Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decked himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
Yesterday afternoon in my house I heard this squeal just off of our kitchen. I looked through the doorway to the dining room to see my wife with one shoe on and one shoe off. The squeal was a squeal of delight. She had new “glass slippers.” Not actually, but it was kind of like Cinderella’s glass slippers, beautiful shoes that she had just received in the mail for a wedding we having coming up in the family.
Now, have you ever gone to a wedding or some other function where somehow you were underdressed and you were embarrassed, maybe even ashamed, that you were not up to code? Clothing is important, and it has been since the very beginning of time. We find this in Genesis 1.
In Isaiah 61:10 the prophet says, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.” So, if you have ever had the feeling of being underdressed, that is what is addressed in Isaiah 61:10. The Bible says that “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD.” Why? It is because He has clothed me and covered me.
Sometimes we say clothes make the man, but when it comes to our standing before God, sometimes man makes the clothes. He tries to cover his sin, cover himself with his own righteousness, his own good works, and the problem with that is it is never enough. We are never good enough for God. Only God’s own righteousness is sufficient for Heaven. So, when God clothes us, we are covered. When you put your faith in the Lord’s Jesus, you come to God God’s way and He covers you, clothes you. He covers your sins. The text says, “He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation.”
Now back at the beginning of time, when Adam and Eve realized that they were uncovered and in need, they tried to clothe themselves with fig leaves they had sewed together. It was woefully inadequate even when there were only two people on the earth. God Himself clothed Adam and Eve, and God wants to clothe you with His righteousness. The only righteousness that God is not duty bound to reject as inferior is His own. The only way you can have God’s righteousness is to come to God God’s way through faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus, Who is pointed to in the first verses of Isaiah 61. Jesus Christ quoted those verses and applied them to Himself.
So, when God clothes us, we are covered and adequate. We are at peace with God, not because of our work but because of Christ’s. That provides two things for us. First, it gives us a new prospect. I was talking with a friend last week in South Dakota about his testimony, about how he used to make fun of people who loved the Lord. Then he came to a point when he realized his need and he trusted Christ. Long story short, it has made all the difference. There has been a complete change in his life and that change began not with what he does but with what Christ has done when He died on the cross for our sins.
Israel, in the immediate context of Isaiah 61, had been in slavery and lived in shame, but in Isaiah 60 the Bible prophesies of a time when there would be glory. “The Gentiles shall come to thy [Israel’s] light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” So, there is a glory that comes not through our own works, but through the works of God, specifically through the work of Christ. So, there is a new prospect. How wonderful when someone goes from darkness to light, from shame to glory, from their own works to Christ’s!
Second, when God clothes us, we are covered and that gives us a new outlook: joy. “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful.” That is joy-filled. In verse 3 the Bible mentions the “garment of praise.” So, when we have the garment of salvation, the garment which comes from the robe of righteousness that is put on us when our sins are covered by the work of Christ, then we put on the garment of praise.
Verse 11 says, “So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.” The praise comes because of the righteousness, the righteousness comes because of the work of God, and the work of God is appropriated by those who put their faith and trust in God through His Son Jesus Christ.
So, if you have ever tried to be sufficient for God, Heaven, and eternity, in honesty you must admit, “I am not enough.” If you have ever been inadequately clothed, you know how shameful that can be. But when God clothes a person, puts His salvation and righteousness on such a person, he is covered. That is a reason to rejoice and have peace.