Charles Spurgeon Commentary Isaiah 61:10

"I will greatly rejoice in Jehovah, 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 a garland, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." — Isaiah 61:10 (ASV)

My soul shall be joyful in my God;

What a precious sentence – "My soul shall be joyful in my God."

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,

Brothers and sisters. I wish we could all catch hold of the spirit of this verse that each one of us would now say, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord."

In the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God;

Not only shall my lips be full of joy, but my inmost nature, the very essence of my being, "my soul shall be joyful in my God." "In my God." That is a stage higher than saying, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord." We do greatly rejoice in the Lord, but our very soul is joyful when we can each one call him, "my God." That is a possession that the richest among you may well envy if you do not have it.

For he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

The loveliest sight in the world is one of God's people. We sometimes sing, and sadly sing, concerning this earth:

"Every prospect Pleases,
And only man is vile";

But there is another side to that picture, for when the "man" is a true child of God, we can say:

"Though every prospect pleases,
Yet man outshines them all";

Well did the psalmist sing, You have made him a little lower than the angels, and have crowned him with glory and honour.

Angels do homage to the renewed man, for the promise is, They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You who are children of God need not wish to change places even with an archangel, for you are brother to him who sits upon the throne of God; you wear a nature that is akin to that of the Only-begotten, indeed, it is the self-same nature as his. Glory, then, in this great truth: that you are covered with the robe of righteousness, decked with ornaments, like a bridegroom, and adorned with jewels, like a bride.

For he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

On those festive occasions, people in Eastern cultures typically use all the wealth they have for decoration. The bridegroom decks himself with a crown—he puts on a tiara. He is a king for the day. And the bride herself brings out all the many jewels with which Eastern women adorn themselves.

Now all this, in a high spiritual sense, we find in Christ. He is not merely a covering for us, but also ornament and beauty, adornment, exaltation, glory, and honor.

I cannot tell you how beautiful a child of God looks in Christ, but I believe that, next to his dear Son, the most engaging sight to the divine Father is any one of his dear Children whom he sees in Christ. You know, we all think our children are lovely, and God knows his children to be so when he has covered them with the robe of righteousness and clothed them with the garments of salvation.