Isaiah 42:1-13
1 "Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,
My Elect One in whom My soul delights!
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice,
Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
3 A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench;
He will bring forth justice for truth.
4 He will not fail nor be discouraged,
Till He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands shall wait for His law."
5 Thus says God the LORD,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it,
Who gives breath to the people on it,
And spirit to those who walk on it:
6 "I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness,
And will hold Your hand;
I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the Gentiles,
7 To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the prison,
Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
8 I am the LORD, that is My name;
And My glory I will not give to another,
Nor My praise to carved images.
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,
And new things I declare;
Before they spring forth I tell you of them."
10 Sing to the LORD a new song,
And His praise from the ends of the earth,
You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
You coastlands and you inhabitants of them!
11 Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice,
The villages that Kedar inhabits.
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing,
Let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the LORD,
And declare His praise in the coastlands.
13 The LORD shall go forth like a mighty man;
He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war.
He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud;
He shall prevail against His enemies.
How often Christ was announced long before He walked among us, and how clearly in passages like this one! This is just cause for praise to the LORD. God chose His Son as predetermined to come and bring deliverance from sin and its penalty, bringing justice to all nations as a judgment to determine our case in our sin’s offense against Him since Adam. This Servant (who is the Messiah) was predetermined to be humble instead of loud and commanding, and was to be merciful and forgiving in not quenching the smallest mustard seed of faith in those he spoke with (Luke 13:19) who heard and trusted His word. His justice brought forth truth in that it revealed we cannot do enough good works to earn God’s favor, for favor by definition is unmerited goodness given as a gift, not wages, which we call grace. Our only wage we deserve is death (Romans 6:23) in justice measured by our standards. Just as the coastlands waited for His law, we waited until the right time for Him to come among us (Galatians 4:4-5) with mercy in the justice He earned through His suffering and sacrifice of Himself for us as our high priest and perfectly righteous sacrificial lamb. The creator of all called out here to His people and to us today as well to understand and acknowledge that our life and breath come from Him. He called His Servant of righteousness to be our new covenant through the blood of His sacrifice, proven by fulfilling these promises as the divine light to give sight to the blind and set us free from sins bondage as a prison of darkness and certain death in judgment. He alone could do this, for He alone is the LORD God (Isaiah 45:22-25, Philippians 2:9-11) who gets all the glory and honor for His work of our deliverance. Yes, He told us the gospel throughout the Old Testament, especially visible here and later brought to our attention when He came to do this work (Matthew 12:17-21, Luke 4:17, 24:46). Our response is to sing the new song of salvation which is not by works but by His wondrous grace to draw us out of the darkness of death into His light of eternal life in Christ in His presence and righteousness beyond all time. Our testimony should sing out the glory of His work in this good news from the highest mountaintop to the sea! He has done it all to prevail against our enemy (1 Corinthians 15:25-26) with a shout of a triumphant trumpet in His victory in Christ (Revelation 11:15, 1 Corinthians 15:52, 57)! This is the justice predetermined by God, proclaimed by Isaiah, and fulfilled by the Messiah. Amen and amen. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!
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