Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. 2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; 3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. 4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.

5 Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: 6 “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. 8 I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. 9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

10 Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants. 11 Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits; let the habitants of Sela sing for joy, let them shout from the top of the mountains. 12 Let them give glory to the Lord, and declare his praise in the coastlands. 13 The Lord goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war he stirs up his zeal; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes. 14 For a long time I have held my peace; I have kept still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor; I will gasp and pant. 15 I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn the rivers into islands, and dry up the pools. 16 And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them. 17 They are turned back and utterly put to shame, who trust in carved idols, who say to metal images, “You are our gods.”

18 Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see! 19 Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as my dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the Lord? 20 He sees many things, but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear. 21 The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify his law and make it glorious. 22 But this is a people plundered and looted; they are all of them trapped in holes and hidden in prisons; they have become plunder with none to rescue, spoil with none to say, “Restore!” 23 Who among you will give ear to this, will attend and listen for the time to come? 24 Who gave up Jacob to the looter, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned, in whose ways they would not walk, and whose law they would not obey? 25 So he poured on him the heat of his anger and the might of battle; it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand; it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart.

Sermon Text:

[Read Isaiah 42]

Last week we began to look at this marvelous passage.

You may remember, this is a chapter that is describing the coming Messiah.

And all these things point to Jesus Christ.

Last week, we looked at seven promises from the first half of the chapter that specifically identify the person and work of Jesus.

They were:

1. The chosen Messiah will please God in bringing people from all the nations of the world to Him.

2. He will be humble and gentle.

3. He will endure through trials, fully accomplishing His mission.

4. He will BE the covenant between God and man.

5. He will free God’s people from bondage to sin.

6. He is God’s chosen image, made to be the very image of the invisible God.

7. He will give us a new song (covenant).

This morning, I would like to look at seven more things from the second half of the chapter.

Things that will mark Jesus as the only authentic Christ, the Son of God.

And will mark what He has given us as His people, the church.

8. V.14 – He will bring the kingdom of God.

V. 14 - For a long time I have held my peace; I have kept still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor; I will gasp and pant.

To connect this verse to last week, we ended with the fact God will make a new covenant with His people.

A covenant of grace, where every promise of every covenant He had made points.

Consider how the word of God was proclaimed in the Old Testament.

The word and worship of God centered around one place – the altar of God.

In the tabernacle and then the temple, those who would come to the true God would come there.

And when God had a word to be spoken beyond the Law He had given through Moses, He sent prophets and priests and kings to preach and proclaim God’s truth in their times.

But from the book of Judges to the book of Malachi, there is not a constant line of prophets.

There are great periods where we find no prophetic voices at all.

And there are exceedingly few prophets of God who spoke to any but Israel and Judah.

Only a handful who spoke to anyone outside of those chosen nations.

But here in v. 14, we see that even the communication of God with man will change.

Rather than quiet and limited proclamation of God’s truth among those who come to Jerusalem,

He will send His message out all over the world.

As verse 10 says: His praise to the ends of the earth.

To the mountains and valleys, to the coastlands and foreign nations at the ends of the earth, the word of God will go out.

Because Jesus Christ has brought the kingdom of God NEAR.

He brings it to you and me.

He gave His Holy Spirit to send us out with His word.

To do His work of proclaiming the gospel all over the earth.

There is no Great Commission in the Old Testament;

But it is exactly what Jesus trained His apostles and, from them, us to do: Go into all the world and make disciples.

Which leads us to:

9. V.16 – He will make God’s people righteous.

In Psalm 119:105, we are told:

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

From the very beginning, we have had the word of God to guide us from sin.

Adam had the commandment, and He disobeyed.

And all creation fell into the curse because of it.

But since then, we have inherited his guilt and been thoroughly ruined in our nature, so that when God speaks, we think we have the right to CHOOSE to follow Him or not.

So even when men and women OBEY His Law, their obedience is sinful because it proceeds from their own will.

THEY chose to do what God has commanded.

THEY made the decision to do right in this case.

So when people obey the Law BECAUSE it is the Law, they may refrain from evil, but they are still infinitely far from doing any good at all.

You doing what is in your heart is not pleasing to God.

You choosing to obey His precepts is not pleasing to God.

But see His promise here in verse 16:

And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.

The righteousness God is promising is not a righteousness that comes from us making better choices from our own slightly-less-wicked hearts.

It is a righteousness that comes from following Jesus Christ in complete faith.

