And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.
Isaiah 12 comes immediately after a series of difficult prophecies about judgment followed by a vision of a coming king from the line of David who would restore Israel and bring peace. The phrase 'in that day' signals a future moment of God's promised deliverance. This verse is a song that Isaiah writes as if placing words in the mouths of God's restored people — the words they will say on the other side of suffering. What's remarkable is how the song opens: not by pretending the hard times didn't happen, but by naming them honestly. God was angry. The distance was real. Then — the turn — His anger has lifted and He has brought comfort. It's a song designed for the other side of the valley, written before the valley is crossed.
Lord, I want to be honest enough to name the hard things and trusting enough to believe they won't be the last word. Teach me to hold both — the anger that was real and the comfort that follows. Give me the courage to begin practicing the song before I fully feel it. Amen.
This praise song doesn't start with 'You were never angry' or 'it really wasn't that bad.' It starts: *you were angry with me.* There is a stunning, almost jarring honesty in that opening — a willingness to name the hard chapter before singing about the rescue. The people Isaiah was writing for had been through real suffering, real judgment, real distance from God. And the song doesn't skip over it to get to the good part. It acknowledges the anger before it celebrates the comfort. That sequence is not incidental. Faith that can't speak honestly about the darkness will never sing authentically about the dawn. Maybe you're not ready to sing this song yet. Maybe you're still in the part where God feels more like absence than comfort, and a verse like this one sounds like a taunt rather than a promise. Isaiah writes this as a *future* song — words to be learned before they can be felt fully. Sometimes faith asks you to practice language you don't yet inhabit, not as denial but as declaration. Not 'I feel comforted,' but 'I believe comfort is coming.' You don't have to perform an emotion you don't have. But maybe today you could whisper it — *your anger has turned away* — and mean it as a seed rather than a certainty.
Why do you think this song of praise begins by acknowledging God's anger rather than jumping straight to celebration? What does that honesty protect?
Have you ever experienced a moment when you could look back and genuinely say 'Your anger has turned away and You have comforted me'? What did that feel like?
Is it spiritually honest to sing praises you don't yet feel, or does that cross into emotional dishonesty? Where is the line between faith-declaration and pretending?
How does this model of praise — naming the hard thing first, then celebrating — change how you might pray with someone who is still in the middle of their suffering?
Try writing or speaking your own version of this verse for a current situation in your life, even if it still feels premature. What would you say?
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Matthew 5:4
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
Psalms 126:5
O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
Isaiah 25:1
Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
2 Corinthians 1:4
To the chief Musician upon Muthlabben , A Psalm of David. I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.
Psalms 9:1
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said, I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.
Psalms 18:1
Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
Nehemiah 8:10
For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Psalms 30:5
And on that day you will say, "I will give thanks to You, O LORD; For though You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away, And You comfort me.
AMP
You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.
ESV
Then you will say on that day, 'I will give thanks to You, O LORD; For although You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, And You comfort me.
NASB
Songs of Praise In that day you will say: “I will praise you, O Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me.
NIV
And in that day you will say: “O LORD, I will praise You; Though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.
NKJV
In that day you will sing: “I will praise you, O LORD! You were angry with me, but not any more. Now you comfort me.
NLT
And you will say in that day, "I thank you, God. You were angry but your anger wasn't forever. You withdrew your anger and moved in and comforted me.
MSG