July 6, 2025 • 37 mins
Have you ever wondered how to find hope in the face of repeated failure? In this profound exploration of Isaiah's first Servant Song, we discover a melody of redemption that transforms our understanding of God's heart.
The backdrop is stark: Israel has failed in their covenant relationship with God. Rather than being a light to the nations, they've become just like them—trapped in idolatry and disobedience. But against this canvas of human failure, God composes a song of extraordinary hope through the promise of his servant.
We journey through Isaiah 41:21-42:9, unpacking the four harmonious ways this servant carries out God's purposes. First, he reveals God's tender heart—not breaking bruised reeds or extinguishing smoldering wicks, but gently restoring the vulnerable. Second, he establishes true justice, not through loud proclamations but through transforming hearts with God's law. Third, he fulfills what all previous covenant partners failed to accomplish, becoming the perfect human and divine mediator. Finally, he restores everything lost to sin—opening blind eyes, freeing prisoners, and ultimately creating all things new.
The power of this passage lies in its revelation that the servant isn't merely showing us how to live—he's doing for us what we could never do ourselves. As Matthew's Gospel confirms, this servant is Jesus Christ, who embodies the compassionate heart of God while perfectly fulfilling all righteousness on our behalf.
For anyone who feels the weight of their own failures or the brokenness of our world, this servant song offers a profound hope. Not a hope based on trying harder, but on the One who has already accomplished everything necessary for our redemption. In his words, "There is more mercy in Christ than there is sin in us."
Are you listening for the song of the servant? Its melody might be gentle, but to those with ears to hear, it's the most beautiful music in the world.
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Micah McCormick (00:00):
Turn to Isaiah.
(00:00):
If you have a Bible with you,turn to Isaiah, chapter 41.
If you want to grab the PewBible there, if you don't have a
Bible today, you can find ourpassage starting on page 636.
Isaiah 41, we're continuing tomove through this book of Isaiah
, and the passage we're going tolook at today begins in chapter
(00:26):
41, starting with verse 21.
And then we'll look downthrough chapter 42, verse 9.
And we'll focus especially onthose first seven verses of
chapter 42.
Now, it's a little unusual tobe in the middle of one chapter
or the middle of the next, butkeep in mind, there's no chapter
divisions.
When Isaiah first composed this, it was all one book.
(00:48):
So we're going to take thatchunk of the scripture today
Isaiah 41, verses 21, throughverse 42, 9.
I'll read this for us Submityour case, says the Lord.
Present your arguments, saysJacob's king.
Let them come and tell us whatwill happen.
(01:09):
Tell us the past events so thatwe may reflect on them and know
the outcome.
Or tell us the future.
Tell us the coming events, thenwe will know that you are gods.
Indeed.
Do something, good or bad, thenwe will be in awe when we see
it.
Look, you are nothing and yourwork is worthless.
(01:30):
Anyone who chooses you isdetestable.
I have stirred up one from thenorth and he has come one from
the east who invokes my name.
He will march over rulers as ifthey were mud, like a potter
who treads the clay.
Who told about this from thebeginning, so that we may know,
and from times past, that wemight say he is right?
(01:53):
No one announced it, no onetold it, no one heard your words
.
I was the first to say to Zionlook, here they are, and I gave
Jerusalem a herald with goodnews.
When I look, there is no one.
There is no counselor amongthem.
When I ask them, they havenothing to say.
Look, all of them are adelusion.
(02:15):
Their works are non-existentand their images are wind and
emptiness.
Look, this is my servant.
I strengthen him.
This is my chosen one.
I delight in him.
I have put my spirit on him.
He will bring justice to thenations.
He will not cry out or shout ormake his voice heard in the
(02:37):
streets.
He will not break a bruisedreed and he will not put out a
smoldering wick.
He will faithfully bringjustice.
He will not grow out asmoldering wick.
He will faithfully bringjustice.
He will not grow weak or bediscouraged.
Until he has establishedjustice on earth, the coasts and
islands will wait for hisinstruction.
This is what God, the Lord, says.
(02:57):
Who created the heavens andstretched them out, who spread
out the earth and what comesfrom it, who gives breath to the
people on it and spirit tothose who walk on it?
I am the Lord.
I have called you for arighteous purpose and I will
hold you by your hand.
I will watch over you and Iwill appoint you to be a
covenant for the people and alight to the nations, in order
(03:20):
to open blind eyes, to bring outprisoners from the dungeon and
those sitting in darkness fromthe prison house.
I am the Lord.
That is my name, and I will notgive my glory to another or my
praise to idols.
The past events have indeedhappened.
Now I declare new events.
(03:40):
I announce them to you beforethey occur.
Let's pray again, lord.
We're seeking you today.
The God who knows our hearts,knows our hearts in ways that we
can't even know our hearts.
Yet all things are open to you,the one that we give account,
to Give us listening ears today.
(04:02):
Thank you that you give usscriptures that bring us such
hope and consolation.
May we find that here throughyour word in Jesus' name, amen.
What do you do when you fail?
Well, if at first you don'tsucceed, try, try again.
What happens when that doesn'treally work and you seem to keep
(04:26):
failing?
People are often looking forsome kind of hope.
It could be something as sillyas when I feel down, I just I go
eat a Nathan's hot dog and thenI know everything is right in
the world again.
Or it could be something moresignificant, like you go and
talk to a friend aboutwhatever's going on in your life
(04:47):
.
Sometimes people find hope insongs, some kind of combination
of the lyrics, the poetry, themelody.
It lifts their spirits, spirits.
(05:10):
In our passage today in Isaiah,we come to the first servant
song, and it's a song of hopeagainst a backdrop of failure.
Listen for the song of theservant.
Isaiah has four particularpassages that are often
identified as servant songsIsaiah 49, verses 1 to 6, isaiah
50, verses 4 to 11, isaiah 52,13 to 53, 12, and then included
(05:34):
in our passage for today, isaiah42, 1 to 7.
Now they're called servantsongs because they're poetic,
lyrical passages and they allbring out God's servant, this
figure that is described indifferent and complementary ways
(05:56):
.
Who is the servant?
Well, back in Isaiah 20, theprophet Isaiah himself is called
God's servant.
Sometimes kings likeNebuchadnezzar or Cyrus could be
described in some sense as aservant of God.
If you look back to chapter 41of Isaiah, verse number 8 from
(06:19):
last week, even Israel as anation is called a servant of
God.
But then, as chapter 42 begins,this is my servant, or some of
your translations might even saybehold my servant.
(06:39):
God is pointing us to a servantthat is much greater than
Isaiah or kings of the world oreven nations like Israel.
Some of you that are a littlemore familiar and acquainted
with your Bibles might recognizethose first four verses of
chapter 42.
(06:59):
The verses that I read there inpart.
Those are verses that Matthewquotes in his gospel.
In Matthew chapter 12, matthewcites those verses.
I read behold my servant.