In college, I had a friend, Mario, who would come around every week or so to have lunch with us in the cafeteria.

He was blind, and he had to be led to the cafeteria.

He had a cane, and he was quite adept at getting around without one of us, but we enjoyed each other as well.

With his cane, he could get around, but he moved far more slowly across the campus.

And there were things he couldn’t see, like if the food in the line looked at all appetizing.

But when he held my elbow and we walked through a crowd, he moved as fast as I did.

He even told me to speed up sometimes if he felt like I was slowing down for him.

You see: he trusted me. He had faith in me.

He knew that I wasn't going to run him into a pylon, or off the sidewalk, or off the edge of the stairs.

So he knew that as long as he stayed in contact with my arm, he had nothing to worry about – my eyes were his eyes.

In all our goodness we are faltering, blind people trying to make our way in the world.

Jesus talks about the blind leading the blind, and we see that every day.

People who ask science or philosophy or their social networks for advice,

But who never look at God and look to Him to LEAD them.

We are fine with Him ADVISING us, even COMMANDING us, so long as we have the right to disobey – even if we KNOW we will need to come later to confess and ask forgiveness.

Even if we KNOW He is never wrong.

We want to be able to decide for ourselves if we don’t happen to agree with Him.

But the righteousness Jesus Christ brings is for those who will be led by the Spirit of God – all the time, in everything:

…walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. – Galatians 5:16

In the next few points, God picks up on the blindness and deafness to give us very surprising statements:

10. V.19 – Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as my dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the Lord?

I know of nowhere else in all Scripture where God refers to His Servant as blind or deaf.

It is so troubling a thought that most commentators and translators make the assumption that God has changed subjects here.

That He is no longer talking about the coming Messiah as His Servant, but is talking about Israel or Judah as His servant.

He has called them blind and deaf by the mouths of His prophets often – because they are.

But the context of the verse gives us almost no choice if we are honest and consistent, but to identify this “servant” and “messenger” and “dedicated one” as the same Messiah we have seen all the way through this chapter.

And I think that is entirely correct.

Because in speaking of the blindness and deafness of His Servant, Jesus Christ, He is not talking about a handicap, but a gift to Him and through Him.

Point 10: He will be blind to the evil around Him so He does not lash out in holy anger.

Who is this Messiah He will send? He is the very Lord of Glory we see executing His judgment in the book of Revelation.

He is the One who is worthy to open the seals and pour out the wrath of God upon the earth, upon all men.

It is He who, in Matthew 25, will sit on the glorious throne and separate the nations before Him, sheep and goats.

And He who will welcome His sheep and condemn with a single word the goats.

So if it is He who is coming as the Messiah, the covenant Lamb of the gospel of grace, how could He restrain His judgment for the time He walked among the sin and degradation and self-righteousness?

How could it be that God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved? – John 3:17

He closed His eyes to all those things that would be such great offense to His holiness.

He held His nose against the stench of our sin that would otherwise have been repelled by Him.

He came to save sinners – He came to save people who were always unworthy of His love or concern.

His terrible wrath was veiled;

His inevitable justice delayed.

The sword of His mouth kept in for this time of the gospel, until all His people have been saved.

How else could one so holy and pure as Jesus Christ walk this filth-encrusted earth and not lash out every moment in rage?

The blindness of Christ was His willfully choosing to walk among us without executing God’s withering judgment, until the time He became the target of that very judgment on behalf of His people.

11. V.20 – He sees many things, but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear.

Along the same lines, the eleventh point stresses the abiding INNOCENCE of Jesus.

11: He will not listen to the call of sin in this world.

We are constantly assailed by calls to sin, temptations to sin.

We are flattered or enticed to abandon God, however briefly, to follow our own lusts and sinful desires.

And our Lord heard every one of those calls – every one and more – yet remained innocent to them.

He is ALWAYS without sin.

We don’t have a lot of respect for innocence.

When we hear the instruction of Jesus to His disciples (us) He sends out:

be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. – Matthew 10:16

We don’t have much trouble with the being wise part, even crafty as a serpent.

We respect that.

We like it when a believer can make a great argument or a great defense.

We like to see them win in the court of public opinion.

And we like it even more when the winner is us.

But innocent as doves?

We may TRY to be less-offensive, maybe, but doves don’t get to lift their arms in victory.

Doves don’t get to gloat and tell tales of their wisdom.

The best a dove can do is talk about how well-cared-for he is by His loving owner.

How cherished he is by the One who looks after him.

Jesus was wise – He KNEW what was in man.

