to the present sin-cursed earth nor to the conversion of the whole world in this age, but to the restored earth as the new earth with New Jerusalem as its glorious capital where God dwells with the redeemed. There God lives with His people forever, wipes away every tear, and removes death, sorrow, crying, pain, sickness and mourning, because forgiven inhabitants dwell in the atmosphere of heaven. His delight is known even now in those who trust Him fully, serve with a whole heart and reflect His character, whom He clothes in righteousness and presents faultless before His throne.

Joy in New Jerusalem

God will rejoice in Jerusalem and take delight and joy in His people, and they will rejoice there together with Him in lasting joy and freedom from sorrow. The voice of weeping and crying will no more be heard in her, and in the eternal inheritance sorrow, distress, and mourning will end forever, with joy replacing weeping and crying. This promise does not prove the conversion of the entire world in this age, for it describes not this mortal state upon the old sin-cursed earth but the earth restored as the new earth. The end of weeping and crying in Jerusalem belongs to that restored earth, when beasts are restored from the effects of the curse and are no more out of their proper places than when created before the fall.

It is fulfilled in the New Jerusalem as the metropolis and capital city and crown of glory of the glorified new earth, where God dwells with the redeemed as their God and His tabernacle is with men in the holy city. When the holy city appears in divine glory bright as crystal, God lives with His people forever, wipes away all tears, and there is no more death, sorrow, crying, pain, sickness, funeral trains, or badges of mourning. Pain cannot exist in the atmosphere of heaven, and the inhabitants are forgiven their iniquity. It portrays the redeemed after their long pilgrimage and wandering, delivered from and triumphing over sin and death, dwelling in God's city free from sin and every mark of the curse in free fellowship with God as at the beginning. Their home is peaceful plains with living streams and mountains where nothing harms or destroys in all God's holy mountain and wild animals dwell gently with tame animals so that a little child can lead them.

It describes the kingdom of Christ, whose government is like no earthly government, as a court where holy love presides and whose offices and appointments are graced by charity. Its servants bring pity and lovingkindness into all their work and find happiness and satisfaction in reflecting the divine love and tender compassion on all with whom they associate. It promises God's children, including children and youth, a future inheritance in place of a present earthly possession blighted by sin, pain, and sickness, where the righteous inherit the land and dwell therein forever, suffering and sorrow and sin have ended, and the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick. That inheritance comes soon, when rightly trained youth carry the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Saviour to the whole world.

Delight Proved in Faithfulness

The verse reveals paternal love and delight toward those who hold fast their confidence and faith and trust in mercy without departing from righteousness, even while standing amid moral darkness and corruption. The closest bond exists between God and such a people, who are more than objects of sparing mercy and pardoning love, for He rejoices over them, delights in them, and becomes their surety. He beautifies all who serve Him with a whole heart and do His will with the spirit of holiness, clothes them with His righteousness, and loves those who express His image and reflect His character. All who are true and faithful are conformed to the image of His Son, standing without guile in the mouth and without fault before the throne of God.

As part of Isaiah 60-65 the verse must be studied, heeded, and accepted by leaders in the cause and those connected with institutions. Taken with Isaiah 60 it brings understanding of Isaiah 60-61 and makes Isaiah 62-65 speak in a most decided manner. To take its words is to accept reproof, make thorough consecration to God, stop all complaining and every evil work, put away evil, repent and be converted, and warn the people what is truth by giving unwarned souls the reasons of faith. When this is done the Lord manifests His power in the conviction and conversion of souls, and He delights in Jerusalem with His people while sorrow is removed. To disregard its reproof and neglect this duty to warn brings the judgment of the Lord.

Its promise of rejoicing in Jerusalem and joy in His people, with weeping and crying heard no more, is proved true when His church refuses to remain obscure and lets its light shine forth so the world receives it. That proving comes when those capable of standing in positions of responsibility do not confine talent and influence to one institution or to their own people. Leading physicians and every head of an institution are under sacred obligation not to limit their work to its compass but to carry a decided and determined influence for righteousness and truth to unbelievers outside. They are to make themselves known where opportunity offers, give the light to all they can reach, follow Christ's methods of labor, practice the teachings of His word, and show forth present truth in increasingly bright rays in every place.