Isaiah 12:6 NKJV
Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion,
For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”
High Holiness & Near Presence
MY NOTES
“Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!” — Isaiah 12:6 (NKJV)
There is a massive difference between polite, dutiful religion and the explosive, unstoppable joy of a soul that knows God is actually present.
Isaiah wraps up his grand hymn of redemption with an unreserved command: “Cry out and shout!” The Hebrew words he uses here aren’t gentle or reserved. The word for “cry out” (tsahali) is the frequency of a piercing, joyful declaration—a clear, resonant sound that rings across mountains. The word for “shout” (roni) is the same term used for raising a victorious battle cry or singing at the coronation of a king.
Isaiah isn’t suggesting how to behave in church; he’s describing the unavoidable reaction of people who realize who is living among them. This is the last line of a short hymn, and it does not fade out. It gets louder. Isaiah is not asking for a careful nod. He is telling the people of God to make noise, the way a crowd shouts when a king is crowned or when a battle turns.
Numbers 23:21 NKJV
He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, And the shout of a King is among them.
That is the point. The shout is not about how strong you feel. It is about who is in the middle of you. Zion’s joy is not that life is easy. It is that the Holy One has not stayed at a distance.
If God is your treasure, your heart should know where it is.
Matthew 6:21 NKJV
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Psalm 103:1 NKJV
Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
So wake the inside up. Not because volume impresses heaven, but because half-hearted worship lies about what you have been given.
We sometimes treat worship like a tedious chore—a dry ritual we endure, get through as quickly as possible, and check off our weekly list. But mechanical worship leaves the heart cold and dishonors the God we pretend to praise. As Charles Spurgeon once challenged, we need to wake up our souls, summon every internal power, and throw off the lethargy that treats Almighty God as a minor detail of our lives.
Look at the reason Isaiah gives for this joy: “For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”
Notice the title: The Holy One of Israel.
- His Holiness: His absolute purity, majesty, and transcendent perfection. Left by itself, His holiness would overwhelm us with terror because our sin cannot survive in His presence.
- His Proximity: But this Holy God is in your midst. Through the finished work of Jesus Christ—the true Holy One—the infinite God didn’t stay at a distance. He drew near, gathered us to Himself, and made His home among His people.
The Holy One of Israel is not only high. He is near. He is the Redeemer who teaches, leads, and gathers a people to Himself.
Isaiah 48:17 NKJV
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.”
Ephesians 1:10 NKJV
that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.
Psalm 76:1 NKJV
In Judah God is known; His name is great in Israel.
True happiness isn’t having an abundance of earthly security, financial success, or human comfort. You can have all those things and still carry a hollow, miserable soul. Real, indestructible joy comes from one thing alone: the living God dwelling in your midst. This is why Scripture keeps telling the people of God to shout, not whisper their way through mercy.
Psalm 47:1 NKJV
Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
Zephaniah 3:14 NKJV
Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Zechariah 9:9 NKJV
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.”
When you realize that the Holy God doesn’t just tolerate you, but walks with you, defends you, and sanctifies you as His own prized possession, your praise stops being passive. It breaks out of you. You don’t just endure worship—you shout, you sing, and you celebrate the Great King who turned your wilderness into a home.
Prayer
Abba Father, You are not a God who stays at the edge of our lives. You have come near. Wake what is in me. Teach my heart that You are the treasure, and that Your presence is the happiness. Let the joy be honest, not performed. And let it spill past me, so other people hear that You are great and that You are in the midst of Your people. In the glorious name of Jesus, Amen.
Key Takeaways
- Wake Your Soul for Worship: Half-hearted, mechanical religion is an insult to God’s majesty. True praise requires us to intentionally engage our mind, emotion, and spirit.
- The Holy God Draws Near: God’s holiness fills us with reverence, but His presence in our midst fills us with unshakeable confidence and joy.
- The Source of True Joy: Circumstances and material blessings can never satisfy the human heart. Our ultimate happiness rests entirely on God’s indwelling presence.
Cross References
- Exodus 15:11 (NKJV)
“Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?” - Ephesians 1:9–10 (NKJV)
“Having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.”
Proverb for Today
The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding, To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity; To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion— A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, To understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:1-7 NKJV
Daily Scripture
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NKJV
Closing
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 NKJV
Grace be with you. Amen.
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Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
We ought not to worship God in a half-hearted sort of way; as if it were now our duty to bless God, but we felt it to be a weary business, and we would get it through as quickly as we could, and have done with it; and the sooner the better. No, no; ‘All that is within me, bless his holy name.’ Come, my heart, wake up, and summon all the powers which wait upon thee! Mechanical worship is easy, but worthless. Come rouse yourself, my brother! Rouse thyself, O my own soul!
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Enduring Word
Cry out and shout: This is excited praise. It is wrong to manipulate or push God’s people into an artificial sense of enthusiasm in their worship. Yet there may often be a sincere and appropriate joy and energy as we worship God. If our worship will never cry out and shout, there is something missing in it.
For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst: This gives two reasons for great praise. First, because of who God is – the Holy One of Israel. Second, because of where God is – in your midst. Each of these gives everyone reason to praise God.