And yet even in most of His dealings He spoke in parables, stories,

Even in His defenses against the Pharisees’ traps, He simply eluded them rather than shouting them down.

And in the end, He went like a lamb to the slaughter, silent before those who would strip and mock and beat and crucify Him.

Not lashing out, not cursing.

Praying with one of His last breaths on the cross, “Forgive them!”

He was tempted by every sin, and fell to none, not even for a moment.

Not even in His heart.

How could He do that?

12. V.21 – The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify his law and make it glorious.

Here we find out what God means by saying His Servant was blind and deaf:

He was blind to the evil around Him, deaf to the calls of temptation.

BECAUSE Point 12: He will love the glorious Law of God above all.

The Law, the will of God, has blinded Him to everything else that might draw His gaze or turn His head.

The glorious music of God’s Law stopped His ears to the dissonance of the world’s confusing sound.

Does the love you have for Jesus Christ, and the Father through Him, keep you from sin daily?

Yes, we all sin. There is no getting around that in this life.

But does your love for our Lord so drive you that you see sin as the betrayal of Him it is?

Is “what God wants” the most important thing to you?

Does His desire for you drive everything else you do?

That is the way to righteousness Christ has opened to us.

That is the path of righteousness He has made for you.

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. – 1 John 5:3-4

When we love God, those commandments that are so impossibly stiff for unbelievers become precious to us.

They are not burdens; they are sheer pleasure to do.

And that is the heart of the righteousness Jesus Christ provides for His people.

Coming to the final two points quickly, in verses 22-24, we see the picture of the state of God’s people prior to the salvation Jesus Christ brings:

But this is a people plundered and looted; they are all of them trapped in holes and hidden in prisons; they have become plunder with none to rescue, spoil with none to say, “Restore!” 23 Who among you will give ear to this, will attend and listen for the time to come? 24 Who gave up Jacob to the looter, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned, in whose ways they would not walk, and whose law they would not obey?

This is the picture of God’s curse, the judgment right here on earth for the sinfulness of all people.

Verse 23 asks a question: Who will hear the cry of the lost?

Who is there among you that is capable of hearing the silent and muffled cries of those who have been victimized?

Who among you hears the prayers that are spoken in the secret places, in the hearts of people who are hurting?

Who among you cares even to answer all the cries you do hear? Can you respond to all the pain and loss around you? Can any of you stop the pain that proceeds from the heart of people around you?

The answer is His Servant, the Messiah, Jesus:

13. Vv.23-24 – He will remove God’s curse from His people.

And how will He do it?

14. V.25 – So he poured on him the heat of his anger and the might of battle; it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand; it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart.

Point 14: He will endure the wrath of God on behalf of His people.

Some would look at this verse and say God is talking about Israel or Judah – His people.

But this verse is SINGULAR.

God poured the heat of His anger on HIM – one man.

He has heard our cries, even when they were cries of defiance against Him.

He heard our curses and our filth.

He heard our selfishness and greed.

He heard our evil plans.

And because He loved us, He took all the wrath we deserved and poured it out in full on Jesus Christ.

We will see that truth again in Isaiah, as we do throughout the rest of the Bible.

But what about the last part of the verse?

“He did not understand” – This wrath was not for His intimate (experiential) knowledge of evil.

“He did not take it to heart” – This wrath did not destroy His heart – His inner nature.

He would rise again, never to die.

He would become the firstborn of God’s new creation.

Believer or skeptic, successful follower or faltering saint, Jesus Christ has come to bring salvation.

And the offer of His gospel, of peace with God through Him stands open right now.

He has brought you near to hear this:

The forgiveness of God through Christ covers all sins.

And He has declared that YOU should repent and believe the good news today.

Leave behind your sin.

Look full in His wonderful face.

Let the things of this world, then, grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Target Date: Sunday, 16 February 2025

Word Study/ Translation Notes:

Thoughts on the Passage:

3 – Of what use is a bruised reed? What is the value of such a stalk?

It has no use. It has no beauty. It has nothing to commend itself.

It cannot be used for support. It cannot be used for beauty.

What is the use of a smoldering wick?

A flame that is about to die for lack of fuel?

It provides no light; it only signals the end of its usefulness, sputtering into darkness.

Yet the arrival of the Messiah is the care for the broken reed, new fire for the smoldering wick.

Not stomping on the useless reed. Not quenching the dying flame.

The Servant of God is not a bully, removing all things that are useless to God. He is carefully discerning, handling fragile things gently and breathing life into things almost dead.

