Isaiah 61:2b-3
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Isaiah 61:1-3
If you are a follower of Jesus, he came to make a trade with you. He left heaven and came to earth to trade you:
- beauty for ashes
- joy for mourning
- praise for despair
Those seem like a pretty good trade to me! You want my ashes, my mourning and my despair and you want to give me beauty, joy and a garment of praise? Done. You can have it all! That’s the beauty of God’s grace – He gives us something for nothing. We deserve death, but He gives us life.
So what exactly is a garment of praise? Is our world around us going to fall on their knees and give us praise? As much as we would wish that to happen, that’s not it.
A garment of praise is best seen as the opposite of wearing sackcloth. It’s was a Jewish custom to wear sackcloth during a time of grief or mourning. It could also be worn as a sign of submission. For example, Mordecai donned sackcloth and ashes when he heard of the impending destruction coming for the Jews:
“When Mordecai learned all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and wailed loudly and bitterly. He went as far as the king’s gate, for no one was to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. In each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes” (Esther 4:1-3).
Thus, a garment of praise is the opposite of sackcloth. It represents gladness and thanksgiving towards God for what He has done or what He will do. Jesus came to take away our sackcloth and replace it with a garment of praise. And our response for the blessings God has given us will be to praise God. Paul emphasized that as Christ-followers, our response should be a spirit of thanksgiving and outright songs of praise:
“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ” (Eph 5:18-21).
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:4-7).
“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col 3:15-16).
Jesus brought us forgiveness from God and freedom from sin. As followers of Jesus, our response should be a spirit of thankfulness that permeates everything we do. So much so that we can’t help but sing praises to the Lord for all He has done for us.
“Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord while I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being” (Ps 146:1-2).
Christ in the Old Testament 
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