I put my spirit on him.
He will not cry aloud.
He quotes those verses andapplies them directly to the
Lord Jesus Christ.
(07:21):
So we know where this is going,but don't rush to the end of the
song too quickly.
There's these people thatalways want to rush to the end
of the song.
You've got that friend Everytime Stairway to Heaven comes on
, they want to rush to theconclusion.
Let the song build, but listenfor the song of the servant.
(07:42):
It's a song of great hope but,as I said, it's set against this
backdrop of failure.
Verses 8 and 9 of chapter 41from last week Israel, my
servant Jacob, whom I've chosen.
Why did God choose Israel to behis special servant?
(08:04):
One of the reasons, one of thepurposes that he announced to
them was they could be a lightto the nations as they loved God
and worshiped him and obeyedhim.
Other nations could look andsee wow, I want to be like them,
I want to serve and know thisGod.
But they failed.
(08:25):
They actually became more likethe other nations.
They turned to idolatry, justlike the other nations.
Now, before we clock our tonguestoo much at Israel, have any of
us done much better?
I don't mean have you gotten agood grade on a test, or have
you ever won a softballchampionship, or have you ever
(08:49):
gotten that job promotion.
I mean in our moral conditionbefore God, when God tells us
things like be holy as I am holy, give thanks in all
circumstances, for this is God'swill for you.
Haven't we all failed?
Israel's problem is reallyhumanity's problem.
(09:14):
But listen for the song of theservant, listen for this
beautiful hope that God offersto us.
Now we're going to lookespecially at this first servant
song today, but before I diveinto that song, I want to spend
just a little more time talkingabout the composer of the song.
I don't mean Isaiah.
He's the human author, yes, butI'm speaking of the God who
(09:37):
inspired Isaiah to write theseverses.
God is the one who orchestratesall of history.
These verses, god is the onewho orchestrates all of history.
And, as the passage that weread opens, in chapter 41, verse
21, the Lord says submit yourcase.
Let me hear your arguments.
This sounds a little more likea courtroom drama than a music
(10:00):
studio, but it's important forus to understand the gravity of
who this God is.
And the very first thing Goddoes is issue a future telling
challenge.
You see that in verse 40, inchapter 41, verses 22 and 23,
where God there invites theseother so-called gods yeah, come
in, tell us the past, tell usthe future, then we'll know that
(10:23):
you're legitimate.
Tell us the past, tell us thefuture, then we'll know that
you're legitimate.
But they can't because they'reworthless.
Then, if you look ahead to thelast couple of verses.
I read chapter 42, verses 8 and9,.
There God reiterates the uniqueability that he has.
I am the Lord.
That is my name.
I won't give my glory toanother.
The past events have indeedhappened.
(10:44):
Now I declare new events, Iannounce them to you before they
occur.
So God's telling Israel this iswho I am.
I can tell the future.
That's what makes him God.
There was a movement called opentheism.
It still exists.
It was a little more well-knowna couple decades ago, but these
(11:07):
were people who said we'reChristians but we believe God
doesn't know the future, or atleast there's significant
amounts of the future that Goddoesn't know.
And in their minds that madeGod more able to live life
alongside of you in a relatableway, like if something bad
(11:28):
happens to you, god is just assurprised as you are, but he's
going to walk right there besideyou.
Now there's a lot of problemswith that viewpoint, but a big
one is that it makes God notreally God.
Our passage makes it very clearthat that's what it is to be.
The true God is to know thefuture exhaustively, perfectly,
(11:51):
and God does that.
And if God doesn't know thefuture with certainty.
How can that provide hope?
Why would we think the futureis going to be any different
than the present?
But God knows the futurebecause he's ultimately in
(12:11):
control, and you can see thathere in our passage.
Look at chapter 41, verse 25,where God says I've stirred up
one from the north and he hascome.
God knew that Israel would beattacked by nations like Assyria
or like Babylon, because he wasin control and because he's in
control, when he offers a songof hope, it's bound to come to
(12:35):
pass.
Listen for the song of theservant.
When we look at these firstverses in Isaiah 42, this first
servant song, we see that God'sservant carries out God's
purposes.
How does he do that?
I'm going to give you four ways.
(12:57):
I'm going to highlight fourways that God's servant carries
out God's purposes here in thisfirst servant song carries out
God's purposes here in thisfirst servant song.
If you want to think of theseas sort of four lines of music
that perfectly harmonize ifthat's helpful to you.
If that's not helpful to you,don't worry about it.
Number one the servant shows thetender heart of God.
(13:18):
That's in verses one to threeof Isaiah 42.
Number two the servantestablishes justice.
In the first four verses Numberthree the servant fulfills the
covenants.
That's from verse number six.
And then number four theservant restores what was lost.
(13:38):
So let's consider first howthis servant shows the tender
heart of God.
Verse 2 again he will not cryout or shout or make his voice
heard in the streets.
He will not break a bruisedreed.
He will not put out asmoldering wick.
(14:01):
He will faithfully bringjustice.
Put out a smoldering wick, hewill faithfully bring justice.
When the text says here thatthe servant doesn't cry out or
lift up his voice, it doesn'tmean the servant is shy.
It means he's not the guy atthe beach on the 4th of July
blasting music like he owns thewhole beach and he doesn't care
(14:23):
about anyone else.
Right Proverbs 9, verse 13,.
The woman folly is loud.
The servant of Isaiah 42 is nota fool, he's wise, and part of
that wisdom is a tender heart.
He does listen, he doesunderstand, he does sympathize
with his people.
Verse three gives us twoadditional images breaking a
(14:48):
bruised reed.
Additional images Breaking abruised reed, putting out a
smoldering wick.
Maybe when you were younger Idid this sometimes.
But you're in a marshy area andyou want to build something, or
you want to maybe have a playfight with your brother or some
friends and you go to grab areed and you can't always tell
by looking at it.
Sometimes you grab a reed andit's wet and just flops over in
(15:11):
your hands.
What do you do?
You discard it.
That's not going to work forwhat I need to do here.
What happens when you've got acandle and the candle's down
towards the end and it justdoesn't seem to stay lit?
Well, you just discard it andget a new one that works.
Our Lord doesn't discard peoplethat are bruised, he lifts them
(15:35):
up.
Our lord doesn't clap a cupover a flickering flame.
He blows on it, he restores it.
It that's the heart of theservant we find here in this
passage.
And I say that the servant isshowing the tender heart of God
(15:57):
because in verse 1 of chapter 42, god says that he puts his own
spirit on the servant, not adifferent spirit, his own spirit
.
If you've forgotten Isaiah 30,verse 18, let me remind you of
that verse.
Therefore, the Lord is waitingto show you mercy.
(16:17):
He's rising up to show youcompassion.
The servant is not the nice guywho's trying to calm God down.
The servant is the son sentfrom the father's side, who
reveals the very heart of God,same nature, a nature filled
(16:38):
with tender mercy.
