Isaiah 42:5-9 | "New Things I Now Declare"

I. Reading of Scripture

Isaiah 42:5–9 ESV

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.”

This is God’s Word, Amen.

Pray

II. Introduction

A. Introduction to Theme

The Title of this Message is “New Things I Now Declare.”

It is an appropriate title as we are about to enter into a new year, filled with new things.

This title is lifted from verse 9 which says:

Isaiah 42:9 ESV

9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

This is a verse that comforts us by reminding us that God holds our future, and knows what will happen before it happens.

Like you, my mind is already thinking ahead to next year, and even years beyond that.

Even this week I felt a familiar stress and burden compelling me to plan for a new year that I do not know.

I wonder — What does the future hold?

How will next year be different than this year?

This is a season for planning, yet the words of James speak louder now than ever:

James 4:13–15 ESV

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

James teaches us something very important: While our lives as a people of faith are affected by outside events, our lives are not governed by outside events. Our lives are governed by the Lord’s will.

James 4:15 ESV

15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

If we ought to say “If the Lord wills,” then that means God is in charge.

Whether we live or not — it is the Lord’s will.

Whether we do this or that — it is the Lord’s will.

Nothing happens to us, for good or for bad, unless it is the Lord’s will, because nothing happens outside of God’s control.

We expend a lot of energy trying to discern what the Lord’s will is in an attempt to know our future.

God does want us to know His will, but knowing God’s will does not mean that we will know the future. Only God knows the future.

Knowing God’s will means knowing God and walking with Him into the future. There is a difference!

We search for unknowns:

What is the Lord’s will for my life?

What is the Lord’s will for my calling?

What is the Lord’s will for my career?

What is the Lord’s will for my local church?

What is the Lord’s will for my country?

What is the Lord’s will for my future?

We treat the Lord’s will as if it is a mark on a treasure map. The “X” marking the spot.

God’s will is not an unknown: God’s will is known as God is known.

We tend to seek after the Lord’s will more than we seek after the Lord Himself.

But we cannot know the will of the Lord without knowing the Lord of the will.

God’s will is that we know God.

B. Introduction to Text

Isaiah 42 helps us to understand this and correct our misunderstanding of knowing God’s will for the future.

If we want to know God’s will, we must know God.

Isaiah 42 is the first of four songs about Jesus in the Old Testament.

These songs are called “Servant Songs” because they focus upon a people and person known as God’s Servant.

Israel as a people were God’s servant, but Israel failed to serve God faithfully.

So God gave this title to a better servant. A True Servant who is the Messiah, the Savior, Jesus Christ.

With Jesus’ Advent we celebrate Hope, Peace, Joy and Love — all the things Jesus came into the world to give us.

But we also celebrate His name: “Immanuel”, which means, God with us.

As Jesus comes into the world, He brings to us not only God’s will, but also the means of knowing God’s will, because in Jesus we can know God and have access to Him in prayer, and walk with Him in the Spirit, and have a relationship with Him as a father has with a son.

God does not merely tell what will happen in future. God directs the future. God tells the future what to do!

And God is so unlike other voices that speak to future events. What God says, actually happens.

We can have a confidence in God and a comfort in God by looking back at all the things God did promise in the past, that did come to pass as He said.

And based on this, we can find peace for the future, not in God’s ability to predict future events, but in God’s providence to prepare us for them and to oversee them as they happen and unfold.

In other words: We all want answers for tomorrow, and for next year, and for five years from now! But God’s Word tells us that we have all the answers that we need for the future in God Himself, in Jesus Christ. And we can be reminded of this by looking God’s revelation of Himself in the past.

We are taught that we should learn history, because if we don’t it will repeat itself.

As Christians we do that, but we also do something better:

We look at history with eyes of faith to see that in the past God was there. In this present, God is here. And in the future, God will be there.

God does not read history and act upon what He reads. God speaks history, and all space and time act upon what God says!

God is the Creator of all things and the Sustainer of all things, and He will continue to sustain all things in this new year.

So in light of Christ’s Advent, as we look forward to what is to come, as we question the uncertainties and unknowns of something new — a new year — let us look forward not to events and circumstances we cannot control.

