““God’s own child, I gladly say it; I am baptized into Christ . . . I’m a child of paradise!” (LSB 594:1, 5) What a joy it is to sing this hymn! The prophet Isaiah also wants Judean exiles in Babylon to know the joy of belonging to God. The problem, though, was that these people weren’t interested in singing the song of salvation. Babylon seemed to offer so much more! Isaiah counters with some of the most magnificent promises in the Old Testament, all to the end that God’s people remember that they are His. On the day when you were baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, your pastor probably also spoke these words to you: “Receive the sign of the holy cross, both upon your forehead and upon your heart, to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified.” We are marked, forever! “Baptism has the strength divine To make life immortal mine” (LSB 594:4).

Isaiah 44:1–5

1“But now hear, O Jacob My servant, Israel whom I have chosen!

2Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you:  Fear not, O Jacob My servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen.

3For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground;

I will pour My Spirit upon your offspring, and My blessing on your descendants.  4They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams.  5This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s,’ another will call on the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’ and name himself by the name of Israel.”