What is a garment of praise (Isaiah 61:3)?

Have you noticed the true meaning of the word translated "beauty" in that beautiful passage in Isaiah 61:3? — "To appoint to them that mourn in Zion, to give to them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness," with the end in view "that He might be glorified." The word is only translated beauty in this our passage, but it is not the only time that it occurs in the Old Testament. It is the word that stands for "the goodly bonnets" of fine linen that were made for Aaron and his sons (Ex. 39:28), and for the "linen bonnets" that the priests of the Lord will wear in the millennial temple (Ezek. 44:18). It occurs in this same sixty-first of Isaiah, verse 10, "as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments." It is really a priestly turban, a joyous and beautiful ornament for the head. As we see this the meaning of the passage dawns upon us. Such is the grace of our God, such the exceeding riches of His grace, that He lifts us from the ashes of our repentance for sin and places us in priestly nearness to Himself. He removes the burden of sins that bowed us in the dust, and raises our heads with joy in HIS presence. We can sing a song of praise to "Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to God and His Father, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." Nothing could be more wonderful than this: our blessing lies in being brought nigh to God and set in priestly relationship with Himself. We have been given access to Him, we have boldness to enter into His very presence now, we, whose place was once in sackcloth and ashes, and it is, as our verse tells us, that He might be glorified. "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth God," and the priests' privilege is to offer praise.

The whole passage bears this out. Our heads are anointed with the oil of joy, and the garment of praise has taken the place of our sackcloth and rags. What a covering is this to have. And thus we stand before our God, accepted in the Beloved, to praise Him and bring forth fruit for His delight — the trees of righteousness planted by the Lord.

Have you noticed the true meaning of the word translated “beauty” in that beautiful passage in Isaiah 61:3?—“To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness,” with the end in view “that He might be glorified.” The word is only translated beauty in this our passage, but it is not the only time that it occurs in the Old Testament. It is the word that stands for “the goodly bonnets” of fine linen that were made for Aaron and his sons (Ex. 39:28), and for the “linen bonnets” that the priests of the Lord will wear in the millennial temple (Ezek. 44:18). It occurs in this same sixty-first of Isaiah, verse 10, “as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments .” It is really a priestly turban, a joyous and beautiful ornament for the head. As we see this the meaning of the passage dawns upon us. Such is the grace of our God, such the exceeding riches of His grace, that He lifts us from the ashes of our repentance for sin and places us in priestly nearness to Himself. He removes the burden of sins that bowed us in the dust, and raises our heads with joy in HIS presence. We can sing a song of praise to “Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” Nothing could be more wonderful than this: our blessing lies in being brought nigh to God and set in priestly relationship with Himself. We have been given access to Him, we have boldness to enter into His very presence now, we, whose place was once in sackcloth and ashes, and it is, as our verse tells us, that He might be glorified. “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth God,” and the priests' privilege is to offer praise.

The whole passage bears this out. Our heads are anointed with the oil of joy, and the garment of praise has taken the place of our sackcloth and rags. What a covering is this to have. And thus we stand before our God, accepted in the Beloved, to praise Him and bring forth fruit for His delight—the trees of righteousness planted by the Lord.

Verse 3 shows us what comfort it will bring such. Their previous state is described by the words, "ashes," "mourning," "the spirit of heaviness." All will be changed for them. They will have "beauty," "the oil of joy," and "the garment of praise. "They will be planted as "trees of righteousness," the trees of lawlessness and evil having been cut down, and in all this, and in them, the Lord will be glorified.

This forms the beginning of a section (Isa. 61 — Isa. 63:1-6) which embraces Jehovah-Messiah in His first advent as well as His second for the blessing and glory of Israel and the destruction of their enemies. We have the Lord's own warrant in Luke 4 for declaring that the early portion He read applies to His then presence in grace here below. It has been often and justly observed how He stopped after the first clause of verse 2, closing the book, and in due time saying, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. He cites what portrays His character as it was (or about to be) displayed on earth at that time in ways of divine mercy, but forbears even to finish the sentence where the part following alludes to His exercise of judicial wrath. Such was in no way the object of His first coming; and so, if strangely in appearance, with divine wisdom He read no more. "The day of vengeance of our God" awaits the epoch of His appearing in power and glory. "The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah [is] upon me, because Jehovah has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and opening of the prison to the bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of Jehovah, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint to them that mourn in Zion, that beauty be given them instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness" (vv. 1-3).

The richest mercy will then indeed be the spring of God's way with Israel. For Jehovah, while He executes earthly judgement, will comfort those that mourn, especially mourners in Zion, giving them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, "that they might be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, that he might be glorified. And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and aliens' sons [shall be] your ploughmen and your vine dressers. But ye shall be named Priests of Jehovah: they shall call you Ministers of our God. Ye shall eat the wealth of the nations, and into their glory shall ye enter. Instead of your shame [ye shall have] double; [instead of] confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double; everlasting joy shall be to them. For I Jehovah love judgement, I hate robbery with iniquity; and I will give their recompense in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they [are] a seed Jehovah has blessed" (vv. 3-9). Restoration of past decayed places shall go forward; strangers shall serve Israel, who shall themselves be called priests of Jehovah. For their shame they should have not merely reinstatement of what had lapsed but double, like Job; and Jehovah, Who as fully loves judgement as He hates robbery with wrong, will make an everlasting covenant with them; so that all who see them will acknowledge that they are indeed the blessed of Jehovah.

