She is the Lord’s Delight

In the central parts of beautiful Jamaica is a small community called Copley Mountain. Although the road is unbelievably rough and rocky, the trip is most worthwhile. It was in this hilly rural setting that I preached my first sermon and dedicated my first baby. The all-stone church was nearly filled with country Jamaican Christians, and we sang from our Sankey hymnbooks while the organist pumped the organ and led us. But it was the name of the church that fascinated me the most. It is called Hephzibah, which is found is Isaiah 62:4-5:

“No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you and your land will be married. As a young man marries a young woman, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.”

Herbert Lockyer gives a concise explanation:

“Having lived and prophesied in the days of good King Hezekiah, it was appropriate for Isaiah to employ the use of symbolical names in the writing of his prophecies. Hezekiah’s marriage to Hephzibah naturally suggested Beulah, meaning ‘married’, and also the implication of the queen’s name, ‘My delight is in her’. These names are likewise symbolic of the church. Paul speaks of her as being married to Christ whose delight is in her.”

I’m convinced that the name was most appropriate for the beautiful people of the Hephzibah Missionary Church who possessed a faith that delighted the Lord.