Instead, let us look forward with Jesus, setting aside things we do not know, and trusting in the one thing we know for certain — that Jesus will be present with us in this new year. And God has a plan for us, in Him!

As James 4:7-8 invites us —

James 4:7–8 ESV

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

III. Exposition

Isaiah 42 is part of a section of Isaiah where God is speaking words of comfort to His people.

In the introductory verse of the chapter, God comforts His people by telling them that their future is seen by looking at God’s servant.

Isaiah 42:1 ESV

1 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.

This message that was given to Israel rings true for us as well.

Our future is seen by looking at God’s servant — Jesus. And we can take comfort in doing so!

Now this may not satisfy you. It may sound too easy.

Will Jesus tell me when the pandemic will end? Will Jesus tell me who will win elections? Will Jesus tell me when I can see my grandchildren again?

If answers to these questions determine our future, we are asking the wrong questions!

If answers to these questions are important for our future, we will turn on all kinds of different voices that can only theorize and postulate and speculate and guess. We will buy in to delusions. And we won’t have comfort or peace for the future.

But we may, at the invitation of the Living God, do as Isaiah 42:1 bids us and behold the servant of the Lord, and in beholding Him we may behold our future.

But why you may wonder, is God to be believed?

How is the voice of God and the instruction of God better than all these other voices and instructions and sources? The news-anchors, the scientists, the scholars that we elevate and give ear to more than we do the voice of God?

Isaiah 42:5-9 answers that question by telling us how unique God is from all other gods.

Let’s look at Isaiah 42:5-9 together, and as God prepares His people for new things, let us learn 5 principles to help us prepare for a new year:

Isaiah 42:5 ESV

Thus says God, the LORD...

The Hebrew language says it this way: “Thus says the God.” Not “a god” but “the God.”

And then the name of the God is given in all capital letters — the LORD… representing the name “Yahweh.” There is no mistaking who He is. He is Yahweh who has revealed Himself to His people in covenant faithfulness — and HE alone is God.

Then four words are used to describe God in terms of what He has accomplished.

Isaiah 42:5 ESV

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:

God is the one who created the heavens, who stretched them out, who spread out the earth and gives breath to all people.

Alec Motyer says that these four words express the “unchanging relationship between the Lord and his world.” (TOTC, 294).

In other words — this God who created, also sustains, and that doesn’t change.

God did not create and set all things on auto-pilot. God continues to give breath to people and spirit to those who walk on earth.

If you are breathing right now, it is because God is giving you breath. God is holding you together.

Colossians says it this way of Jesus —

Colossians 1:16–17 ESV

16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

As we look to a new year, with all the questions we have, we can be certain of this — that God will hold everything together.

He is powerful enough to do this, because He created everything!

And the evidence that He will do this is all around. God is holding everything together right now. And God has held everything together before now.

I don’t need to know how God does this. I find comfort in knowing that He does. I find comfort in knowing Him.

Isaiah 42:6 begins with God’s self-revelation. God tells us who He is:

Isaiah 42:6 ESV

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,

Here God is speaking of His Servant. The “you” is not plural. He’s not talking about calling Israel in righteousness. The “you” is singular. He’s talking about His Servant — the Messiah.

God has called His Servant in righteousness. Meaning the Servant will do the Lord’s will. The Servant will fulfill the Lord’s righteous purposes.

Notice the words: “I will take, I will keep, I will give...”

Isaiah 42:6 ESV

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,

For God to say “I will take you by the hand” means God will be with Him.

For God to say “I will keep you” means God will keep Him safe.

For God to say “I will give” means that behind God’s calling is God’s provision and purpose and plan so that even when things seem bad, God is still in control. All is working for good (Rom 8:28).

All of these actions of God, begin with this statement: “I am the LORD.” The guarantee that God’s Word to His Servant will be accomplished is God Himself. The assurance of God’s promises is God Himself.

And so it is, that we must not look only at what God is doing, without A,SO looking to God Himself and who He is.

If we look only at what God is doing, then we’ll be left with many questions: Why God? How God? When God?

