Verse 1 says, “LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name.” What a beautiful song. Isaiah 24 talks about the　whole plan of God’s salvation. In other words, at the end of the world, the Lord will judge the world. “The LORD is going to lay waste the earth.” (24:1) He is going to turn the world upside down. Disastorism will occur. Only a few people will be left. When the Lord becomes king on the Mount of Zion, in Jerusalem, the remnant will spend 1,000 years on this earth during the Lord’s reign. When Isaiah saw this scene, words of praise gushed out.
Truly praises are the words of heaven. Heaven is like this overflowing with praises and thankfulness. There are no words that aren’t praises. In others words. There are no words of discontentment, dissatisfaction, complaining, jealousy, hatred, anger, or resentment. They are not words of heaven. They are words of the world. In heaven there is no one who says words of discontentment or dissatisfaction. There is no one who complains. That is because such words belong to the world. In heaven everyone utters only words of praise. Therefore, praises are the words of heaven. I think they could be said to be heaven’s language. We, as God’s people, must speak as the citizens of heaven, the words of heaven. Our lips must be full of praise and thankfulness. Today let’s look at three things about praises.

I. God is faithful (Vs. 1-5)
The first thing is that we praise God because God is faithful. Please look at verses 1 and 2.
Here it says, “in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.”(1) This word, “faithfulness” (1) can also be translated as truthful. God is faithful so God is truthful and so we praise God for it. God has “done wonderful things” (1) and has led history since “long ago”. (1) For example, when Israel was captive in Egypt, God by his mighty works brought them out of Egypt. Also when they were captive to Babylon and had been a dispersed people for 70 years, God raised up a pagan Persian King and through the King they were able to return to Jerusalem. God has “done wonderful things, things planned long ago.”(1) This is the reason that we praise God. How much are you experiencing the truthfulness of God? The more we experience the truthfulness of God, the faithfulness of God; we will be full of praise for God.
That’s not all. Please look at verses 4 and 5.
We have looked at how much persecution the Jews will receive in the Great Tribulation. It will be worse than it has ever been before and by it many people will perish. However, midst of it God will leave a remnant. Also He will take care of them so that they will profit in their life. This is what it is saying in verse 4. “You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall.”
In America there was an art exposition on the theme of “peace”. Many works　were entered. For example, there was a picture of a boat floating on a lake surface which was like a mirror. In another picture there was a flock of sheep lying in a green meadow which was peaceful in itself. However, the work that received the outstanding prize went to a picture of a mother eagle who in a heavy thunder storm with lightening flashing, and the spray from the waves spaying up high to a small cave at the top of the precipice spreads her wings out and covers the baby eagles.
The Lord is really our hiding place. He is a fort for the weak, a fort for the poor person when he is troubled. He is a shelter from the storms. No matter how over bearing a person is and even if he attacks, the Lord is our shelter and will take care of us to the very end. Therefore, we adore Him and praise his name.
The Lord is your fort, and your shelter. To the end he will take care of you. He is truthful. So a person who depends upon God can praise Him from his heart.

II. God will bless you abundantly (vs. 6-8)
Another reason Christians praise the Lord is the Lord blesses us abundantly. Please look at verse 6. “On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine-the best of meats and fine finest of wines.”
We long for that day, right? Cholesterol will make no difference. It won’t be necessary to worry about calories. You won’t have to receive health guidance for metabolic syndrome or for metabolic prevention. It will be all you can eat stir fried meat and steak. Of course this isn’t saying the literal meaning of “the best of meats”. (6) This means that we will be richly blessed. In the Millennium which will come in the course of time, the Lord will give such joy and happiness. Anyone who believes in Jesus, the people that are saved, can come to this banquet of salvation.
That’s not all. Please look at verses 7 and 8. “The sheet” (7) shuts out the Lord’s glory so that it can’t be seen. “On this mountain… the sheet” (7) will be destroyed. What this sheet is written in II Cor. 3:16. Please look at II Cor. 3:16.
This sheet shuts out Christ’s glory so that it does not shine. Because of this sheet the Lord’s glory couldn’t be seen. However, at the end of the world in the Millennium this sheet will be destroyed. With our eyes we will be able to clearly see the Lord’s appearance. Not only that, like a mirror while we reflect the Lord’s glorious appearance, we will be changed from glory to glory to be like the Lord. Then death will be destroyed forever. The will no longer be death. Also there will be no sadness, crying, or suffering. “The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces. (8) We will be able to receive such glory.
What a hope! Now what are you sad about and are you crying? What are you suffering from? In that day “the LORD will wipe away the tears from” (8) your face. Here it says, “The LORD has spoken.” (8) The means that such a time will come without fail. That is not just a hopeful thinking. It will definitely happen. Therefore we praise God.