God wants to show us who he is.
How often did Jesus reach outto touch people that were
untouchable, to restore peoplewho were wounded?
Are you sick and sore today?
Jesus, ready, stands to saveyou.
Are you bruised today?
If you're not today, you willbe one day.
(16:58):
The servant's there for you.
God is there for you.
If you're interested in thinkingmore about this wonderful
attribute of the Lord's servant,I could recommend a book called
Gentle and Lowly by DaneOrtlund.
Or there's another older bookby a man named Richard Sibbes.
(17:19):
The language is a little moredifficult, but it's a great book
of compassion called theBruised Read, drawn right from
the language of our passage heretoday.
Listen to a few of the thingsthat Richard Sibbes says.
None are fitter for comfortthan those that think themselves
furthest off from that comfort.
Again, there's more mercy inChrist than sin in us.
(17:46):
A mother who has a sick andself-willed child will not cast
it away for that reason.
And shall there be more mercyin the stream than there is in
the spring?
Shall we think there is moremercy in ourselves than in God,
who plants the feeling of mercyin us.
And then one last quote fromSibbes the consciousness of the
(18:12):
church's weakness makes herwilling to lean on her beloved
and to hide herself under hiswings.
The servant shows us the tenderheart of God.
Second, the servant establishesjustice.
You see three different timesin the first four verses of
(18:33):
chapter 42 that motif.
So listen for that as I readagain this is my servant, I will
strengthen him.
This is my chosen one.
I delight in him.
I've put my spirit on him.
He will bring justice to thenations.
He will not cry out or shout ormake his voice heard in the
streets.
He will not break a.
There it is again.
He will not grow weak or bediscouraged until he has
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established justice on the earth.
Now already we're hitting apotential tension between this
second way the servant carriesout God's purpose and the first
way.
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When we think of people thatestablish justice, we think of
people that get things done.
When we think of tenderheartedpeople, we don't always think of
people who get things doneright.
Imagine just a hypotheticalexample.
Imagine you have a country anda leader who seemed kind, but he
seemed a little bit feebleright Now imagine purely
(19:50):
hypothetical example.
Let's imagine you've got acountry and they have a leader
that seems a little moreenergetic and effective in some
ways.
But maybe compassion isn'treally his strong suit.
What's impossible with man ispossible with God and with human
politicians.
We don't know what's in theirheart, we don't know how much of
(20:12):
their display is in their heartor what's just for show.
But God is showing us his hearthere.
He's tenderhearted and yet he'sable to accomplish all of his
holy will.
He's able to bring aboutjustice.
So the servant establishesjustice and as he does that, he
(20:36):
carries out God's missionarypurpose.
Let me unpack that argument Inthis particular passage, isaiah
42,.
I don't think here that Isaiahis emphasizing God's final
judgment against his enemies.
That's true, that's coming.
Christ returned with a rod ofiron to take vengeance on those
who don't trust in him.
(20:56):
But here Isaiah is focused onthe servant's redemptive rule,
his saving rule.
Now why do I say that?
Well, first I'll give you a fewreasons.
First, in Hebrew, the wordthat's translated here as
justice multiple times in thispassage, is a word that has a
lot of variety in Scripture.
(21:16):
It's used an awful lot in theOld Testament.
It sometimes does have the ideaof retributive justice.
In other words, you didsomething wrong, now
punishment's coming, or tributeof justice.
It has that in scripture, butthat's not the only way that
it's used.
It's also used at other timesto refer to laws or ordinance,
(21:40):
god's plan for what justicewould look like as it's lived
out.
Leviticus 18.5 says keep mystatutes and my justices.
To say it kind of literallylike that, a person will live if
he does them.
Here in Isaiah 42, theservant's bringing about a right
state of affairs where his lawis loved and honored.
(22:04):
And what does the Bibleprophesy about the new covenant?
And what does the Bibleprophesy about the new covenant?
He'll write his law on ourhearts.
Another reason I emphasize thissaving rule of the servant is
in verse 4, there are parallelclauses.
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Not trying to bore you withfancy words, but I want you to
see this.
This is a section of poetrywords, but I want you to see
this.
This is a section of poetry.
Often in poetry one line sayssomething similar to the
previous line to help expand itand confirm it in some way.
So if you look at the secondline of verse four, it says that
he will establish justice onthe earth.
And then the third line runningparallel to that says the
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coasts and islands wait for hisinstruction or for his law,
depending on what yourtranslation might be.
So earth in that second linegoes with coasts and islands,
all people everywhere.
But then that means thatjustice goes with instruction or
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law.
Do you see that how?
Instruction and law is anotherway of talking about what God's
justice looks like here in thispassage, the people far off need
to hear God's instruction, hislaw.
That was true in Israel's day.
It's still true in our day.
They need to know who God isand what he wants for them to
(23:39):
know him and how to honor himand love him and obey him.
A third reason I'm arguing thatjustice here is focused more on
God's rule of redemption isbecause it fits the context of
the following verses.
So if you look at verse six, itsays the servant is a covenant
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for the people, not a covenantagainst the people.
He's a light to the nations,he's not judgment against the
nations.
And then verse 7 also speaksmore of his saving activities.
Okay, so the servant isestablishing justice, he's
bringing about a right state ofaffairs, the well-ordered
(24:23):
desires that God wants.
You might say, okay, mike welland good.
You might say, okay, mike, welland good.
The servants?
Peace on earth, goodwill to men.
He's bringing in God's rule.
I don't see it.
What I see are wars and rumorsof wars.
(24:44):
Keep in mind we haven't seenthe end of everything yet.
God is patient.
He's slow to establish his workand his rule and his reign.
And in this age, the age beforeJesus Christ returns, where we
should see God's laws lived outthe best, the best are in our
(25:05):
churches, not in our parliaments.
Now we want politicians to besaved.
We want movie stars andathletes and social media
influencers.
We want them to get saved.
We want God's law everywhere,but where we see it especially
lived out are the people whohave those new hearts and the
law written on their hearts.
So that should be first andforemost in our churches in this
(25:28):
present age.
That should be first andforemost in our churches in this
present age.
And yes, sadly, sometimes evenchurches can look more like an
ornery and bickering world thanlike this redemptive rule of God
.
But we want to ask if a churchis a place more about division
(25:49):
and discord than about Christ'stender heart and just laws, we
have to ask are we really, thenshowcasing the glorious rule and
reign of Christ, the way thatwe should be?
Or you could personalize thatquestion.
If I'm so consumed with my ownpersonal idea of what I think
(26:09):
justice needs to be and there'sno aroma of Christ in my life,
do I really know him?
Has he given me that new heart?
Or am I just saying I'm aChristian?
And this is where I have towarn you, as Isaiah does often
throughout the book if we livesimply professing to know Christ
(26:30):
but our hearts are really farfrom him, we don't know him.
If we live under that hypocrisy, then there's only an
expectation of judgment.
