“I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” Isaiah 62:6-7

The book of Isaiah is divided into two parts. The first 39 chapters deal mostly with God’s judgment upon the house of Israel and the Gentile nations. The last 27 chapters deal primarily with God’s restoration of Israel and the establishment of His kingdom upon the earth. Throughout these last 27 chapters, God promises again and again that He would come to deliver the Jewish people from their captors and begin His rule upon the earth.

God had already predicted that because of the wickedness of Israel, another nation would come to destroy their land, and take them to a foreign land as captives. They had refused to repent of their sins, to turn back to God with a sincere heart. They had mocked His message and abused His prophets who preached to them. Yet in His great love and mercy, He promises to the rebellious people that one day He would establish their kingdom again upon the earth. This time He would personally rule His people.

Isaiah 40:10 promises, “Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.” God promises His people in chapter 43, “Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;” (vv. 5-6). Again in chapter 59, “And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.” (v. 20)

Thus, we understand that God had already promised and bound Himself to set up His government upon the earth. So why does Isaiah command the watchmen of Jerusalem to “never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” Because of God’s promise, was it not guaranteed? Why did the watchmen need to spend their time crying out to God to do it? Was it necessary to prevent God from changing His mind? Were they to continue crying out lest God should forget? Obviously this is not the case.

There are two reasons for this command. First, if they always lifted up their prayer to God, they would never forget God’s promise. Although God never forgets His promises, people do tend to forget them. It is absolutely essential that we never forget the things God has promised us. God’s promises provide us with hope for tomorrow, motivation to serve Him, and warnings lest we disobey Him. God’s promises give us an earnest expectation for the future and determination to battle through fiery trials.

Secondly, their continuous prayers demonstrated their faith in God. In Matthew 15:21-28, we read of the Gentile woman who came to Jesus begging Him to heal her daughter. When she came to Him, He ignored her. When she continued to plead with Him, He met her sorrow with rebuke (vv. 24-26), calling her a dog (cf. Matt. 7:6). However, she continued to implore Him for His attention. What was His final answer to her? “O woman, Great is thy faith…” Notice that she did have a great quantity of faith from the beginning, but her persistence showed the quantity of her faith. As these watchmen continually lifted up their prayers to God, it demonstrated their faith in His promise.

Like these watchmen did, let us consistently pray to God for those things He has already promised us. Let us pray that His kingdom would come and His will would be done on earth and in heaven. (Matt. 6:10) Let us pray that He would meet our needs because He has promised that our heavenly Father knoweth that we have need of all these things (Matt. 6:32). Even though God has promised these things to us, keep praying and give Him no rest until you see Him answer these prayers. Find promises in His Word to pursue, and pursue them. It will demonstrate your faith in Him and keep you from forgetting His promises. God is pleased with your persistence.