Read: Isaiah 53:1-12
The punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. (v. 5 NIV)
Presbyterian minister Horatio Spafford wrote his own testimony, the famous hymn “It Is Well with My Soul,” while his ship crossed the same ocean waters where his four young daughters had tragically died just a few weeks earlier in a transatlantic voyage accident. The very worst had happened, yet in the midst of deepest sorrow, this man testified to “peace like a river” attending his way. He likely had no way of knowing how profoundly his testimony would bless millions of believers in Jesus down through the ages.
The song-like verses of Isaiah 53 also feel like a testimony, one that sings of both great sorrow yet great peace. In hindsight, the words of Isaiah’s prophecy center us on the peace that comes from the person of Jesus Christ. He alone “took up our pain and bore our suffering . . . he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (vv. 4-5 NIV). For many of us, this peace and healing from deepest sorrow can take a lifetime, and some wounds won’t fully heal until we see Jesus face to face. But healing will come. And the precious blood of the Lamb assures us of peace with God (John 1:29). This opens the way for us to sing (in God’s good time), our own testimony: “Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.”
As you pray, ask God to pour out his river-like peace to attend your way today.
Linda R. Rubingh is a parent, pastor, therapist, and writer with a passion for sharing the gospel with youth nationally and internationally. She is the co-founder with her husband, Trevor, of New City Kids, and more recently New City Networks, and is completing her first children’s book, I Love to Tell the Story: Stories of Meeting Jesus from Every Nation, Tribe and Tongue. Linda is a New Jersey native but now lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
