Two brief hymns (12:1, 4–6) and an oracle of promise (12:2–3) make a fitting conclusion to the first division of Isaiah (chaps. 1–12). The prophet renews the promise of full and free salvation and calls on the godly to join him in confident trust in God. As the “strength” of his people, Yahweh is able to accomplish all that Isaiah has predicted: universal peace, the presence of God, the restoration of the remnant, the Messiah’s rule, and the universal knowledge and fear of God.

The hymns focus on two aspects of deliverance: God’s comfort of his people (12:1) and the proclamation of his acts of salvation to the nations (12:4–6). The day of judgment is against all flesh, and God alone will be “exalted.” The righteous have be…