Servant Song
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Be Comforted Chapter Nine: How Great Thou Art! (Isaiah 40–48)
God’s Servant Messiah (Isa. 42). Isaiah 42:1–7 is the first of four “Servant Songs” in Isaiah, referring to God’s Servant, the Messiah. The others are 49:1–6; 50:1–11; and 52:13–53:12. Contrast “Behold, they [the idols] are all vanity” (41:29) with “Behold My Servant” (42:1). Matthew 12:14–21 applies these words to the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. He could have destroyed His enemies (the reed and flax), but He was patient and merciful. The Father delights in His Son, (Matt. 3:17; 17:5).
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.”
During this advent season, we are going to take a close look at Isaiah 42 and also how it corresponds to “O Holy Night”. You should have received a green or red flyer, if you did not, they are available. I have printed on this flyer the text of Isaiah 42:1-9, along with the English translation of the song, and also a literal translation. What you will find in the literal translation is that the English words don’t rhyme or go together as well. But by examining them, you can see as close as we are able, what the original song in its original language, French, meant. Of course, in its native language, it has a beautiful poetic quality to it. So I will give a little of the history of the song to you now, and you will have to keep coming back through the advent season to get the rest of the story.
So how did this song get started? Well, originally it was to be a Christmas poem. A priest in France in 1847, as he was looking forward to his Christmas Eve mass, asked for help from the village wine commissioner to write a poem about Christmas. The interesting thing is that the wine commissioner was not even a believer. Whatever his reasons, he agreed to help the priest and write the poem, and he wrote it in the back of a dusty carriage. Considering the Christmas story as written in Luke, and also drawing from his own remembrance of his catechism, the poet, Placide Cappeau, penned the words to his poem.
He was very satisfied with his work, but he thought that it should be set to music, so he enlisted the talent of a composer, Adophe Charles Adams. Who was Adams? He was a Jewish man, who did not consider Jesus to be the Messiah, and he certainly did not celebrate Christmas. So the priest had a new song for Christmas Eve. It was called “Cantique de Noel”, which means Christmas Hymn, or Christmas Song. It became instantly popular, and found its way into many other churches. However, some years later, when the Catholic church found out that the man who wrote it, Cappeau, not only was not a believer, but had aligned himself with the socialists, and not only that, but the melody was written by a non-believing Jew, they banned the song from use in Catholic Churches. However, that did not make the song go away, as many had already learned it and kept singing it, even if they could not at church.
The story of this powerful song does not end there, but, as I said, you will have to come back in the next few Sundays to get the rest of this story.
Also, as we continue, we will begin to see why this song especially connects with Isaiah 42. What is amazing is that for having been written by a non-believer, this song, especially the original in French, has some very strong theology in it. If you look at the literal translation, you will see words you don’t hear in any church songs today, like “Original sin” “the wrath of his father”. In the second part of the song, it says “O mighty ones of today, proud of your grandeur, it is to your pride that God preaches”. And in verse three, the beautiful truth that our God is the one who will finally put an end to injustice, and set free prisoners and slaves.
Who is the one who would do this? The servant that is spoken of in Isaiah 42.
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.
How do we know this refers to Jesus? well, we let scripture interpret scripture. In the gospels, we know that anytime Jesus got the attention of the people, it angered the religious leaders, and they hated him. They wanted to kill him. There are many examples of this. But one is when Jesus healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath: Let’s look at it:
Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.
Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
He will not quarrel or cry aloud,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory;
and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”
So we know that the servant Isaiah is referring to in verse 1 is Jesus. Matthew confirms that this prophecy was fulfilled through Jesus.
He is God’s servant, whom God upholds, and in whom his soul delights. Again we are reminded of something we find in Matt3.17, at the Baptism of Jesus:
and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
And he will be a person of justice: Is2.2-4
It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be lifted up above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,
and many peoples shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore.
Jesus was the fulfillment of this prophecy, and will be the final fulfillment as well. We see this at the very end of the New Testament, in Revelation. Jesus will execute final and perfect justice.
Now this is in contrast to what ends Isaiah 41:29
Behold, they are all a delusion;
their works are nothing;
their metal images are empty wind.
He’s talking of the futility of idols, and the folly of those who serve them and worship them. Unlike them, the Lord’s Servant, Jesus is one in whom God delights. And in verse 4 we see that he will not rest until he has established justice in the earth.
Isaiah—God Saves Sinners A Servant
God will make his love known to us. He will give his glory to no other, nor his praise to our carved idols (v. 8). He will love us until we finally get it. He stakes his honor on that. Therefore, we are not confined to our abominations and prisons. God saves us not by telling us to lose ourselves in some vaguely defined cosmic All but by taking upon himself at his cross all the wrongs we’ve done and by giving back to us our truest selves that we lost so long ago. That is how God proves that he really is God.
