6 On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen;
All day and all night they will never keep silent.
You who remind the Lord, take no rest for yourselves;
7 And give Him no rest until He establishes
And makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
8 The Lord has sworn by His right hand and by His strong arm,
“I will never again give your grain as food for your enemies;
Nor will [g]foreigners drink your new wine for which you have labored.”
9 But those who garner it will eat it and praise the Lord;
And those who gather it will drink it in the courts of My sanctuary.10 Go through, go through the gates,
Clear the way [h]for the people;
Build up, build up the highway,
Remove the stones, lift up a standard over the peoples.
11 Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth,
Say to the daughter of Zion, “Lo, your salvation comes;
Behold His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.”
12 And they will call them, “The holy people,
The redeemed of the Lord”;
And you will be called, “Sought out, a city not forsaken.”
It’s a funny thing, these “watchmen”, who never keep silent. But what are they yelling about? Normally, one would think watchmen are to watch out for threats from outside a city or encampment. Yet here they are called upon to remind the Lord? Huh, what does He need reminding for?
Well, I don’t think God really does need reminding, but it’s also interesting that they are to take no rest, and also give God no rest. Again, I don’t think God is going to forget what He promised, that He would establish Jerusalem, and provide food and drink for His people, that He would bring salvation–and recompense.
But we sure do! How many times do we forget about God? We can even get so busy in doing good works, that we forget for Whom we do them. So we should also make ourselves reminders, to spend time in His word, and to listen for God’s voice. In our fast-paced society, it’s difficult to just sit, and wait, and see if/what God has to say.
But we need that, and we need Him, every hour of every day. In the words of the old song, He is our one defense, and our righteousness. Without Him, we cannot be the “holy people” of this passage. So take time today, take a break from the busyness, and just wait on God. Just wait.