If you're here today and youjust don't listen for the song
of the servant you just plugyour ears to that song then
there's judgment coming for you.
Then there's judgment comingfor you.
But when you come and kneel,there's mercy, because there's
(26:57):
more mercy in Christ than thereis sin in you.
God's servant.
Number one shows the tenderheart of God.
Number two he establishesjustice.
Number three he fulfills thecovenants.
I'm getting this from verse six.
I am the Lord.
I've called you for a righteouspurpose.
I will hold you by your hand, Iwill watch over you and I will
(27:19):
appoint you to be a covenant forthe people and a light to the
nations.
I'll appoint you to be acovenant for the people.
That's an unusual expression.
The Bible talks a lot aboutcovenants, but here's God
speaking to his servant andsaying that he'll appoint his
(27:39):
servant to be a covenant.
What does that mean?
A covenant is an agreementbetween two people, like a
contract, but covenants are morepersonal and in scripture, god
is usually the one who comes andsets the terms of his covenant
with his people.
But how do you make a servant acovenant?
(28:02):
If you're going to buy a houseand you show up, sign the
contract, what are the issueshere?
And the owner says, oh, there'sno contract, but here's my son,
he's the contract.
What does that mean?
I don't know that.
I was bargaining for this.
You got to explain that to me.
Well, in order to understand.
If we're going to understandthis verse and it's so powerful
(28:25):
when we can grasp what God issaying here In order to
understand what it means for Godto appoint his servant to be a
covenant, we really have tounderstand the whole history of
God's covenant dealings with hispeople in the Bible.
Now don't say, oh boy, I thoughtwe were in points three or four
(28:46):
.
We're doing well, but thisrefreshing leftover watermelon
is going to have to wait a while, more than I thought.
If we're going to go throughthe whole, we're not going to do
a deep dive into every aspectof God's covenants with his
people, but let me justsummarize it for you.
God comes to people and saysthis is how we're going to
relate.
I'm going to do these thingsand you're going to do these
(29:08):
things.
And God always holds up his sideof the bargain, but humans
constantly fail.
God blesses Adam and Eve, andthey sin.
God blesses Noah he goes andgets drunk.
God blesses Abraham he says,well, I'll have a son through my
(29:31):
servant in order to really helpthings out.
God blesses Israel, and they gomake a golden calf.
Do you understand that?
Covenant failure after covenantfailure?
God is the faithful, divinecovenant partner and he's
(29:52):
looking for the faithful humancovenant partner, but he can't
find one, so he provides one.
The servant is the faithfulhuman covenant partner.
He has to be truly human to bewhat God is looking for.
(30:13):
But if he's merely human, he'sjust going to fail, like all
other humans fail.
So the servant is human and yethe's also divine.
The servant is the fulfillmentof all of those covenant
obligations.
He's not just a model for us.
(30:36):
This is very important.
God is not saying all right,humanity here having some
problems, I'm going to send myservant now.
Watch and learn.
He'll teach you how to obey.
He does do that.
But if you think the gospel isthat God will help you to obey
him better, you don't understandthe gospel.
Yes, christ will put the law onour hearts.
(31:00):
We'll slowly and progressivelybegin to want to know him and
obey him more and more.
That happens, but that's notthe good news.
The good news is Christ hascome and done it all.
That's the first and gloriousthing to understand.
He is a perfectly fulfilledcovenant, signed, sealed and
delivered to you as a gift.
(31:31):
Last line of music in this firstservant song, the servant
restores what was lost.
Verse 6 says that God will makethe servant to be a light for
the nations.
Well, that was part of Israel'spurpose.
And now here's a servant comingalong and doing it.
They were blinded by idolatry.
He's going to open blind eyes.
God had already told Abraham,the very father of the Israelite
(31:51):
people, in you, all thefamilies of the earth will be
blessed.
It's not just Israel.
It was God's intention to blessall kinds of people.
This goes back well beforeIsrael, to Adam and Eve in the
garden.
Be fruitful and multiply thathis image might be filling all
the earth.
The servants restoring what waslost.
(32:11):
Verse number seven the servantbrings prisoners out of the
dungeon.
The Lord brought Joseph out ofthe prison house in Egypt.
The Lord brought his people outof slavery from Egypt and took
them in the promised land.
And our Lord Jesus Christ freesthose who were held captive to
(32:33):
evil.
Hebrews, chapter two.
We're no longer prisoners If wetrust in Jesus Christ.
We've turned from our sins.
We're sons and daughters of Godthrough faith in him.
And there's more.
Throughout Isaiah We've seenthese themes of a new creation.
We'll see them as the prophetcontinues on in future chapters.
That begins by turning from sin, because if anyone's in Christ
(32:56):
2 Corinthians 5, he's a newcreation.
But one day all the effects ofsin in the world will be gone
forever.
One day will be perfected inevery way spiritually,
emotionally, even those physicalstains and blemishes gone
(33:17):
because of the work of theservant.
The Lord declares it inIsaiah's day.
The Lord declares it inIsaiah's day and he knows the
future and orchestrates all ofhistory.
So the song is surely going tocome to pass.
What has been lost will berestored, and the end is even
greater than the beginning.
(33:39):
This should be music to ourears.
Are we listening for the songof the servant?
The servant shows us the tenderheart of God.
He establishes justice, hefulfills the covenants, he
restores what was lost, andwe'll see more in future.
(34:04):
Servant songs in the book ofIsaiah.
These songs don't necessarilycome with a John Philip Sousa
marching band loudness.
They come with the Spirit'swork in our hearts.
Listen for the song of theservant.
(34:25):
There's a story that's told.
I think it's a work ofhistorical fiction, but it
illustrates something.
In this story it's World War Iand there's a man who works for
the British army but he'sconstantly being monitored and
watched by German spies and hetries to figure out how can I
let the British soldiers know?
I have information and I'm withthem, without the Germans
knowing?
And he comes up with an idea tosing a song.
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Well, how is that going to help?
He sings a song.
That's an old Scottish tunethat's not known by everyone,
but it works.
And the Germans, the enemies,don't know, but the people that
have ears to hear the British.
They recognize it and thathelps him get the information
(35:09):
that wins the battle leads togreat success for Britain.
Who knew that a little songcould reveal so much?
The people of Israel are indesperate trouble in Isaiah's
day and left to ourselves.
We're all in much worse trouble, but help has come because the
(35:32):
servant has come.
Christ has come.
Do we have ears to hear?
Let's pray that we do.
Lord God, oh Lord, how we praiseyou for tuning our ears to sing
your praise and the song thatmight be despised by the world.
(35:54):
We understand that our Christhimself was despised and
rejected by people, but howbeautiful he is, if not
beautiful in outward splendorand majesty while he lived, yet
beautiful nonetheless to thosewhose hearts are aching for
redemption, who find the guiltand weight of our own repeated
(36:18):
failure, and to know that thisChrist draws near to us and it's
part of your plan, oh Lord,thank you, father, son and
Spirit, for being a God of suchdeep compassion and to provide a
way, when there was no way, toprovide yourself as a substitute
for us.