We should believe this. In verse 9 God says, “Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare.” What is he saying? God is proving himself here by prophecies. He gives us a verifiable short-term prediction by foretelling the coming of Cyrus. That happened, as a public event in our human history. This gives God instant credibility. But he does that to get us believing his long-term prediction of worldwide perfection through Christ. God is saying, “If I kept my word about Cyrus, and I did, and you know I did, then you can believe that I’ll keep my word about my servant. In fact, I launched his mission 2,000 years ago. It’s already underway. So dump your idols and trust me. I want you to be a part of my new world.” This is exciting. This calls for music!
So the Servant of the Lord is Jesus, whom God delights in, and who will bring forth justice to the nations. We just studied together the common cry we all have for justice. In the past week or so, 2 very high profile cases went to jury and came back with a verdict. Perhaps you think one or both were decided poorly. Whatever our opinions of the matter, we do know that human justice often does fall short. Certainly no outcome for any criminal trial ever comes out with perfection. BUt the justice that Jesus will bring will be perfect. He will bring forth justice to the nations.
Another defining characteristic of Jesus is humility, which the prophet predicts:
He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
Powerful leaders like Napoleon have marveled at the impact Jesus had on the world. Many leaders are always seeking the spotlight, in love with the sound of their own voice. It was said of one politician that the most dangerous place to be was between him and a microphone. Today that would be a TV camera. It’s no wonder that so many politicians and celebrities are narcissists. That is why they seek out the spotlight in the first place, and then they get so addicted to the praise of others, they do whatever they can to get even more attention. Sadly, sometimes they even do embarrassing or demeaning things just to get attention. How many young ladies and young men have debased themselves simply to get the part in a movie, or to get the attention of someone they think could help their career. You could say that our whole society is currently teetering on the bring because of narcissism.
It is a dangerous thing. Checking back on your facebook or other pages over and over to see if there are any new comments or likes on that photo you posted. In fact, many people post photos, not so that they would be a blessing to others as much as they are looking for hits. I heard Francis Chan say once that ours is the most narcissistic society in history. Everyone has their very own web page on Facebook or elsewhere where they can post all the details of their life, and what keeps them coming back? The dopamine hit they get from the acceptance they feel when they get a like. The problem is that dopamine is dopamine. Like with any addiction, the one who gets a good feeling from recognition needs more and more and more to get the same feeling of satisfaction. It’s dangerous, and I have to agree with Chan. We really are the most narcissistic people in history.
Contrast that to Jesus. First of all, he submitted to the Father, and is an example to believers of humility:
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
He would have to have this kind of humility to fit the description Isaiah gives, of one who will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the streets. You see, in Israel’s history, when a new king was anointed, they would get an entourage to go up and down the streets shouting “so and so is king!”. You can read about that in 2 Samuel. But not Jesus. He didn’t get his followers to march or make a scene to gain popularity. In fact, he at some points did the opposite. He wanted to go unnoticed at times. He didn’t set up a soap box and carry a portable loudspeaker. He didn’t take out ads.
He did acknowledge the Spirit of Lord, that he was ordained, anointed: Luke 4.18-19
“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,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
The Lord’s servant would be gentle and caring towards the hurting:
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
This is echoed in Isaiah 57
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
And in the Psalms as well, the fact that God responds to the brokenhearted is celebrated:
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,
but the haughty he knows from afar.
As we are in the season of celebrating the birth of Jesus, we are reminded that his beginnings on earth were humble. He wasn’t born in a palace, but in a stable. He suffered rejection and hurts. And he died in a horrible, painful, and humiliating way. You see, Jesus can empathize with you in the pain you are going through, whether physical pain, emotional pain, or even spiritual pain. He won’t break a bruised reed, he will not quench a faintly burning wick.
A bruised reed, someone damaged from the difficulties of life, someone who has already suffered. Jesus doesn’t take that persona and break their spirit. He is the one who restores. The one who feels like life has done them wrong, the one who was raised by terrible, abusive parents. The one who has been treated badly because they didn’t fit in. The one who tried to do well, but just couldn’t seem to get it together. The one who kept going back to unhealthy relationships because they didn’t know what healthy even looks like. The one who was brought to the depths of sadness because of lost loved ones. Jesus doesn’t look at that person with contempt, but with compassion. He doesn’t say, let’s put them out of their misery.
