The Lord uses the illustration of intimate relationships describing how He loves us.

Read Isaiah 62:3-12 slowly and prayerfully.

3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
4 You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married.
5 For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
6 On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest,
7 and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.
8 The Lord has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: “I will not again give your grain to be food for your enemies, and foreigners shall not drink your wine for which you have labored;
9 but those who garner it shall eat it and praise the Lord, and those who gather it shall drink it in the courts of my sanctuary. ”
10 Go through, go through the gates; prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway; clear it of stones; lift up a signal over the peoples.
11 Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. ”
12 And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken. (ESV)


1. How does God express His affection (verses 3 and 5)?

2. How are past relationships described (verse 4)?

3. How does God prepare for receiving His people (verses 6-10)?

4. What does God call His people (verses 11-12)?

5. What one phrase from this passage will you think about throughout today?