This is the Year of Favor

Hope springs in my heart as I hear this song, based on Isaiah 61.

Unlike the way the world celebrates the new year, we begin by seeking His face, coming away from the world to focus on HIM. 

On Yom Kippur, we prayed for Hashem to write our names in the Book of Life for the year ahead and asked His blessings. He renews our hope.  How beautiful and appropriate is this passage as we go into the new year, 5773:
 

Isaiah 61

The Good News of Salvation

 “The Spirit of the L-rd G-d is upon Me,
Because the L-rd has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
² To proclaim the acceptable year of the L-rd,
And the day of vengeance of our G-d;
To comfort all who mourn,
³ To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the L-rd, that He may be glorified.”

⁴ And they shall rebuild the old ruins,
They shall raise up the former desolations,
And they shall repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.
⁵ Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,
And the sons of the foreigner
Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
⁶ But you shall be named the priests of the L-rd,
They shall call you the servants of our G-d.
You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,
And in their glory you shall boast.
⁷ Instead of your shame you shall have double honor,
And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.
Therefore in their land they shall possess double;
Everlasting joy shall be theirs.

⁸ “For I, the L-rd, love justice;
I hate robbery for burnt offering;
I will direct their work in truth,
And will make with them an everlasting covenant.
⁹ Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles,
And their offspring among the people.
All who see them shall acknowledge them,
That they are the posterity whom the L-rd has blessed.”

¹⁰ I will greatly rejoice in the L-rd,
My soul shall be joyful in my G-d;
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.
¹¹ For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
So the L-rd G-d will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

 **************

Oh, how I rejoice in YOU, Father!  May you be glorified and magnified
 above all and in all in the year ahead. 


 

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