Isaiah 42:1-25
The Suffering Servant of the LORD
1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.
3 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
4 he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”
5 This is what God the Lord says—
the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out,
who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,
who gives breath to its people,
and life to those who walk on it:
6 “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light for the Gentiles,
7 to open eyes that are blind,
to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
8 “I am the Lord; that is my name!
I will not yield my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
9 See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you.”
Song of Praise to the Lord
10 Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the ends of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
you islands, and all who live in them.
11 Let the wilderness and its towns raise their voices;
let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice.
Let the people of Sela sing for joy;
let them shout from the mountaintops.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord
and proclaim his praise in the islands.
13 The Lord will march out like a champion,
like a warrior he will stir up his zeal;
with a shout he will raise the battle cry
and will triumph over his enemies.
14 “For a long time I have kept silent,
I have been quiet and held myself back.
But now, like a woman in childbirth,
I cry out, I gasp and pant.
15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills
and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn rivers into islands
and dry up the pools.
16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsake them.
17 But those who trust in idols,
who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’
will be turned back in utter shame.
Israel Blind and Deaf
18 “Hear, you deaf;
look, you blind, and see!
19 Who is blind but my servant,
and deaf like the messenger I send?
Who is blind like the one in covenant with me,
blind like the servant of the Lord?
20 You have seen many things, but you pay no attention;
your ears are open, but you do not listen.”
21 It pleased the Lord
for the sake of his righteousness
to make his law great and glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and looted,
all of them trapped in pits
or hidden away in prisons.
They have become plunder,
with no one to rescue them;
they have been made loot,
with no one to say, “Send them back.”
23 Which of you will listen to this
or pay close attention in time to come?
24 Who handed Jacob over to become loot,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord,
against whom we have sinned?
For they would not follow his ways;
they did not obey his law.
25 So he poured out on them his burning anger,
the violence of war.
It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand;
it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.
The prophetic vision of Isaiah regarding the Suffering Servant stands as one of the most profound and detailed portraits of the Messiah found in the entire Old Testament...This sequence of four distinct "Servant Songs" begins in Isaiah 42 and culminates in the staggering description of vicarious suffering in Isaiah 53...While the initial identification of the Servant in Isaiah 41:8 points to the nation of Israel, the progression of the text clearly shifts toward an Individual Figure who accomplishes what the nation could not...This individual is chosen by God and upheld by His Mighty Hand to bring a unique form of justice to a world weary of oppression...The first song, found in Isaiah 42:1-4, introduces us to a figure who is uniquely empowered by the Holy Spirit to serve as a beacon of hope for the nations...Unlike the earthly conquerors of Isaiah’s day who ruled through fear and military might, this Servant is characterized by a revolutionary gentleness...He does not cry out in the streets or seek the applause of the crowds, but instead works with a quiet and persistent strength...He is a Minister, a Rabbi and Teacher...The imagery of the "bruised reed" and the "smoldering wick" tells us that He is a Savior for the broken and the exhausted, refusing to crush those who are already struggling under the weight and troubles of life...This gentle approach is not a sign of weakness but of a Divine Patience that will not falter until true justice is established across the earth...These passages point toward Jesus' Great Sermon, the Sermon on the Mount...
As we transition from the first song into the subsequent passages, we see the mission of the Servant expand from national restoration to universal redemption...In the second song of Isaiah 49, the Servant’s call is revealed to have been established even before His birth in the womb...Here, the Servant acknowledges that His mission is to be a "light to the Gentiles" so that God’s salvation may reach to the ends of the earth...This perfectly mirrors the ministry of Jesus, who frequently withdrew from the limelight to pray and who instructed His followers to find rest for their souls in His lowliness...Isaiah writes: I will take hold of your hand...I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles...He is truly a God for all people and very much LOVES those in need and trouble and poor in spirit...