5 – What does this reminder of the works of God tell us?

That even in creation, the point of everything He did was for the benefit of His people to be redeemed through Jesus Christ.

6 – I will take you by the hand – recalls the statement by God in 41:13 (likewise 41:9), but this is addressed to the Messiah, to Jesus Christ.

God’s faithfulness to Israel, even in their rejection of Him for dumb idols, was all for the sake of His Son.

Jesus Christ would have a people (the Jews);

He would have a lineage (of Abraham);

He would have a royal title (of David);

Jesus Christ would be the fulfillment of every promise of salvation God ever made in His word.

6 – I will give you as a covenant – Is there any clearer promise in the Old Testament of God’s covenant of redemption through Jesus Christ?

He doesn’t promise the Servant would come to restate or reinforce God’s prior covenants;

He Himself would BE the covenant of God with man.

And not just with man, not just with Israel:

A light for the nations – for the Gentiles.

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” - Luke 2:29-32

7 – bring out the prisoners from the dungeon – to free us from the dark dungeon of sin and theological darkness.

It is the darkness and bondage of sin that makes false gods who condone or absolve our most hideous sins.

Those false beliefs carry us in shackles we have made for ourselves, clinging ever tighter to our sin and rebellion; believing ever stronger in our own will and wisdom.

8 – nor my praise to carved idols – God gave no symbol for us to worship. He sent His Son – the exact representation of the invisible God – to show Himself to us.

No mere work of man’s hands, even his greatest works, could dare represent the glory of the true God, who is praised forever.

There is no glory in man except that which the Spirit imparts to us on the basis of Jesus Christ.

10 – A new song – This is the song of redemption. No longer are we limited to singing of His majesty and power; we can sing full-voice of His love and mercy.

Before the throne of God: And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” - Revelation 5:9–10

From the 144,000 redeemed: And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. - Revelation 14:2–3

12 – declare His praise in the coastlands – that is, over all the earth’s inhabitants. The islands (coastlands) are the places on the globe where people may dwell – habitable spots.

And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” - Isaiah 6:3

19-21 – Contrary to nearly all commentators I respect, the blind Servant here spoken of is Jesus Christ. [Before you pick up your stones, please hear me]

Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as my dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the Lord? 20 He sees many things, but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear. 21The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify his law and make it glorious. - vv.19-21

He begins this section with the PLURAL commands:

Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see! – v.18

The remainder [SINGULAR] might be understood in this way:

You are blind, but shall I tell you of even greater blindness? My perfect, sinless king – He has to turn a blind eye to all the evil that is around Him. Else how could He refrain from destroying you all in an instant?

He stops His ears to your temptations toward sin, toward the arguments you make against God and His holiness.

He sees, but does not participate or take pleasure in them.

He hears, but does not listen to the voice of the serpent still echoing in this world.

His entire focus is on the Law of God, doing perfectly everything the Father tells Him to do. Everything the Father had prepared for Him to do in advance.

And it culminates with v.25 [AGAIN SINGULAR]:

So he poured on him the heat of his anger and the might of battle; it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand; it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart.

Because of the sin of His people, the LORD poured out His wrath on His Servant, Jesus Christ.

“He did not understand” – This was not for His intimate (experiential) knowledge of evil.

“He did not take it to heart” – This did not destroy His heart – His inner nature.

23 – Who among you will give ear – Who is there among you that is capable of hearing the silent and muffled cries of those who have been victimized?

Who among you hears the prayers that are spoken in the secret places, in the hearts of people who are hurting?

Who among you cares even to answer all the cries you do hear? Can you respond to all the pain and loss around you? Can any of you stop the pain that proceeds from the heart of people around you?

What is the Good News of this passage – Where is Jesus Christ? (if you can’t answer this question, are you finished?)

Teachings:

What do we learn about God/ Jesus/ Holy Spirit?

Applications:

For the Christian:

For the Backslidden:

For the Unconverted:

Primary Preaching Point:

Building Points:

[on even numbered page]

MORNING PRAYER:

Adoration:

Almighty God and everlasting King.

Confession:

Forgive us our pride, and the loathsome lengths to which we will go to support our fleshly vanity.

Thanksgiving:

In You we find our only hope, both in this life and in eternity joined with Christ Jesus.

Petition:

We beg that You subdue the power of our sins by Your Holy Spirit.

Intercession: (also beyond our local)

We pray that Your peace would reign anew on the earth: