LHC Midday Word: The Book of ISAIAH

The servant of the Lord

‘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.

He will not shout or cry out,

or raise his voice in the streets.

A bruised reed he will not break,

and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out.

In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

he will not falter or be discouraged

till he establishes justice on earth.

In his teaching the islands will put their hope.’

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:

‘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,

to open eyes that are blind,

to free captives from prison

and to release from the dungeon

those who sit in darkness.

‘I am the Lord; that is my name!

I will not yield my glory to another

or my praise to idols.

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

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.

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.

Let them give glory to the Lord

and proclaim his praise in the islands.

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.

‘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.

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.

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.

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

‘Hear, you deaf;

look, you blind, and see!

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?

You have seen many things, but you pay no attention;

your ears are open, but you do not listen.’

It pleased the Lord

for the sake of his righteousness

to make his law great and glorious.

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.’

Which of you will listen to this

or pay close attention in time to come?

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.

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.

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Word by Word Meditations

by Fred Ursell

Isaiah 42: “servant” (v.1)

In this text God’s “servant” (v.1) is not the nation of Israel (see 41 v.8) but Jesus, as Matthew makes plain (12 vv.17-21). God said he would be “my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him” as happened at his baptism; “the Holy Spirit descended on him … and a voice came from heaven, ‘you are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3 v.22). “I, the LORD … will make you … a light for the Gentiles” (v.6).