Isaiah 55:12-13 "For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace..."

"For you shall go out in joy,
  and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
  shall burst into song,
  and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
  instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
  for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off" (Isaiah 55:12-13).
 

Question:

I am not clear if this has to do with death, or if it is referring to something else. My minister highlighted it in my bible, so I am very curious about it.
 

Comment:

This powerful psalm is an invitation to a joyful life. It tells us clearly that it is not God's will that we live in lack and limitation. We "spend our money" according to where we place our faith and our creative focus. We choose through our thoughts what we experience in our lives. We can choose fear and lack—and that's what we will experience. But we can alternately choose to embrace the Presence and Promise of God—and our lives will joyfully and lovingly express that choice.   We may feel we don't deserve God's abundance and joy, but the Lord of our being knows otherwise: "My thoughts are not your thoughts." The Lord of our being is the Presence of God that is the truth of our identity.   We may feel that we will only experience the gifts of God in another dimension, in a realm called 'heaven' we achieve after we die. The psalmist is very clear that that feeling is false. God's mercy, love and abundance flow to the earth—and it is here on this earth that we may, if we choose, experience them in our lives. "For you shall go out in joy, and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." What a great promise! And all that is asked of us is that we believe—in the Power that is ultimate Source, in the Christ that is our personal expression of the divine Source, and in the possibility of an abundant and joyful life here on earth.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed