Dr. Pam Morrison
pammorrisonministries.com
The Lord has been highlighting the word “watchman” to me repeatedly in recent days. I have seen it in writings, on buildings; heard it in tv shows. Even a phrase “watch woman, arise” caught my attention.
The work of the watchman is well-known from scripture. He was the one at the gates or on the walls of the city, or in towers overlooking fields, warning of enemies. Watchmen were also people who called out the hour, the watches of the night, and the time of the seasons so that religious festivals could be scheduled.
Drawing from that up until today, prophets and intercessors have been considered the prime watchmen for believers, warning of sin, “standing in the gap” in prayer.
I feel God is saying it is a particular season for this calling and that many watchmen and watchwomen are arising, people who may not have seen themselves this way before.
And I felt the Lord highlighting a particular passage in scripture concerning the function of the watchmen for this hour because there was yet another role of the watchman and that was to announce the return of the King. Isaiah 52:8-10 (NASB) says:
v. 8 “Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices,
They shout joyfully together;
For they will see with their own eyes
When the Lord restores Zion.”
The ESV speaks of “the voice” of the watchmen. “They lift up their voice.” There is a sense, in this verse of one sound coming from many who are shouting with joy because they see the King returning and His intention is restoration. The promise is they will see it “with their own eyes.”
If you are feeling your heart rising in praise and joy, I believe you are a watchman for this hour. As the words are declared in the worship song, “I’ll praise before my breakthrough,” it is right and a good thing to be lifting our voices in unity to say, “He is coming and bringing restoration – now.”
It is not the overwhelming enemy or more defeat that is on the horizon. It is the Lord returning, and redeeming what is lost, is on His heart.
The watchmen need this. The people need it. But the watchmen are seeing it first and beginning the singing.
The type of watchmen the Lord is forming and lifting up now is scanning the horizon with hope. He needs their voice of encouragement raised in this hour.
The Lord is calling for singing and joyful watchers. He is making many who did not see themselves this way into messengers who can proclaim with confidence “good tidings, peace, and salvation.” Who say without hesitation, “The Lord reigns.” (from Isaiah 52:7) It is the hour for this kind of watchman, the one who cheers and stirs up the people in faith.
v. 9 “Break forth, shout joyfully together,
You waste places of Jerusalem;
For the Lord has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.”
God is calling for a new song to break out suddenly, with shouting, not whispering, and for calling it out together. He is commanding this song to break forth from “waste places,” from ruins.
You may feel that you are “reigning over ruins,” that there is no need to be a watchman or to call for one, as the enemy has already destroyed and stolen. But it is especially to those who have been deeply robbed and troubled that God is speaking, asking them to herald His return. To be a sign.
Even before the restoration is seen, “the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed…”
His heart is set on it. It is done in the spiritual realm. He is determined that whatever has been ruined in your life, in the lives around you, will not remain ruined.
v. 10 “The LORD has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.”
The Lord has determined He will restore in this hour, and He has been fighting for you. “He has bared his holy arm” means He has been fighting for us, for the nations, for justice, for His holiness, for His glory to be seen. “All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” What is wrong is being overturned. What is right will gain pre-eminence.
The Lord is raising up new life out of the ruins of individual lives, homes and families. He is raising up new communities of believers where faith seems to have waned or even died. He is working in nations, drawing more people to the gospel good news and “how beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news…” (Isaiah 52:7)
He is emboldening you to share in proclaiming this hope with other heralds, old and new.
