"Their Faces Shall never be Ashamed"

Again Welch turns us to the book of Isaiah 54:1-5 and Psalm 34:1-8.

Up to this point Welch has been encouraging us to have hope, allowing it to take root in our hearts.  He describes hope as "steely confidence that God is in this story of shame and He is up to something good." (p.97)  Like Isaiah we might not understand all the details yet but through getting to know God's character that's enough for us right now.  We know God truly loves those who are the underdog!  That's why we continue to look at Isaiah even as he prophesies of some very hard things to come.  The good thing about that is, on the other side of the hard, dark things there is light through the Servant King Jesus.  A Servant who would be despised and rejected but somehow through all that He would take on all our shameful acts and every bit of shame done against us.  The Servant would identify with us and call us to identify with Him. (p. 98).

"Sing, O barren one" (Is 54:1).  Welch tells us that when we think of the most shameful thing that could happen today, we think of sexual abuse.  This compares with the same level of shamefulness in the OT as being barren.  Being barren was so noticeable, so public, your family line would not continue....  Yet these words of Isaiah show that something the Servant King did, made the barren one sing, her joy comes bursting out of her!!  She is honoured among her people instead of shunned.  What would that look like today?  Can we imagine something happening so that our shame is gone and the opposite -- honour, glory, renown happens?

"Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced"  (Is 54:4).  The shame that has stubbornly stuck to our hearts, Isaiah tells us will be gone.  When God says "Fear not", we can positive that He is doing something.  It may be hard but let's just LISTEN to these words, just stop and LISTEN, HOPE!

"For your Maker is your husband"  (Is 54:5).  Welch reminds us that shame usually works with associations and this is a key point here.  We can feel shame because of our connections to something/someone shameful, but we can also feel shame when we have no connections.  God built in us this need for attachment and when we feel we are not invited into anyone's presence, this brings great shame.  We are identified with nothing and this is a great curse.  Nothing is bad and we may feel like we are worth nothing in poverty, if we are orphans/adopted, if we are rich because we identify ourselves with money which really is nothing, or when we attach ourselves to some other idol because idols are really nothing.  In this passage of Isaiah Israel was nothing, until they were identified with God, the Lord Almighty, the King, the Holy One.  Because Israel became His bride, He chose her, Israel became glorious!  Welch tells us that "The cure for shame will always be found in how we become connected to God." (p. 103)

"Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed."  (Ps 34:5)  Imagine a wedding ceremony, the moment when the bride and groom face each other, deeply connected, eyes only for each other.  Welch tells us that this is similar to what happens when Our King turns His face toward us.  He is committed to us and change will happen.  The worst curse is found in Psalm 27:9 when God turns His face away from us, and the greatest blessing is heard every Sunday in the worship service (Num 6:24-25) when the LORD makes His face to shine upon us.  In response we look to His face, turning away from emptiness and nothing.  We might think we're still not good enough to turn and face God, we have to clean up our act a bit first, shame is still pulling us away from God, but Welch pushes us to TURN TO HIM deliberately, perhaps talking to someone to help you, to pray for and with you, to point you in the right direction.

Ever thought married couples start to look like each other, the longer they stay together, the more deeply they know each other?  The same happens with God.  The closer we are to Him, the longer we spend time with Him, the more we look like Him.  Remember Moses (Ex 34:29) and then look at Paul's words in 2 Cor 3:18.  In His Grace, God turns to us and we in response begin to reflect His beauty.  It won't take long and people will start to see it too.  Welch welcomes us to shame's opposite and encourages us to turn and find acceptance, honour, worth, even glory.

In his next chapters Welch wants us to discover the identity of the despised and rejected Servant, who is the Author of all those benefits.