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Albert Barnes
Cry out — (צהלי tsahalı̂y). This word is usually applied to the neighing of a horse Jeremiah 5:8; Jeremiah 8:16. It is also used to express joy, pleasure, exultation, by a clear and loud sound of the voice Isaiah 10:30; Isaiah 12:6; Isaiah 14:14; Isaiah 54:1; Jeremiah 31:7; Jeremiah 50:11. It is here synonymous with the numerous passages in the Psalms, and elsewhere, where the people of God are called on to exult, to shout, to make a noise as expressive of their joy Psalms 47:1; Psalms 148:1-14; Psalms 149:1-9; Isaiah 42:11; Isaiah 44:23; Jeremiah 31:7; Zephaniah 3:14; Zechariah 9:9.
And shout — (ורני vāronı̂y). This word properly means to cry aloud Proverbs 1:20; Proverbs 8:3; to cry for help Lamentations 2:19; to raise a shout of joy, to rejoice, or exult Leviticus 9:24; Job 38:7; to praise, or celebrate with joy Psalms 33:1; Psalms 51:15; Psalms 59:17; Psalms 89:13. Here it denotes the joy in view of God’s mercies, which leads to songs of exalted praise.
Thou inhabitant of Zion — Thou that dwellest in Zion; that is, thou who art numbered with the people of God (note, Isaiah 1:8). The margin here is in accordance with the Hebrew – ‘Inhabitress of Zion;’ and the word used here is applicable to the people, rather than to an individual.
For great is the Holy One of Israel — That is, God has shown himself great and worthy of praise, by the wonderful deliverance which he has worked for his people. Thus closes this beautiful hymn. It is worthy of the theme – worth to be sung by all. O, may all the redeemed join in this song of deliverance; and may the time soon come, when the beautiful vision of the poet shall be realized, in the triumphant song of redemption echoing around the world:
‘One song employs all nations; and all cry,
“Worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for us!”
The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks
Shout to each other, and the mountain-tops
From distant mountains catch the flying joy;
Till, nation after nation taught the strain,
Earth rolls the rapturous hosanna round.’
“The Task” Book vi.
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John Gill
Cry out, and shout,…. By singing aloud, with the high praises of God in the mouth:
thou inhabitant of Zion: born and brought up there, free of Zion, that is settled and dwells there, and so happy; since there plenty of provisions is had, health is enjoyed, and the inhabitants in the utmost safety and protection, having the greatest privileges and immunities; and therefore have reason to sing and shout for joy, and especially for what follows:
for great [is] the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee; by “the Holy One of Israel” is meant Christ, the Redeemer and Husband of this church; see Isaiah 48:17 because, as God, he is the God of Israel, the spiritual Israel, and as such is holy, even glorious in holiness; and, as man, sprung from Israel, literal Israel, and as such is holy in his nature, acts, and offices; and is the sanctifier of the whole Israel of God, from whom they receive all their holiness: he is “in the midst” of his church, in the midst of Zion, and the inhabitants of it, to whom he has promised his presence, and grants it, and which causes such joy and gladness, as nothing else can give; and here he is “great,” and shows himself to be so, the great God, and our Savior; a Savior, and a great one; a great King over the holy hill of Zion; and a great High Priest over the house of God; wherefore greatness should be ascribed unto him, and praise be given him.
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Matthew Henry
By a holy exultation and transport of joy: “Cry out and shout; welcome the gospel to yourselves and publish it to others with huzzas and loud acclamations, as those that shout for victory (Ex. 32:18) or for the coronation of a king,” Num. 23:21.
Because he has glorified himself. Remember it yourselves, and make mention of it to others, that his name is exalted, has become more illustrious and more conspicuous; in this every good man rejoices.
Because he has magnified his people: He has done excellent things for them, which make them look great and considerable.
Because he is, and will be, great among them: Great is the Holy One, for he is glorious in holiness; therefore great, because holy. True goodness is true greatness. He is great as the Holy One of Israel, and in the midst of them, praised by them (Ps. 76:1), manifesting himself among them, and appearing gloriously in their behalf. It is the honour and happiness of Israel that the God who is in covenant with them, and in the midst of them, is infinitely great.
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Calvin’s Commentary
Shout and sing. He again exhorts the godly to rejoice in the Lord, at the same time reminding them what is the nature of true joy, and on what it is founded. We have no other happiness than to have God dwelling in the midst of us. But for this, our life would be wretched and unhappy, though we should have abundance of other blessings and of every kind of riches. Now, if our heart be set on our treasure, (Matthew 6:21,) this happiness will attract all our feelings.
The Holy One of Israel. He calls him the Holy One, in order to inform us what he intends to prove himself to be to us, while he dwells with us; that is, that not only his majesty may fill our minds with reverence towards him, for it would at the same time overwhelm us with terror; but that he may vouchsafe to make us the objects of his peculiar care, though separated from the rest of the world. He calls him the Holy One, from the effect produced; for, by gathering us to himself, (Ephesians 1:10,) and saving us by his grace, he may be said to sanctify us to be his own property.
Accordingly, if God is with us, the conviction of his presence will fill us with inconceivable joy. Hence it follows that, when he is absent, we continue to be exposed to grief and sadness.
By the words, Shout and sing, he means that when God magnifies his power in the midst of us, he gives us occasion for no ordinary joy. Again, by directly addressing the inhabitants of Zion, he intimates that all are not capable of so great a blessing, and at the same time indirectly exhorts them to maintain unity of faith, that, by being united to the Church, we may partake of this blessed joy.
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