Isaiah 42:1-4

The Servant of Yahweh (Isaiah 42:1).

Isaiah 42:1

“Behold my servant whom I uphold,

My chosen one in whom my soul delights,

I have put my Spirit upon him,

He will bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

He will not cry, nor lift up,

Nor cause his voice to be heard in the street,

A bruised reed he will not break,

And the smoking flax he will not quench,

He will bring forth judgment in truth,

He will not fail nor be discouraged,

Until he has set judgment in the earth,

And the isles will wait for his law.”

‘Behold my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights.' It is not a coincidence that this is the seventh ‘Behold' in the passage from Isaiah 41:8. Divine perfection has been reached.

As we have seen, as the last in the series this ‘behold' connects back with what has gone before. The gods are as nothings, and all are called on to ‘behold' this fact (Isaiah 41:24; Isaiah 41:29). But God has raised up one who will act in His Name, one who has come from the north and trodden down rulers (Abraham - Isaiah 41:25). And from him has sprung Zion. Thus eyes are turned on them, ‘behold them' (Isaiah 41:27). But no one has arisen from them in order to give counsel or answer a word (Isaiah 41:28). So now God turns their eyes on one who will arise in the future, and says, ‘Behold My Servant' (Isaiah 42:1).

But who is ‘My Servant'? Israel/Jacob are declared by Isaiah to be His servant and chosen one in Isaiah 41:8; Isaiah 43:10; Isaiah 43:20; Isaiah 44:1; Isaiah 45:4; Isaiah 48:10 (compare Deuteronomy 7:6; Deuteronomy 14:2; Psalms 33:12; Psalms 135:4) because they were in Abraham His servant and are his seed (Isaiah 41:8; Psalms 105:6) These words can hardly therefore be denied to Israel. But it is clear in these passages that Israel as a whole have come short, and that the reference is therefore to the faithful in Israel (at this present time Isaiah and his disciples). It is they who are the true Israel (Isaiah 49:3; see Isaiah 65:9). In this particular song therefore this is where the emphasis lies. God visualises the faithful in Israel as fulfilling their ministry to be a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:5). For they stand in for, and spring from, Abraham, God's chosen servant and friend, as fulfillers of the promises.

But the description also demands that the Servant be their righteous king. No Israelite at this time would have imagined this destiny of setting judgment in the earth and establishing the law of God among the nations unless it were to be under the rule of the mighty Davidic king who was to rule over them for ever as promised by God (2 Samuel 7:13; Psalms 2:7; Psalms 89:3; Psalms 89:27; Psalms 89:36). And in the light of the earlier teaching of Isaiah this meant Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14). The destiny of God's true king and God's true people went together (see Jeremiah 33:26). David was God's Spirit-endued chosen one and servant from the beginning (1 Samuel 16:13 with Isaiah 42:8; Psalms 89:3; Psalms 89:20; 2 Chronicles 6:6) and this privilege was seen as passed on to his descendants when they were true to God, although it is possibly not without significance that Scripturally no Davidic king after David is described as endued with the Spirit of Yahweh until the promise of the coming One (Isaiah 11:1). None fulfilled the potential. The idea leaps straight from David to the coming David.

‘Whom I uphold.' See Isaiah 41:10. The word can indicate the exercise of firm but gentle strength. When Joseph wanted to transpose his father's hands so that the right hand of blessing might rest on the firstborn he sought to ‘uphold' his hand (Genesis 48:17). When Moses hands were lifted up to enable victory over the Amalekites they were ‘upheld' by his lieutenants (Exodus 17:12), providing the extra strength needed. In Psalms 17:5 the Psalmist ‘held fast' God's path, the idea being of a firm hold. In Psalms 41:12 The Psalmist saw God as ‘upholding' him in his integrity against his enemies. God is thus here seen as the one standing alongside to help and giving added strength to the Servant in his earthly weakness.

‘In whom my soul delights.' This requires a righteous servant, potentially at least. God could not delight in one who was unrighteous as He regularly makes clear. It is only as righteous that the Servant can delight Him. These words were specifically applied to the Jesus by the voice at His baptism. The Servant will bring joy to God's heart, and He will delight in Him and His people. The word regularly contains within it the idea of acceptability. God delights in uprightness (1 Chronicles 29:17). He delights in His people (Psalms 44:3) and in David (1 Chronicles 28:4). See for a similar idea Deuteronomy 10:15; 2Sa 22:20; 1 Kings 10:9. But that delight is in those who are responsive to His ways and obedient to His commandments. So it must be here.

