Making God’s Deeds Known

Isaiah 12:4-5

Rev. Juvenal Cervantes, Pastor
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Greeley, Colorado
November 21, 2021

“Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.”

Isaiah 12:4

I enjoy reading the story behind the hymns that we sing. B.B. McKinney wrote 149 hymns and gospel songs including “Wherever He Leads I’ll Go”, “Speak to My Heart”, “The Nail Scarred Hand”, “Breathe on Me”, “Neath the Old Olive Trees” and “Have Faith in God” and “Let Others See Jesus in Me.”

McKinney was born in the late 1800’s. He attended Louisiana College and then Southwestern Seminary. He served a few months in World War II. He was pastor of Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth and was also professor of Sacred Music at Southwestern Seminary.

In the 1950’s he led the song “Let Others See Jesus in You” at a gathering of over 10,000 people. After singing he said, “Make sure you mean what you sing.”

The lyrics to the song:

While passing thro' this world of sin,
and others your life shall view.
Be clean and pure without, within;
Let others see Jesus in you.
Let others see Jesus in you,
Let others see Jesus in you.

Keep telling the story, be faithful and true;
Let others see Jesus in you.

Your life's a book before their eyes,
They're reading it thro' and thro'
Say, does it point them to the skis,
Do others see Jesus in you?
Let others see Jesus in you,
Let others see Jesus in you.

Keep telling the story, be faithful and true;
Let others see Jesus in you.

Then live for Christ both day and night,
Be faithful, be brave and true,
and lead the lost to life and Christ.
Let others see Jesus in you.
Let others see Jesus in you,
Let others see Jesus in you.

Keep telling the story, be faithful and true;
Let others see Jesus in you.

While passing thro' this world of sin,
and others your life shall view.
Be clean and pure without, within;
Let others see Jesus in you.
Let others see Jesus in you,
Let others see Jesus in you.

Keep telling the story, be faithful and true;
Let others see Jesus in you.

As I ponder on today’s scripture I thought of this song because both succinctly compliment the idea that our worship of God is a witness unto all.

Isaiah urges us to pause and give thanks. The Enduring Word Commentary says of this chapter, “This brief chapter of praise comes from the heart of the one that has surrendered to the Messiah as king and enjoys the benefits of His reign.”

Let’s look at these verses in their context.

Verse 1: “I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.”

Here we see that the Lord has poured out His wrath and anger upon the people because of their disobedience and following after other gods. When Jesus died on the cross, He took this wrath and anger upon Himself. On this side of the cross we still feel the consequences of God’s discipline. It isn’t pleasant and often makes you feel like God is angry at you. But really, He is discipling you out of love and not hatred. Consider the fact in this verse that the worshiper is choosing to praise the Lord even though he is feeling the wrath/anger of God against him. We can sometimes choose to be thankful even when it feels impossible or hard to do.

Verse 2: “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

We can be thankful for what God has done for us at the cross. That through salvation we can be saved and live a life with the Lord by our side and then with Him in eternity. Through this salvation we can be thankful for the security we have in Him and the strength we get from Him.

Verse 3: “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”

We can thank the Lord for giving us an ever-ending supply of living water.

Verse 4: “And you will say in that day: ‘Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.'”

I love this one because here we have the worshiper being so filled with the joy of the Lord that it is literally overflowing. We can be thankful that we have opportunities to share the Lord with others but to also worship Him in corporate worship.

Verse 5: “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.”

We can be thankful that the Lord gives us a voice to reach others.

Verse 6: “Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

I love this last one because it gives us the very reason why we are to praise the Lord and be thankful to Him. We praise Him because of Who He is and because He is with us.

Today, and every day all of us can take the time to praise and thank the Lord. After all, there is so much we can be thankful for.

Let us praise the Lord for all He has done for us today. To call upon His name as we remember how He has loved us and taken care of us through the good times, the bad times and the confusing time.

We really mean what we sing when we make a faith promise to the Lord as we are doing today. We are saying to the Lord, “As you provide for me, I will remember you by giving you a portion of my gifts.”

May God bless you and me as we witness to others through our worship and our gifts to God.