Beauty for Ashes

The words of the hymn “Beauty for Ashes” written by Grant Colfax Tullar provide us a much-needed perspective:

 

Beauty for ashes God hath decreed!

Help He provideth for every need;

What is unlovely He will restore;

Grace all sufficient: what need we more?

God gives for sadness “garments of praise;”

Stars for our twilight, strength for our days;

Hope for tomorrow, care for today,

Light for our footsteps all of life’s way.

Beauty for ashes, gladness for tears,

Sunshine for darkness, faith for our fears;

Peace for our turmoil, concord for strife,

Heaven at evening—then endless life!

The phrase “beauty for ashes” comes from Isaiah 61:3 where the promise of the Messiah would be realized and those who mourned in Zion would be found joyfully singing praise to God. Remember that Jesus read this passage in the synagogue at Nazareth and declared that He had come and was beginning that day to fulfill what this passage prophesied (Luke 4:16-21).

            In Bible times, ashes were a sign of mourning; the sorrow could be from loss (Job 2:8; 2 Sam. 13:19) or in repentance over sins (Job 42:6; Jonah 3:6; cf. Matt. 11:21). With all the bad news one can easily consume each day, remember the good news—the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came and fulfilled Isaiah 61:1-3:

 

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,

            Because the LORD 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;

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,

            And the day of vengeance of our God;

            To comfort all who mourn,

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 LORD, that He may be glorified.”

 

All of the various pains we suffer as part of this life, whether it be from sin or from some other cause, can be turned into beauty by Jesus Christ. When Christ came into the world, God entered into human suffering, and suffered for our sins so that we can be set free from them. The sins of Israel and the suffering they would endure in captivity would be turned into beauty at Christ’s first coming. Likewise, God’s people today can enjoy the wonderful grace located in Christ and look forward to His second coming. Christians, set your minds on heaven; glorify God for what He has done in Jesus Christ to exchange the ashes of this life for the beauty of heaven that will soon be ours.

 

-Mark Day