It is characteristic of God's ways at all times with those whom He is about to bless abundantly. The fruits of sin are allowed to ripen; then when all is apparently lost, God appears and gives beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. How astonishingly all this will be the experience of Israel when re-established in the land! David's kingdom with all its renown is but a shadow of the future kingdom under Messiah, the Son of David. From every tongue shall be heard in praise to Him the words already prepared for them. "Blessed be the LORD for evermore. Amen and Amen."

But further. Our Lord adds to this parable the Divine statute, that "every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." On two other occasions our Lord put forth the same solemn declaration; but both were in reference to seeking honour and distinction among men. Here, however, He sets it before His hearers as a doctrine of eternal importance. Every one that exalteth himself, by professing to stand on the ground of carnal confidence, self-righteousness, and self-importance, can only be judged by God as worthy of eternal banishment from His presence. To stand before God without the wedding garment, without that spotless and infinitely perfect righteousness that Christ is to every one that believeth, is to be exposed to the just indignation of the King of kings, who must abase such, and whose sentence must be, "Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." How deep, how eternally full of bitter anguish will that abasing be! On the other hand, "He that humbleth himself shall be exalted." Such do not contend for their own opinion about the things of God; they boast not of their own abilities or attainments; they believe that "God is greater than man;" they lay aside their own thoughts; they give God His due place; they incline their ear to Him, and hearken to His word. Taught by His Spirit, and enlightened by the word of truth, they acknowledge that all their righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and confess that they are unclean and undone. Such God will exalt; for "He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory." In this present life, they receive a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, and the oil of joy for mourning; they are consciously exalted from the degraded gratifications of carnal lusts to the enjoyment of fellowship with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ; even now they are exalted from the slavery of Satan's bondage to liberty and sonship in the presence of God; and when the Lord Jesus shall come again, while many are left behind for His terribly abasing judgments, they shall be exalted to share His throne of glory. They shall see His face, be like Him, and share His glory for ever. How high, how holy, how perfect, and unchangeably happy will this exaltation be!

Mr. Hyde used to say that when he noticed few souls being led to Christ he always found it was due to his lack of a spirit of praise. He would then confess his sin, ask pardon, and take the Garment of Praise for the spirit of heaviness. His experience then invariably was that Christ would again draw souls to Himself through him. No fisher can possibly throw his line lightly when he is dull and sad. It is the joyous one who generally wins souls to Christ.*

Our Scripture continues, "To comfort all that mourn."

We pass over the unfulfilled word and come to this which brings us to resurrection; How sad was Mary of Magdala when she cried, "They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him." How sad were those two that walked to Emmaus when Jesus joined them in their journey. How sad was Simon Peter, who had denied his Lord with oaths and curses. They were mourners every one until they saw the Lord, but what comfort and joy came to them when they beheld Him again in resurrection, and so may we rejoice that, "now is Christ risen from the dead." The gospel we have believed is the gospel of the risen Lord, and this means everything to us. We rejoice and are glad because of the grace that the coming of our Lord brought into this world. We like to be assured that He is sufficient for all our needs, that He is ever at hand to succour us in every time of trouble, and we could not do without this, life would scarcely be bearable without it, nor does God intend that it should be, but there is another side of the truth. The coming of the Lord had a great purpose in view, and the lifting of our burdens, and the binding up of our broken hearts, and the preaching of good tidings to us, are all the means by which this purpose is realized. Our Scripture reveals what that purpose is: "To give to them beauty for ashes, the oil of gladness for mourning, the garment of praise for heaviness."

Our Scripture continues, "To comfort all that mourn .”

We pass over the unfulfilled word and come to this which brings us to resurrection; How sad was Mary of Magdala when she cried, “They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him.” How sad were those two that walked to Emmaus when Jesus joined them in their journey. How sad was Simon Peter, who had denied his Lord with oaths and curses. They were mourners every one until they saw the Lord, but what comfort and joy came to them when they beheld Him again in resurrection, and so may we rejoice that, “now is Christ risen from the dead.” The gospel we have believed is the gospel of the risen Lord, and this means everything to us. We rejoice and are glad because of the grace that the coming of our Lord brought into this world. We like to be assured that He is sufficient for all our needs, that He is ever at hand to succour us in every time of trouble, and we could not do without this, life would scarcely be bearable without it, nor does God intend that it should be, but there is another side of the truth. The coming of the Lord had a great purpose in view, and the lifting of our burdens, and the binding up of our broken hearts, and the preaching of good tidings to us, are all the means by which this purpose is realized. Our Scripture reveals what that purpose is: "To give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of gladness for mourning, the garment of praise for heaviness .”

It is thus patent that in the deepest and keenest of the sorrows of the human heart; there were none to sympathize, none to cheer, had not Christ been sent "to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Isa. 61:2-3).