KJV Isaiah 42:4 “He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth:”
NASB Isaiah 42:4 “He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice in the earth;”
KJV Isaiah 49:4 “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.”
NASB Isaiah 49:4 But I said, “I have toiled in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity; Yet surely the justice due to Me is with the LORD, And My reward with My God.”
KJV Isaiah 50:5 “The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back”
NASB Isaiah 50:5 The Lord GOD has opened My ear; And I was not disobedient Nor did I turn back.
KJV Isaiah 53:6 “and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all”
NASB Isaiah 53:6 “But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”
The last section of Isaiah’s prophecy is renowned for the four Servant Songs that occur amidst its prophecies. These are Isaiah 42, 49, 50, and 52:13-53:12. Though not the only prophecies concerning Israel’s Messiah, they are specifically songs of His Servant character. Each stresses a different aspect of His work, and in each, the opposition and suffering increase, reaching a cosmic crescendo in Isaiah 53.
Note that—
Isaiah 42:4 He Accomplished All
The kindness and skill of this Servant is expressed in the words that the bruised reed He would not break and the dimply burning wick He would not extinguish. In the original, the words “fail nor be discouraged” are actually the same as bruised and dimly burning. He would not take character from those he came to serve but would raise and give life to them.
He would not fail nor be discouraged until – Here is another of the significant “untils” of Scripture. He will accomplish all that His Master has given Him to do without faltering in the way. At His first advent, the opposition was intense. In an attempt to frustrate divine purposes, this Servant was taken out and placed on a Roman cross. But He will accomplish all.
Isaiah 49:4 He Committed All
In the next Servant song, the opposition is again arrayed against the labour of this Servant. “I have laboured in vain,” is the assessment of the Servant. This is not the self-pitying lament of a failing servant. Nor is it the complaint of a man who feels his master has let him down. This is the honest assessment of the Perfect Servant as He views the failure of the nation to recognize His credentials and come to repentance.
If we were awarding a job assessment based on results (and not performance), we would have to say that His coming to the nation as their Messiah had met resistance and not been successful.
However, the Servant adds, “yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.” He is a Servant marked by faith and thus commits all to His Master. He can leave all in His hands.
Peter tells us that when “He was reviled, He reviled not again but committed Himself to Him that judges righteously.”
Isaiah 50:4 He Obeyed All
Isaiah 50 now gives more details of the opposition the Servant faced. Into His listening ear was poured morning by morning the costly will of God, the work He must accomplish. And He was not rebellious. What was given Him to do, He delighted to do. He knew it would mean the spittle of men, the buffeting of His face, the scourging of His back. He obeyed all. Nothing was too costly; nothing to extreme. He obeyed all
Isaiah 53:6 He Sacrificed All
It is left to chapter 53 to tell us that He not only accomplished all, committed all to His Master, obeyed all He had been given by His Master, but that He endured the totality of God’s judgment against sin and paid the debt in its totality. Here, in this work of propitiation, He learned the cost of accomplishing all for His Master; here was the test of His faith in committing all to His Master; now He would learn the cost of obeying the will of His Master in its fullness. “He poured out His soul unto death” (Isa 53:12). Nothing was held in reserve. He, the faithful Servant, gave His all.
Little wonder the Master could call upon all created intelligence to “Behold My Servant …in Whom My soul delights.” May we discover fresh beauties deserving of fresh delight and worship.
Read the “Celine Dion and God” story here.
Consider:
Trace other themes that seem to progress or develop through these Servant Songs.