What beautiful images of peace and freedom! God will bring new life to the stump of David. Just as he promised in 2 Samuel 7, a descendant of David will rule forever. The Messiah will come and bring justice and salvation.
If you’ve ever watched new branches sprout from a tree, you know the beauty of seeing life continue, expand, and grow. This new Branch will be so much more fruitful than any branch ever before. This Branch is our promised king, and he will be the fair judge we long for today.
We know that our salvation does not come from anything we do, but what God does. But that doesn’t mean that we’re never rewarded for our behavior this side of heaven. The poetry of David’s song here calls that out!
“The Lord rewarded me for doing right; he restored me because of my innocence.” Despite the human failings we’ve seen David experience, he has sought after God and God’s will for his life. Seeing his own weakness and sinfulness helps us come to grips with our own. God will use even us, imperfect and all!
What a great vision of being rescued by God the Father on high! I had to read it a couple times just to soak in all the great beauty of God’s intentions for David, His people, and for us. While this is part of David’s song, this same God rescues us on a regular basis. How do we respond to that grace and mercy?
For David, his gift of song and music was his go-to response. This vision starts with seeing an angry God who is coming to earth. The symbolic language refers to a bold and public display of God’s power.
David’s poetry calls it out beautifully. This poem is another piece or feature of these concluding chapters. It’s hard to say when it was written, but it certainly honors God. Fun fact: much of this song is also found in Psalm 18.
Who does David see the Lord to be? What wonderful images David gives us of the Lord being his rock of protection, fortress, savior, shield, place of safety, refuge, and warrior. Let’s take a look at a few of these for our own purposes. When we think of God’s glory and awesomeness, which of these descriptors fit for you? For me, I most resonate with savior, refuge, and warrior.
There are so many beautiful images of peace in today’s reading. Did you have a favorite? Again, Isaiah’s prophecy is pointing toward the Messiah. “Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.” The “Branch” will be Jesus fulfilling the promise that our eternal king is from the line of David.
While our text translation doesn’t say “Jesse” directly, Jesse was David’s father, and I have seen other references to the stump of Jesse. In fact, when I was Children’s Ministry Director, we had a family event during Advent called “Jesse’s Tree.” It was designed for families to set aside intentional time during Advent (the preparation before Christmas in our tradition) to decorate a small tree with ornaments. Each ornament was chosen to tell a part of God’s story. This included prophecies of Jesus as well as symbols of the birth like a star, a shepherd, etc. There was a devotional guide that families would use as they placed each ornament on the tree. It was great fun setting up for the event, and then using the tokens to help prepare our hearts for Christmas each year thereafter.
The New Branch (Isaiah 11:1-10)” 
