A Bruised Reed, A Burning Wick

The Servant’s Work (1-4)

If we were to distill the work of the Servant in verses 1-4, we would find that the theme of justice is at the heart of His task:

The end of verse 3: he will faithfully bring forth justice.

Verse 4: He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth

Sometimes people are chosen for a task despite the personal feelings of the one doing the choosing towards who He is choosing. But what is clear about the relationship between the servant and Yahweh is that it is one of affection:

my chosen, in whom I delight (v. 1)

But the servant’s task in bringing justice is not unconcerned with or indifferent towards the people He seeks to serve. Even those who may be thought of as useful as a bruised reed, regardless how they came to be in such a state, is not worthless to the servant.

The servant brings forth justice, we are told at the end of verse 3, faithfully. In other words, the way he establishes justice accords with truth.

Yahweh Confirms the Servant’s Task (5-9)

The fact the the Lord created the heavens and stretched them out and spread out the earth and what comes from it (5) makes clear that His servant’s task will be accomplished. Justice will prevail.

Yahweh has called His servant in righteousness (6) and the servant will be a covenant for the people, light for the nations. In other words, Yahweh has sent forth His servant to be the means through whom people will come into a covenant relation with the Lord.

A Call for Praise of Yahweh (10-17)

Moving into verses 10-17, a call is issued to sing to the Lord a new song, His praise from the end of the earth. This is a call for world-wide praise in response to the world-wide work of the servant.

The same call is upon us. The servant of the Lord is the Messiah, and He has brought forth and is bringing forth justice to the world. The right response is worship.

Read

Isaiah 42:1–17 ESV

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. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law. 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: “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, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.” 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. 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. Let them give glory to the Lord, and declare his praise in the coastlands. 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. 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. 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. 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. They are turned back and utterly put to shame, who trust in carved idols, who say to metal images, “You are our gods.”