(36:40):
Lord, would our hearts abound inpraise, would our hearts be
filled not most with our guiltbut even more with the saviors.
Who's come to take that away?
That there's no condemnation tothose of us who are in Jesus
Christ.
Lord, as we continue to presson through this book of Isaiah,
(37:02):
we thank you and we pray thatyou would indeed tune our hearts
to sing your praise, to singthis song of the servant.
And even now we thank you thatthese elements show us about the
tender heart of God.
These elements show us aboutforgiveness and compassion and
reconciliation.
So we take these elements withmusical joy in our souls.
(37:23):
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Turn to Isaiah.
(00:00):
If you have a Bible with you,turn to Isaiah, chapter 41.
If you want to grab the PewBible there, if you don't have a
Bible today, you can find ourpassage starting on page 636.
Isaiah 41, we're continuing tomove through this book of Isaiah
, and the passage we're going tolook at today begins in chapter
(00:26):
41, starting with verse 21.
And then we'll look downthrough chapter 42, verse 9.
And we'll focus especially onthose first seven verses of
chapter 42.
Now, it's a little unusual tobe in the middle of one chapter
or the middle of the next, butkeep in mind, there's no chapter
divisions.
When Isaiah first composed this, it was all one book.
(00:48):
So we're going to take thatchunk of the scripture today
Isaiah 41, verses 21, throughverse 42, 9.
I'll read this for us Submityour case, says the Lord.
Present your arguments, saysJacob's king.
Let them come and tell us whatwill happen.
(01:09):
Tell us the past events so thatwe may reflect on them and know
the outcome.
Or tell us the future.
Tell us the coming events, thenwe will know that you are gods.
Indeed.
Do something, good or bad, thenwe will be in awe when we see
it.
Look, you are nothing and yourwork is worthless.
(01:30):
Anyone who chooses you isdetestable.
I have stirred up one from thenorth and he has come one from
the east who invokes my name.
He will march over rulers as ifthey were mud, like a potter
who treads the clay.
Who told about this from thebeginning, so that we may know,
and from times past, that wemight say he is right?
(01:53):
No one announced it, no onetold it, no one heard your words
.
I was the first to say to Zionlook, here they are, and I gave
Jerusalem a herald with goodnews.
When I look, there is no one.
There is no counselor amongthem.
When I ask them, they havenothing to say.
Look, all of them are adelusion.
(02:15):
Their works are non-existentand their images are wind and
emptiness.
Look, this is my servant.
I strengthen him.
This is my chosen one.
I delight in him.
I have put my spirit on him.
He will bring justice to thenations.
He will not cry out or shout ormake his voice heard in the
(02:37):
streets.
He will not break a bruisedreed and he will not put out a
smoldering wick.
He will faithfully bringjustice.
He will not grow out asmoldering wick.
He will faithfully bringjustice.
He will not grow weak or bediscouraged.
Until he has establishedjustice on earth, the coasts and
islands will wait for hisinstruction.
This is what God, the Lord, says.
(02:57):
Who created the heavens andstretched them out, who spread
out the earth and what comesfrom it, who gives breath to the
people on it and spirit tothose who walk on it?
I am the Lord.
I have called you for arighteous purpose and I will
hold you by your hand.
I will watch over you and Iwill appoint you to be a
covenant for the people and alight to the nations, in order
(03:20):
to open blind eyes, to bring outprisoners from the dungeon and
those sitting in darkness fromthe prison house.
I am the Lord.
That is my name, and I will notgive my glory to another or my
praise to idols.
The past events have indeedhappened.
Now I declare new events.
(03:40):
I announce them to you beforethey occur.
Let's pray again, lord.
We're seeking you today.
The God who knows our hearts,knows our hearts in ways that we
can't even know our hearts.
Yet all things are open to you,the one that we give account,
to Give us listening ears today.
(04:02):
Thank you that you give usscriptures that bring us such
hope and consolation.
May we find that here throughyour word in Jesus' name, amen.
What do you do when you fail?
Well, if at first you don'tsucceed, try, try again.
What happens when that doesn'treally work and you seem to keep
(04:26):
failing?
People are often looking forsome kind of hope.
It could be something as sillyas when I feel down, I just I go
eat a Nathan's hot dog and thenI know everything is right in
the world again.
Or it could be something moresignificant, like you go and
talk to a friend aboutwhatever's going on in your life
(04:47):
.
Sometimes people find hope insongs, some kind of combination
of the lyrics, the poetry, themelody.
It lifts their spirits, spirits.
(05:10):
In our passage today in Isaiah,we come to the first servant
song, and it's a song of hopeagainst a backdrop of failure.
Listen for the song of theservant.
Isaiah has four particularpassages that are often
identified as servant songsIsaiah 49, verses 1 to 6, isaiah
50, verses 4 to 11, isaiah 52,13 to 53, 12, and then included
(05:34):
in our passage for today, isaiah42, 1 to 7.
Now they're called servantsongs because they're poetic,
lyrical passages and they allbring out God's servant, this
figure that is described indifferent and complementary ways
(05:56):
.
Who is the servant?
Well, back in Isaiah 20, theprophet Isaiah himself is called
God's servant.
Sometimes kings likeNebuchadnezzar or Cyrus could be
described in some sense as aservant of God.
If you look back to chapter 41of Isaiah, verse number 8 from
(06:19):
last week, even Israel as anation is called a servant of
God.
But then, as chapter 42 begins,this is my servant, or some of
your translations might even saybehold my servant.
(06:39):
God is pointing us to a servantthat is much greater than
Isaiah or kings of the world oreven nations like Israel.
Some of you that are a littlemore familiar and acquainted
with your Bibles might recognizethose first four verses of
chapter 42.
(06:59):
The verses that I read there inpart.
Those are verses that Matthewquotes in his gospel.
In Matthew chapter 12, matthewcites those verses.
I read behold my servant.
I put my spirit on him.
He will not cry aloud.
He quotes those verses andapplies them directly to the
Lord Jesus Christ.
(07:21):
So we know where this is going,but don't rush to the end of the
song too quickly.
There's these people thatalways want to rush to the end
of the song.
You've got that friend Everytime Stairway to Heaven comes on
, they want to rush to theconclusion.
Let the song build, but listenfor the song of the servant.
(07:42):
It's a song of great hope but,as I said, it's set against this
backdrop of failure.
Verses 8 and 9 of chapter 41from last week Israel, my
servant Jacob, whom I've chosen.
Why did God choose Israel to behis special servant?
(08:04):
One of the reasons, one of thepurposes that he announced to
them was they could be a lightto the nations as they loved God
and worshiped him and obeyedhim.
Other nations could look andsee wow, I want to be like them,
I want to serve and know thisGod.
But they failed.
(08:25):
They actually became more likethe other nations.
They turned to idolatry, justlike the other nations.
Now, before we clock our tonguestoo much at Israel, have any of
us done much better?
I don't mean have you gotten agood grade on a test, or have
you ever won a softballchampionship, or have you ever
(08:49):
gotten that job promotion.
I mean in our moral conditionbefore God, when God tells us
things like be holy as I am holy, give thanks in all
circumstances, for this is God'swill for you.
Haven't we all failed?
Israel's problem is reallyhumanity's problem.
(09:14):
But listen for the song of theservant, listen for this
beautiful hope that God offersto us.
Now we're going to lookespecially at this first servant
song today, but before I diveinto that song, I want to spend
just a little more time talkingabout the composer of the song.
I don't mean Isaiah.
He's the human author, yes, butI'm speaking of the God who
(09:37):
inspired Isaiah to write theseverses.
God is the one who orchestratesall of history.
These verses, god is the onewho orchestrates all of history.
And, as the passage that weread opens, in chapter 41, verse
21, the Lord says submit yourcase.
Let me hear your arguments.
This sounds a little more likea courtroom drama than a music
(10:00):
studio, but it's important forus to understand the gravity of
who this God is.
And the very first thing Goddoes is issue a future telling
challenge.
You see that in verse 40, inchapter 41, verses 22 and 23,
where God there invites theseother so-called gods yeah, come
in, tell us the past, tell usthe future, then we'll know that
(10:23):
you're legitimate.
Tell us the past, tell us thefuture, then we'll know that
you're legitimate.
But they can't because they'reworthless.
Then, if you look ahead to thelast couple of verses.
I read chapter 42, verses 8 and9,.
There God reiterates the uniqueability that he has.
I am the Lord.
That is my name.
I won't give my glory toanother.
The past events have indeedhappened.
(10:44):
Now I declare new events, Iannounce them to you before they
occur.
So God's telling Israel this iswho I am.
I can tell the future.
That's what makes him God.
There was a movement called opentheism.
It still exists.
It was a little more well-knowna couple decades ago, but these
(11:07):
were people who said we'reChristians but we believe God
doesn't know the future, or atleast there's significant
amounts of the future that Goddoesn't know.
And in their minds that madeGod more able to live life
alongside of you in a relatableway, like if something bad
(11:28):
happens to you, god is just assurprised as you are, but he's
going to walk right there besideyou.
Now there's a lot of problemswith that viewpoint, but a big
one is that it makes God notreally God.
Our passage makes it very clearthat that's what it is to be.
The true God is to know thefuture exhaustively, perfectly,
(11:51):
and God does that.
And if God doesn't know thefuture with certainty.
How can that provide hope?
Why would we think the futureis going to be any different
than the present?
But God knows the futurebecause he's ultimately in
(12:11):
control, and you can see thathere in our passage.
Look at chapter 41, verse 25,where God says I've stirred up
one from the north and he hascome.
God knew that Israel would beattacked by nations like Assyria
or like Babylon, because he wasin control and because he's in
control, when he offers a songof hope, it's bound to come to
(12:35):
pass.
Listen for the song of theservant.
When we look at these firstverses in Isaiah 42, this first
servant song, we see that God'sservant carries out God's
purposes.
How does he do that?
I'm going to give you four ways.
(12:57):
I'm going to highlight fourways that God's servant carries
out God's purposes here in thisfirst servant song carries out
God's purposes here in thisfirst servant song.
If you want to think of theseas sort of four lines of music
that perfectly harmonize ifthat's helpful to you.
If that's not helpful to you,don't worry about it.
Number one the servant shows thetender heart of God.
(13:18):
That's in verses one to threeof Isaiah 42.
Number two the servantestablishes justice.
In the first four verses Numberthree the servant fulfills the
covenants.
That's from verse number six.
And then number four theservant restores what was lost.
(13:38):
So let's consider first howthis servant shows the tender
heart of God.
Verse 2 again he will not cryout or shout or make his voice
heard in the streets.
He will not break a bruisedreed.
He will not put out asmoldering wick.
(14:01):
He will faithfully bringjustice.
Put out a smoldering wick, hewill faithfully bring justice.
When the text says here thatthe servant doesn't cry out or
lift up his voice, it doesn'tmean the servant is shy.
It means he's not the guy atthe beach on the 4th of July
blasting music like he owns thewhole beach and he doesn't care
(14:23):
about anyone else.
Right Proverbs 9, verse 13,.
The woman folly is loud.
The servant of Isaiah 42 is nota fool, he's wise, and part of
that wisdom is a tender heart.
He does listen, he doesunderstand, he does sympathize
with his people.
Verse three gives us twoadditional images breaking a
(14:48):
bruised reed.
Additional images Breaking abruised reed, putting out a
smoldering wick.
Maybe when you were younger Idid this sometimes.
But you're in a marshy area andyou want to build something, or
you want to maybe have a playfight with your brother or some
friends and you go to grab areed and you can't always tell
by looking at it.
Sometimes you grab a reed andit's wet and just flops over in
(15:11):
your hands.
What do you do?
You discard it.
That's not going to work forwhat I need to do here.
What happens when you've got acandle and the candle's down
towards the end and it justdoesn't seem to stay lit?
Well, you just discard it andget a new one that works.
Our Lord doesn't discard peoplethat are bruised, he lifts them
(15:35):
up.
Our lord doesn't clap a cupover a flickering flame.
He blows on it, he restores it.
It that's the heart of theservant we find here in this
passage.
And I say that the servant isshowing the tender heart of God
(15:57):
because in verse 1 of chapter 42, god says that he puts his own
spirit on the servant, not adifferent spirit, his own spirit
.
If you've forgotten Isaiah 30,verse 18, let me remind you of
that verse.
Therefore, the Lord is waitingto show you mercy.
(16:17):
He's rising up to show youcompassion.
The servant is not the nice guywho's trying to calm God down.
The servant is the son sentfrom the father's side, who
reveals the very heart of God,same nature, a nature filled
(16:38):
with tender mercy.
God wants to show us who he is.
How often did Jesus reach outto touch people that were
untouchable, to restore peoplewho were wounded?
Are you sick and sore today?
Jesus, ready, stands to saveyou.
Are you bruised today?
If you're not today, you willbe one day.
(16:58):
The servant's there for you.
God is there for you.
If you're interested in thinkingmore about this wonderful
attribute of the Lord's servant,I could recommend a book called
Gentle and Lowly by DaneOrtlund.
Or there's another older bookby a man named Richard Sibbes.
(17:19):
The language is a little moredifficult, but it's a great book
of compassion called theBruised Read, drawn right from
the language of our passage heretoday.
Listen to a few of the thingsthat Richard Sibbes says.
None are fitter for comfortthan those that think themselves
furthest off from that comfort.
Again, there's more mercy inChrist than sin in us.
(17:46):
A mother who has a sick andself-willed child will not cast
it away for that reason.
And shall there be more mercyin the stream than there is in
the spring?
Shall we think there is moremercy in ourselves than in God,
who plants the feeling of mercyin us.
And then one last quote fromSibbes the consciousness of the
(18:12):
church's weakness makes herwilling to lean on her beloved
and to hide herself under hiswings.
The servant shows us the tenderheart of God.
Second, the servant establishesjustice.
You see three different timesin the first four verses of
(18:33):
chapter 42 that motif.
So listen for that as I readagain this is my servant, I will
strengthen him.
This is my chosen one.
I delight in him.
I've put my spirit on him.
He will bring justice to thenations.
He will not cry out or shout ormake his voice heard in the
streets.
He will not break a.
There it is again.
He will not grow weak or bediscouraged until he has
(19:02):
established justice on the earth.
Now already we're hitting apotential tension between this
second way the servant carriesout God's purpose and the first
way.
(19:26):
When we think of people thatestablish justice, we think of
people that get things done.
When we think of tenderheartedpeople, we don't always think of
people who get things doneright.
Imagine just a hypotheticalexample.
Imagine you have a country anda leader who seemed kind, but he
seemed a little bit feebleright Now imagine purely
(19:50):
hypothetical example.
Let's imagine you've got acountry and they have a leader
that seems a little moreenergetic and effective in some
ways.
But maybe compassion isn'treally his strong suit.
What's impossible with man ispossible with God and with human
politicians.
We don't know what's in theirheart, we don't know how much of
(20:12):
their display is in their heartor what's just for show.
But God is showing us his hearthere.
He's tenderhearted and yet he'sable to accomplish all of his
holy will.
He's able to bring aboutjustice.
So the servant establishesjustice and as he does that, he
(20:36):
carries out God's missionarypurpose.
Let me unpack that argument Inthis particular passage, isaiah
42,.
I don't think here that Isaiahis emphasizing God's final
judgment against his enemies.
That's true, that's coming.
Christ returned with a rod ofiron to take vengeance on those
who don't trust in him.
(20:56):
But here Isaiah is focused onthe servant's redemptive rule,
his saving rule.
Now why do I say that?
Well, first I'll give you a fewreasons.
First, in Hebrew, the wordthat's translated here as
justice multiple times in thispassage, is a word that has a
lot of variety in Scripture.
(21:16):
It's used an awful lot in theOld Testament.
It sometimes does have the ideaof retributive justice.
In other words, you didsomething wrong, now
punishment's coming, or tributeof justice.
It has that in scripture, butthat's not the only way that
it's used.
It's also used at other timesto refer to laws or ordinance,
(21:40):
god's plan for what justicewould look like as it's lived
out.
Leviticus 18.5 says keep mystatutes and my justices.
To say it kind of literallylike that, a person will live if
he does them.
Here in Isaiah 42, theservant's bringing about a right
state of affairs where his lawis loved and honored.
(22:04):
And what does the Bibleprophesy about the new covenant?
And what does the Bibleprophesy about the new covenant?
He'll write his law on ourhearts.
Another reason I emphasize thissaving rule of the servant is
in verse 4, there are parallelclauses.
(22:27):
Not trying to bore you withfancy words, but I want you to
see this.
This is a section of poetrywords, but I want you to see
this.
This is a section of poetry.
Often in poetry one line sayssomething similar to the
previous line to help expand itand confirm it in some way.
So if you look at the secondline of verse four, it says that
he will establish justice onthe earth.
And then the third line runningparallel to that says the
(22:51):
coasts and islands wait for hisinstruction or for his law,
depending on what yourtranslation might be.
So earth in that second linegoes with coasts and islands,
all people everywhere.
But then that means thatjustice goes with instruction or
(23:14):
law.
Do you see that how?
Instruction and law is anotherway of talking about what God's
justice looks like here in thispassage, the people far off need
to hear God's instruction, hislaw.
That was true in Israel's day.
It's still true in our day.
They need to know who God isand what he wants for them to
(23:39):
know him and how to honor himand love him and obey him.
A third reason I'm arguing thatjustice here is focused more on
God's rule of redemption isbecause it fits the context of
the following verses.
So if you look at verse six, itsays the servant is a covenant
(24:01):
for the people, not a covenantagainst the people.
He's a light to the nations,he's not judgment against the
nations.
And then verse 7 also speaksmore of his saving activities.
Okay, so the servant isestablishing justice, he's
bringing about a right state ofaffairs, the well-ordered
(24:23):
desires that God wants.
You might say, okay, mike welland good.
You might say, okay, mike, welland good.
The servants?
Peace on earth, goodwill to men.
He's bringing in God's rule.
I don't see it.
What I see are wars and rumorsof wars.
(24:44):
Keep in mind we haven't seenthe end of everything yet.
God is patient.
He's slow to establish his workand his rule and his reign.
And in this age, the age beforeJesus Christ returns, where we
should see God's laws lived outthe best, the best are in our
(25:05):
churches, not in our parliaments.
Now we want politicians to besaved.
We want movie stars andathletes and social media
influencers.
We want them to get saved.
We want God's law everywhere,but where we see it especially
lived out are the people whohave those new hearts and the
law written on their hearts.
So that should be first andforemost in our churches in this
(25:28):
present age.
That should be first andforemost in our churches in this
present age.
And yes, sadly, sometimes evenchurches can look more like an
ornery and bickering world thanlike this redemptive rule of God
.
But we want to ask if a churchis a place more about division
(25:49):
and discord than about Christ'stender heart and just laws, we
have to ask are we really, thenshowcasing the glorious rule and
reign of Christ, the way thatwe should be?
Or you could personalize thatquestion.
If I'm so consumed with my ownpersonal idea of what I think
(26:09):
justice needs to be and there'sno aroma of Christ in my life,
do I really know him?
Has he given me that new heart?
Or am I just saying I'm aChristian?
And this is where I have towarn you, as Isaiah does often
throughout the book if we livesimply professing to know Christ
(26:30):
but our hearts are really farfrom him, we don't know him.
If we live under that hypocrisy, then there's only an
expectation of judgment.
If you're here today and youjust don't listen for the song
of the servant you just plugyour ears to that song then
there's judgment coming for you.
Then there's judgment comingfor you.
But when you come and kneel,there's mercy, because there's
(26:57):
more mercy in Christ than thereis sin in you.
God's servant.
Number one shows the tenderheart of God.
Number two he establishesjustice.
Number three he fulfills thecovenants.
I'm getting this from verse six.
I am the Lord.
I've called you for a righteouspurpose.
I will hold you by your hand, Iwill watch over you and I will
(27:19):
appoint you to be a covenant forthe people and a light to the
nations.
I'll appoint you to be acovenant for the people.
That's an unusual expression.
The Bible talks a lot aboutcovenants, but here's God
speaking to his servant andsaying that he'll appoint his
(27:39):
servant to be a covenant.
