You Are My Father
A survivor sings to the Father who flattened the ruthless city that loomed over him, and who sheltered the poor in the storm. What he prepares next is a feast for all peoples, the swallowing of death itself, and tears wiped off every face.
25 1You are my Father; I will exalt you, I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things—plans formed long ago, faithful and sure. 2For you have turned a city into a heap of rubble, a fortified town into a ruin; the palace of foreigners is a city no more—it will never be rebuilt. 3Therefore a strong people will honor you; the city of ruthless nations will fear you. 4For you have been a refuge to the poor, a refuge to 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 against a wall. 5Like heat in a parched land, you subdue the uproar of foreigners; as heat is subdued by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is silenced. 6On this mountain the Father of heaven's armies will prepare for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of aged wine—the finest of meats and the best of well-aged wines. 7And on this mountain he will swallow up the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. 8He will swallow up death forever; and the Sovereign Father will wipe away the tears from every face, and he will remove the reproach of his people from all the earth—for our Father has spoken. a a v8 Paul applies this verse to Jesus's resurrection victory — "Death has been swallowed up in victory" (1 Cor 15:54). The Father's promise here finds its fulfillment in the empty tomb; the day our Father wipes away every tear is opened by the Son who conquered death.
9And in that day it will be said, "Look, this is our Father; we waited for him, and he saved us. This is the Father; we waited for him—let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation." 10For the hand of our Father will rest on this mountain, but Moab will be trampled down in its place, as straw is trampled down in a manure pit. b b v10 Moab was an ancient nation east of the Jordan River, a long-standing enemy of Israel, used here as a symbol of all who oppose God. 11He will spread out his hands within Moab as a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim, but he will bring down their pride along with the craftiness of their hands. 12The high walls of your fortress he will bring down, lay low, and cast to the ground, into the dust.