III. Waiting on the Lord (Vs. 9-12)
Therefore, the third point is to wait upon the Lord. Please look at verse 9.
Here it says, “In that day”. (9) This is the Millennium at the end of the world. The tribulation which was over a span of 7 years finishes and the Lord is enthroned in Jerusalem. Then all evil is swept away, and God’s kingdom rules on earth for a span of the Millennium. “In that day” (9) the people will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.” (9)
“Surely this is our God; we trusted in him.” (9) His name is Jesus Christ. Up until then we have heard only talk about Jesus. We heard many different people‘s talk, and we ourselves ready the Bible and confirmed what we heard, and though we had a vague knowledge, we believed in God, received him, and waited all the time for the fulfillment of our salvation. The Lord came. He came in a in a form that we can actually see and with an appearance that we can actually feel.
Next week my daughter will get married. How happy my daughter is! That is because she will be united with her lover. It is similar to how we are like waiting for the Lord. In actuality in the Bible Christ’s second coming is said to be like when the bridegroom comes to get the bride. It is just like a wedding with Jesus. Our groom Jesus is perfect. With a perfect love, he receives us. Since he said that he would return again over 2,000 years have passed, and until now we have waited all the time for Him. He came. How much he has excited us!
Because we are waiting for Him, we have hope. By that hope we are saved. Hope that we can see with our eyes isn’t really hope. “Who hopes for what he already has? But we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” (Romans 8:24, 25) Therefore, waiting is very important.
However, waiting is not that easy. No matter how much we seek the Lord, there are limits. Reading our Bible from morning to night, and even if we try to pray, we have restrictions on our time, and our strength has limits so we can’t do it. Even though we think that we want to listen to the Word of God all day, pray and fellowship with the Lord, we are busy every day and have a hard time taking that much time. On the other hand when we have the time, we become tired, our stomach hurts, or our head becomes heavy and we can’t concentrate on what we are hearing. It goes in the right ear and immediately goes out the left. There are times that we don’t know why we are listening. Or there are times when we are listening and our stomach growls and we can’t listen well because we are hungry. “The message is so long. I want to eat lunch so I hope the message ends soon.” This is the limits of our strength. However, “in that day” (9) such things will end. We will listen to the Word to our heart’s content, and we will be able to seek the Lord. There are times when we wish the clocks would stop. There will be a time when we will be enjoying it that much. “In that day” (9) we will be able to see Jesus face to face. There will be no reason to be ashamed. It doesn’t matter what your face is like, you can set your mind to rest and look at Jesus’ face. Here is hope. Let’s look forward to that day.
Incidentally if you look at verses 10 to 12, Moab appears. Moab is east of Jerusalem, and Mt. Zion, and is a country east of the Dead Sea. In 16;9 God says, “I drench you with tears.” The Moab’s ancestor was Abraham’s nephew, Lot. He was the child born from Lot and his daughter. Therefore, God talks with special thoughts about the salvation of Moab, but sadly the Moabites didn’t repent. Even though they saw the glorious Jesus standing on the Mt Olive, they didn’t seek God’s salvation. Even though God desired them to be saved so much…
That was because even though they saw Jesus Christ right before their eyes, even though they saw with their own two eyes, even so they depended on their own strength. They made “high fortified walls”. (12) They depended on their own mental power, military power, political power and economical power, and rejected Jesus Christ. Such people will be judged to the end. People say that if Jesus Christ was in front of their eyes, then they would believe in him. However, such people even if they really saw Jesus with their eyes, they still wouldn’t believe. Those who like the people of Moab, depend on their own power, even if they see Jesus right before their eyes, they won’t believe. They don’t try to see Jesus’ salvation. To the end they don’t try to believe that’s human nature. This is an innate nature. It’s personality. We think that if we see Jesus’ deity then everyone will believe, but that isn’t necessarily so. Those who are prideful, who don’t humble themselves, no matter how much Jesus appear before them, they don’t believe. The Moabites before did a wonderful thing and sheltered the Israelites. They received blessings. Those who bless Israel will be blessed themselves. As a result Moab prospered. In the Millennium they will flourish. However, as a result they will become prideful. They won’t be able to wait for the Lord.
That is not just the Moabites. The Japanese are the same. The Japanese are a people who work seriously, and always depend on their own mental strength and it’s not easy for them to depend upon God. This is human nature. The Bible warns about the essence of such people. At the same time it warns that God’s judgment will come upon such people for sure. Such people “will be trampled under him as straw is trampled down in the manure.” (11)

Are you waiting upon the Lord? In the course of time the Lord will appear shinning on the Mt. of Zion and become King of Israel. We will see the Lord. He “will wipe away the tears” (8) from your face. That day will surely come. Let’s wait on the Lord. In the tribulation that will come in the course of time at the end of the world, just as the Lord will take care of His people, let’s believe that he will take care of us, and let’s praise and be thankful to God. Then even if in reality everything is black by the hope of salvation given by the Lord we can live strongly.