To Christians today, who have the benefit of the written New Testament and two thousand years of hindsight, it may seem incredible that the Jews of Jesus' day failed to recognize Him as their Messiah. After all, they had read the prophecies, such as this one by Zechariah, which He fulfilled to the letter. The problem, then as now, was not that they couldn't see, but that they didn't want to see (Acts 28:27). When Jesus entered Jerusalem on the foal of an ass, the people greeted Him with shouts of "Hosanna!" - a Hebrew phrase roughly translated "save us now!" - giving a clue as to what they expected from the coming Messiah. They wanted freedom from their Roman oppressors, and when this humble King made no move to deliver Himself, let alone his people, from the might of Rome, they cried for his death instead.
The reason we so often miss what God is doing, even in our own lives, is that we have our own ideas of what we want Him to do for us. Instead of bringing Him a blank page on which to write his will for us, we submit our own five- or ten-year plan, with a request that He sign it, perhaps with few small changes, and then give us his blessing and power to carry it out.
When God said "my thoughts are not your thoughts," (Isa 55:8-9) He wasn't just filling up space in the book of Isaiah. The same God who came to earth as a homeless carpenter's son is still moving in ways no mortal can understand except by his Spirit. If we stay attuned to His voice, the great rejoicing promised to Jerusalem can be ours every day that we live. In all kinds of circumstances, we will see our King coming, and while we may not understand his plan, we will praise Him for who He is, and lay our very lives at his feet
All Scripture references from KJV. Commentary ©2011 Hitchcock Family Ministry. Unaltered text may be reproduced freely without financial gain. Original commentary and Scripture song available at http://www.freescripturesongs.org/rejoice-greatly-o-daugher-of-zion.