54:3
Look at all the “wills” in here, you will spread abroad, you will possess nations, you will people the desolate cities. The work of salvation is God’s work, the fruit of salvation is God’s work, so it will happen. But that does not mean we are passive. With regard to salvation we repent and believe (exercise faith), with regard to the fruit we cooperate with the Holy Spirit. Notice also that when God saves someone, or a group of people, that is not the end of it but only the beginning. Salvation is not merely a matter of being forgiven, it is the start of a new life.
54:4
This concept of a new life can be scary. Most of us have been battered and wounded by our own sin and by the sin of others. This can lead to us being consumed with fear. We fear disgrace and shame. After they sinned, Adam and Eve were ashamed. Sin produces shame and the expectation or fear of shame. The salvation of God takes away our shame and our fear of shame. Here God promises them that they will forget the shame of their youth. There is healing from the past shame that we have experienced. Healing also of our sense of weakness, our sense of being destined to fail.
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