VII.
The people are told to “Depart” and at the same time,

For you shall not go out in haste,
     and you shall not go in flight,

How are they to “ … go out …”?

VIII.
Isaiah 52:7-12 (NRSVue)

How beautiful upon the mountains
     are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news,
     who announces salvation,
     who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices;
     together they shout for joy,
for in plain sight they see
     the return of the Lord to Zion.

Break forth; shout together for joy,
     you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people;
     he has redeemed Jerusalem.

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.

Depart, depart, go out from there!
     Touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of it; purify yourselves,
     you who carry the vessels of the Lord.

For you shall not go out in haste,
     and you shall not go in flight,
for the Lord will go before you,
     and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

IX.
The messenger announces God’s reign, and announces “all the nations … shall see the salvation of our God.”

God’s reign and salvation is something to be heard and seen?

This passage closes with,

for the Lord will go before you,
and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

So God’s reign is where God surrounds the people with … what?

Joy, shouts, presence, protection, peace?

When have you had a sense of God’s surrounding presence?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}