‘I have put my Spirit upon Him, He will bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.' This is so reminiscent of Isaiah 11:2; Isaiah 11:10 that it could only be describing the One spoken of there. But not necessarily only Him. Jacob/Israel will also be endued with the Spirit in the glorious days to come (Isaiah 32:15; Isaiah 44:1). So again Davidic king and people are united, in being Spirit endued. The Servant is both king and people, His true people headed up by His true King. The Servant of Yahweh is to be endued with His mighty Spirit. In the Old Testament the enduing of the Spirit always results in visible success. So God's people will sweep forward under their glorious king. A finer description in so small a space, of the movement of the Gospel, first through Jesus as God's Servant (Matthew 12:17) and then through His Spirit-inspired people (Acts 13:47) would be difficult to find. But it also incorporates God's final triumph when the nations are gathered to Him as a result of the Servant's activity.

‘Judgment.' The word mishpat has varied meanings relating to making decisions on moral and governmental issues. We must not limit it to the exercise of the authority of the judge, although that is very much included. When used in this kind of context it signifies righteous rule as king and judge, right decisions (judgments) and depth of understanding and discernment in God's Law (Isaiah 42:4). And note what the Servant was to do, set judgment in the earth so that the isles waited for His Law. It is true that this indicates a Lawgiver supreme Whose Law or Instruction would prevail, but all would have accepted that such Instruction to be acceptable must be backed up by supreme authority, and Israel would undoubtedly have seen that as being the authority of the Davidic king.

‘To the Gentiles (the nations, the peoples).' No prophet was more universal in his views than Isaiah and as we have constantly seen he fervently believed that God's purpose in the end was that all nations should come under His rule and receive His enlightenment (e.g. Isaiah 2:3; Isaiah 19:18; Isaiah 49:6). The Servant has a universal purpose. That purpose continued its fulfilment through the faithful of Israel in the dispersion, and through the faithful in Israel itself as they awaited their Messiah (Luke 2:25; Luke 2:32; Luke 2:37), it continued in the ministry of Jesus to the Samaritans (John 4) and to various Gentiles, the Roman centurion (Luke 7:2), the Syro-Phoenician woman (Mark 7:24), the Greeks who came to Philip seeking Jesus (John 12:20), the demon-possessed man in Decapolis (Mark 5:1), the feeding of the crowds in Gentile territory (Mark 8:1) and was rapidly expanded through the early church, reaching out continually through the centuries to our own day. The Servant, the seed of Abraham, is still at work as we move forward in Him.

‘He will not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break, and the dimly-burning flax he will not quench. He will bring forth judgment in truth.' He will not be a complainer, or a rabble-rouser, or a self-propagating orator, or one who is dictatorially demanding, but rather will deal gently and tenderly with the weak and the helpless, restoring the bent and bruised reed, bringing back to flame the smoking, dimly-burning flax, quietly but firmly dispensing justice. The picture is one of someone of great authority, but perfectly controlled and tender. The true servant of God is distinguished by his quiet competence. And central to the fulfilment of his position as ruler and judge will be truth. There will be no deviation, no darkness, no manipulation, all will be true and will reveal truth. The Servant can thus only signify those who hold firmly to God's truth, and reveal His tender heart.

‘He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set judgment in the earth, and the isles/coastlands wait for his law.' The Servant will continue steadfastly, finally unfailing in the task given him, refusing to be discouraged, until at last righteous judgment and true justice are total, and even the furthest outreaches of mankind are under His Instruction. They will ‘wait', either in certain hope for His word, or in obedience under the dispensing of His word.

‘Fail' and ‘discouraged' are from the same roots as ‘burn dimly' and ‘bruised' (Isaiah 42:3). He will not allow bruising and dimly burning to affect him. He will be steadfast against all difficulties and hardships. It is not that He will not be bruised (Isaiah 53:10), but that it will not be in such a way as to cause Him to wilt. The necessity for these words is demonstrative of the trials through which the Servant will go. His path is not to be easy but He will conquer in the end.

‘And the isles/coastlands wait for his law.' We can compare here Isaiah 51:4 where ‘a law shall proceed from Me (Yahweh)' and ‘the isles will wait on Me and on My arm they will trust'. Thus the isles wait for the instruction of the Servant and they wait for the Instruction of Yahweh.

In one sense this is all the result of Abraham whom God raised up and called in the beginning (Isaiah 41:2; Isaiah 41:25). This was the purpose to which He called him. And it has all sprung from the call of Abraham. But it is the work of Abraham as fulfilled through those of his seed who have proved faithful to God (Isaiah 41:8), and especially through the Greatest of the seed of Abraham, the final Davidic king, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself (Matthew 1:1; Matthew 1:17). This was one reason why Paul so greatly stressed that the true church of Christ are the seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:7; Galatians 3:29; Romans 9:7 in context). The Servant is Abraham marching through history to his finest fulfilment in Jesus Christ and His people. The setting of true ‘judgment' in the earth, which the peoples would undoubtedly see as a blessing, was one of the promises to Abraham and his seed (Genesis 12:3). And it continues to be revealed through His church, the Israel of God.