God’s Servant Tempted to Despair …(Servant Songs 7)

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God. And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength. And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.  ⁷Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee. (Isaiah 49:1-7)

The prophecy of Isaiah features a figure called Servant of the LORD, who is chosen by God to bring the knowledge of God to the very ends of the earth. This was the commission given to the servant nation Israel, but her defection from God has disqualified her for the time being.

How can she display God’s glory, from her exile?

The answer is God’s servant. The Servant himself is called Israel, and shall faithfully carry out the appointed mission on behalf of the nation. He will bring to the furthest nations the knowledge and glory of Israel’s God. Because of His work, the nations will bow down  before God, they will take up the Bible, they will worship the LORD.

But in this portion of the second Servant Song, we see that the servant is very human, and subject to discouragement, and the temptation to despair. He has held nothing back, pouring himself out,  spending himself for the cause of God , but with seemingly trivial results.

Humanly speaking, it looks like little has been achieved, towards the end of bringing the knowledge of God to the world. But This servant will look to God, for the outcome. God, “my God“,  will have the final word on the Servant’s work and self giving.

Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.(Isaiah 49:4)

The LORD speaks to the Servant directly in the last stanza of this song, that is the LORD who has used every event in the Servant’s life  from the womb, as a preparation for the task of bringing Jacob back to Him,

And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength. And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.  

The Word of the LORD to the Servant is that the successful gathering of Jacob would only be a portion of the ultimate achievement of the Servant. He would accomplish that and more, for the Servant himself would be God’s Salvation to the ends of the earth! Not the messenger of salvation, but in his own person He would BE THE SALVATION  and THE LIGHT of the world.

In the Servant, this damned, vain, lost, idolatrous  world of darkness and despair would see a light from heaven, and those who would enter into this light, would be saved. They would come out of their darkness and out from under their condemnation, and live in the light of the Servant Messiah. All over the world pagans will worship the God of the Jews because of him.

There is a remnant of Israel also, whom God has reserved for himself. In the faith of the Servant they will glorify God, having been lifted up by God himself, through the work of this man.