But if we see God’s works, that at times are mysterious, believing that He alone is God, the Creator and Sustainer, and He is good, He is faithful, He is trustworthy, then the questions of Why, What, How and When seem less important because we know WHO is behind the works.

As we look to a new year, with all the questions we have, we can be certain of this — that God will hold everything together, and also that God is working.

We do not need to understand all God is doing, because we trust HIM who is doing the work.

What work is God’s Servant sent to do, to bring comfort to the world?

Isaiah 42:7 ESV

7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

Through God’s Servant, God would bring healing, freedom, and light to a world in darkness.

This is a repeated theme in Isaiah and this is God’s saving activity.

We look into a new year to make plans for the things we will do as individuals and as a church.

But it is good to stop and make sure our plan is really God’s plan for us.

When we ask ourselves: What are we supposed to do?

As a church, what things are we to be giving our time, resources and energy toward?

The answer brings us comfort. We don’t have to come up with a new plan! We can follow God’s plan for the world through His Servant, Jesus Christ. We can see ourselves in God’s plan —

Isaiah 42:7 ESV

7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

When Jesus came to Nazareth he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day and read from the scroll of Isaiah. It was a different place in Isaiah, but the same message:

Luke 4:18–19 ESV

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Luke 4:20–21 ESV

20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus is God’s servant, and Jesus came to do, and did, and is doing, what God called Him to do.

As we look to a new year, with all the questions we have, we can be certain of this —

that God will hold everything together

that God is working.

and that God’s work continues in Jesus, through His Church.

Our mission, who we are and what we are about as Christ’s Church is making healing, freedom and light known to the world by proclaiming salvation in Jesus Christ!

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

We are not left without guidance, instruction or God’s presence. As we plan for the new year, let us use God’s plan, not our own, and pursue in obedience God’s purpose for us in Jesus Christ.

Verse 8 begins with the LORD’s self-revelation repeated again. It is a reminder to us of who we should be beholding, and who we should be listening to.

Isaiah 42:8 ESV

8 I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

There is no God but the Lord! And God does not share His glory or praise.

So let us not give to anyone or anything else what belongs only to God!

As we look to a new year, with all the questions we have, we can be certain of this —

that God will hold everything together

that God is working.

and that God’s work continues in Jesus, through His Church.

that God hasn’t changed.

He is still worthy of and deserving of all glory and praise!

Matthew 6:24 ESV

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

You cannot serve God and possessions.

You cannot serve God AND anything else — because there is no such thing as “God AND.” There is only God ONLY.

What evidence is given, that God is God?

It is evidence that can actually be seen! And we are invited to see it in God’s written Word fulfilled by the Living Word — what God has said and done through Jesus.

Isaiah 42:9 ESV

9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

What God says, comes to pass. Not because God can see into the future and know what will happen — but because God is the one making the future happen!

He is trustworthy and His Word never fails.

As we look to a new year, with all the questions we have, we can be certain of this —

that God will hold everything together

that God is working.

and that God’s work continues in Jesus, through His Church.

that God hasn’t changed.

God’s Word will be accomplished.

What God says is going to happen — will happen just as He says. Because what God said he would do with His servant, He did by sending Jesus into the world.

IV. Conclusion

A. Gospel Proclamation

John 14:1–7 ESV

1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Our comfort for the future is not in events or circumstances. Our comfort for the future is in Jesus.

As the song says: “You can have this whole world, but give me Jesus.”

Jesus was born just as God said He would be born.

Jesus died just as he said he would die.

And Jesus was raised - just as God said.

And Jesus is returning, just as God has promised!

In Jesus alone, we can have comfort as we press on into new things, and a new year, because nothing is new to God. Everything is already known to Him — the beginning from the end.

And Jesus is the one who says:

Revelation 22:12–13 ESV

12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Israel’s future was in the coming Messiah — Jesus. And as we celebrated this past week, Jesus came, just as God said He would!

Our future likewise is in the Messiah who came — Jesus.

May our new year be about the new life that God brought to the world in Jesus — a life free of sin, a life free of self — a life of service in His name and for His glory.

Amen.