What does that mean?
A covenant is an agreementbetween two people, like a
contract, but covenants are morepersonal and in scripture, god
is usually the one who comes andsets the terms of his covenant
with his people.
But how do you make a servant acovenant?
(28:02):
If you're going to buy a houseand you show up, sign the
contract, what are the issueshere?
And the owner says, oh, there'sno contract, but here's my son,
he's the contract.
What does that mean?
I don't know that.
I was bargaining for this.
You got to explain that to me.
Well, in order to understand.
If we're going to understandthis verse and it's so powerful
(28:25):
when we can grasp what God issaying here In order to
understand what it means for Godto appoint his servant to be a
covenant, we really have tounderstand the whole history of
God's covenant dealings with hispeople in the Bible.
Now don't say, oh boy, I thoughtwe were in points three or four
(28:46):
.
We're doing well, but thisrefreshing leftover watermelon
is going to have to wait a while, more than I thought.
If we're going to go throughthe whole, we're not going to do
a deep dive into every aspectof God's covenants with his
people, but let me justsummarize it for you.
God comes to people and saysthis is how we're going to
relate.
I'm going to do these thingsand you're going to do these
(29:08):
things.
And God always holds up his sideof the bargain, but humans
constantly fail.
God blesses Adam and Eve, andthey sin.
God blesses Noah he goes andgets drunk.
God blesses Abraham he says,well, I'll have a son through my
(29:31):
servant in order to really helpthings out.
God blesses Israel, and they gomake a golden calf.
Do you understand that?
Covenant failure after covenantfailure?
God is the faithful, divinecovenant partner and he's
(29:52):
looking for the faithful humancovenant partner, but he can't
find one, so he provides one.
The servant is the faithfulhuman covenant partner.
He has to be truly human to bewhat God is looking for.
(30:13):
But if he's merely human, he'sjust going to fail, like all
other humans fail.
So the servant is human and yethe's also divine.
The servant is the fulfillmentof all of those covenant
obligations.
He's not just a model for us.
(30:36):
This is very important.
God is not saying all right,humanity here having some
problems, I'm going to send myservant now.
Watch and learn.
He'll teach you how to obey.
He does do that.
But if you think the gospel isthat God will help you to obey
him better, you don't understandthe gospel.
Yes, christ will put the law onour hearts.
(31:00):
We'll slowly and progressivelybegin to want to know him and
obey him more and more.
That happens, but that's notthe good news.
The good news is Christ hascome and done it all.
That's the first and gloriousthing to understand.
He is a perfectly fulfilledcovenant, signed, sealed and
delivered to you as a gift.
(31:31):
Last line of music in this firstservant song, the servant
restores what was lost.
Verse 6 says that God will makethe servant to be a light for
the nations.
Well, that was part of Israel'spurpose.
And now here's a servant comingalong and doing it.
They were blinded by idolatry.
He's going to open blind eyes.
God had already told Abraham,the very father of the Israelite
(31:51):
people, in you, all thefamilies of the earth will be
blessed.
It's not just Israel.
It was God's intention to blessall kinds of people.
This goes back well beforeIsrael, to Adam and Eve in the
garden.
Be fruitful and multiply thathis image might be filling all
the earth.
The servants restoring what waslost.
(32:11):
Verse number seven the servantbrings prisoners out of the
dungeon.
The Lord brought Joseph out ofthe prison house in Egypt.
The Lord brought his people outof slavery from Egypt and took
them in the promised land.
And our Lord Jesus Christ freesthose who were held captive to
(32:33):
evil.
Hebrews, chapter two.
We're no longer prisoners If wetrust in Jesus Christ.
We've turned from our sins.
We're sons and daughters of Godthrough faith in him.
And there's more.
Throughout Isaiah We've seenthese themes of a new creation.
We'll see them as the prophetcontinues on in future chapters.
That begins by turning from sin, because if anyone's in Christ
(32:56):
2 Corinthians 5, he's a newcreation.
But one day all the effects ofsin in the world will be gone
forever.
One day will be perfected inevery way spiritually,
emotionally, even those physicalstains and blemishes gone
(33:17):
because of the work of theservant.
The Lord declares it inIsaiah's day.
The Lord declares it inIsaiah's day and he knows the
future and orchestrates all ofhistory.
So the song is surely going tocome to pass.
What has been lost will berestored, and the end is even
greater than the beginning.
(33:39):
This should be music to ourears.
Are we listening for the songof the servant?
The servant shows us the tenderheart of God.
He establishes justice, hefulfills the covenants, he
restores what was lost, andwe'll see more in future.
(34:04):
Servant songs in the book ofIsaiah.
These songs don't necessarilycome with a John Philip Sousa
marching band loudness.
They come with the Spirit'swork in our hearts.
Listen for the song of theservant.
(34:25):
There's a story that's told.
I think it's a work ofhistorical fiction, but it
illustrates something.
In this story it's World War Iand there's a man who works for
the British army but he'sconstantly being monitored and
watched by German spies and hetries to figure out how can I
let the British soldiers know?
I have information and I'm withthem, without the Germans
knowing?
And he comes up with an idea tosing a song.
(34:49):
Well, how is that going to help?
He sings a song.
That's an old Scottish tunethat's not known by everyone,
but it works.
And the Germans, the enemies,don't know, but the people that
have ears to hear the British.
They recognize it and thathelps him get the information
(35:09):
that wins the battle leads togreat success for Britain.
Who knew that a little songcould reveal so much?
The people of Israel are indesperate trouble in Isaiah's
day and left to ourselves.
We're all in much worse trouble, but help has come because the
(35:32):
servant has come.
Christ has come.
Do we have ears to hear?
Let's pray that we do.
Lord God, oh Lord, how we praiseyou for tuning our ears to sing
your praise and the song thatmight be despised by the world.
(35:54):
We understand that our Christhimself was despised and
rejected by people, but howbeautiful he is, if not
beautiful in outward splendorand majesty while he lived, yet
beautiful nonetheless to thosewhose hearts are aching for
redemption, who find the guiltand weight of our own repeated
(36:18):
failure, and to know that thisChrist draws near to us and it's
part of your plan, oh Lord,thank you, father, son and
Spirit, for being a God of suchdeep compassion and to provide a
way, when there was no way, toprovide yourself as a substitute
for us.
(36:40):
Lord, would our hearts abound inpraise, would our hearts be
filled not most with our guiltbut even more with the saviors.
Who's come to take that away?
That there's no condemnation tothose of us who are in Jesus
Christ.
Lord, as we continue to presson through this book of Isaiah,
(37:02):
we thank you and we pray thatyou would indeed tune our hearts
to sing your praise, to singthis song of the servant.
And even now we thank you thatthese elements show us about the
tender heart of God.
These elements show us aboutforgiveness and compassion and
reconciliation.
So we take these elements withmusical joy in our souls.
(37:23):
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
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