No, he steps into our world from eternity past, born under humble circumstances, to go through the difficulties of life, to feel the pain of human existence. And he says to each of us when we are hurting, “I understand. I feel that pain with you.” And he isn’t about to just bring us past the breaking point. Rather, he carries us through the breaking point.
You know, I see a lot of times a post on Facebook or on a poster or something, “God won’t give you more than you can handle”. Well, that sounds nice, but is that true? No, God indeed gives many of us much more than we can handle. But in his grace, He gives us the power of the Holy Spirit, the refreshing of His word, so that the situations that are too big for us to handle he empowers us to handle.
You can see the difference. I have known Christian funeral home directors. One told me that the difference in how a believing family handles a death, particularly an unexpected one, is amazing. The family with no faith has no hope. In their grief, they are often unable to handle the stress and sadness of a death. But the believer has reason for hope. the believer still grieves. But it is different. We know that in the end, our Lord will wipe every tear from our eyes. Our grief is not eternal.
And when we are grieving over sin, we need not be so discouraged. For the one brokenhearted by their own sin, he will not break you. In fact, your salvation lies in your feelings of brokenness over sin:
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; Is your faith weakened? Jesus will not snuff it out. You see, if you have true saving faith in him, you cannot be lost.
But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,
You see, Jesus is the life-giver to all who put faith in him. Sometimes our faith has its ups and downs. We are responsible to maintain it, to work it out with fear and trembling. But in those times, when our faith seems like it is dying away, Jesus preserves our faith to bring us out on the other side. Sometimes he uses other believers. Sometimes he calls upon us to fan our own flame of faith. Indeed, Paul told Timothy
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands,
So Paul is reminding him. We all need encouragement. We need each other to remind us of the promises of scripture.
Jesus, is the servant of Isaiah 42. He is also Immanuel, God with Us. This advent season, let’s make sure that we take every opportunity to reflect on Jesus and who He is to us as individuals, as a church, and to the world. To individuals who know him, he is Lord, Savior, Friend, and the first born brother. He came as a humble servant, and suffered as one of us and faced temptation as we did so that he could sympathize with us: Heb4.15
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
He proved himself not only victorious over sin, but victorious over every trial of life. And because he did this, those who have faith in him can also have confidence in our ultimate victory. When we are bruised and banged up by life, he will not break us. When our faith has become but a faintly burning wick, he will not snuff it out.
In fact, we know that God has used weak people to be part of his plan of salvation. Was Mary chosen to be his mother because she had great strength? No, she was chosen as one who was obedient to God. God knew beforehand what her response would be. Luke1.38
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
How many stories could we share from scripture of examples of Jesus not breaking that bruised reed, or snuffing out that wick? The woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, the woman with the issue of blood, Peter who denied him, the woman who asked for the crumbs off the table, the woman who washed his feet with her tears. The gospels record many such stories of the proof that Jesus, the servant of Isaiah 42, would not break the bruised reed or snuff out the candle of the one with a small faith. That is who Jesus is to the one who puts faith in him. He is our rock and our fortress
And to the church, he is the one who brings unity and love into a community that is united by his blood. In any church, you can take a look around, and if you are paying attention, at any given time, among us are bruised reeds, among us are smoldering wicks. And in the church, we do not want to break anyone or snuff out their faith. Sadly, this can happen. Sometimes we forget to be like Jesus, and rather than encouraging someone and gently helping them to go forward in their faith, we tear down rather than build up. But that is not what we want to be. We want to be humble servants like Jesus. We want God’s soul to delight in us. So this advent season, let us again recommit to being the church God has called us to be. A church that proclaims the truth of His Word that sets captives free. A church that marinates in his love so that when people encounter us, they will have a sweet taste in their mouth. A church that takes the bruised reed and binds it to strengthen it, and that fans into flame the faith in others.
To the world, the servant of God, Jesus, is going to bring justice. As we learned over the complaints of Habakkuk, be careful what you wish for. When we cry out for justice, His is perfect, and may not be the justice we seek. do we trust him with justice? When his gavel comes down, will we trust it? When he gives mercy to someone who deserved punishment, will we be upset by it, as Jonah was upset when God was gracious to Ninevah?
I’m going to close by reading the Magnificat. This is Mary’s song of praise. It is her response to the statement of Elizabeth, who recognized that Mary’s pregnancy and the baby she carried was truly something divine. Elizabeth’s baby, John the Baptist, leapt in the womb when Mary approached. Elizabeth called Mary blessed, because she believed there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. Maybe Elizabeth understood a little about faith and obedience. Perhaps she remembered Hab2.4, the righteous shall live by his faith. But Elizabeth understood Mary’s obedience in faith, and commended her for it. Mary gave this beautiful response:
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”