42:1-4These verses are quoted in Matthew 12:18-21 with reference to Christ. The chosen servant reveals a character of gentleness, encouragement, justice, and truth. When you feel broken and bruised or burned out in your spiritual life, God won't step on you or toss you aside as useless but wilt gently pick you up. God's loving attributes are desperately needed in the world today. Through God’s Spirit, we can show such sensitivity to people around us, reflecting God's goodness and honesty to them.
Life Application Study BibleIsaiahChapter 42
Isaiah 42
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1156, 1157, 1158
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
42Isaiah 42
1He will bring justice to the nations.
2He will not shoutor raise his voice in public.
3He will not crush the weakest reedor put out a flickering candle.He will bring justice to all who have been wronged.
4He will not falter or lose heartuntil justice prevails throughout the earth.Even distant lands beyond the sea will wait for his instruction.*”
5God, the LORD, created the heavens and stretched them out.He created the earth and everything in it.He gives breath to everyone,life to everyone who walks the earth.And it is he who says,
6“I, the LORD, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness.I will take you by the hand and guard you,and I will give you to my people, Israel,as a symbol of my covenant with them.And you will be a light to guide the nations.
7You will open the eyes of the blind.You will free the captives from prison,releasing those who sit in dark dungeons.
8“T am the LORD; that is my name!I will not give my glory to anyone else,nor share my praise with carved idols.
9Everything I prophesied has come true,and now I will prophesy again.I will tell you the future before it happens.”
A Song of Praise to the LORD
1010 Sing a new song to the LORD!Sing his praises from the ends of the earth!Sing, all you who sail the seas,all you who live in distant coastlands.
11Join in the chorus, you desert towns;let the villages of Kedar rejoice!Let the people of Sela sing for joy;shout praises from the mountaintops!
12Let the whole world glorify the LORD;let it sing his praise.
13The LORD will march forth like a mighty hero;he will come out like a warrior, full of fury.He will shout his battle cryand crush all his enemies.
14He will say, “I have long been silent;yes, I have restrained myself.But now, like a woman in labor,Iwill cry and groan and pant.
15T will level the mountains and hillsand blight all their greenery.I will turn the rivers into dry landand will dry up all the pools.
16I will lead blind Israel down a new path,guiding them along an unfamiliar way.I will brighten the darkness before themand smooth out the road ahead of them.Yes, I will indeed do these things;I will not forsake them.
17But those who trust in idols,who say, ‘You are our gods,’will be turned away in shame.
Israel's Failure to Listen and See
1818 “Listen, you who are deaf!Look and see, you blind!18 Who is as blind as my own people, my servant?Who is as deaf as my messenger?Who is as blind as my chosen people,the servant of the LORD?
20You see and recognize what is rightbut refuse to act on it.You hear with your ears,but you don’t really listen.”
21Because he is righteous,the LORD has exalted his glorious law.
22But his own people have been robbed and plundered,enslaved, imprisoned, and trapped.They are fair game for anyoneand have no one to protect them,no one to take them back home.
23Who will hear these lessons from the pastand see the ruin that awaits you in the future?
24Who allowed Israel to be robbed and hurt?It was the LORD, against whom we sinned,for the people would not walk in his path,nor would they obey his law.
25Therefore, he poured out his fury on themand destroyed them in battle.They were enveloped in flames,but they still refused to understand.They were consumed by fire,but they did not learn their lesson.
The Savior of Israel
43 1 But now, O Jacob, listen to the LORD who created you.O Israel, the one who formed you says,“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
Textual footnotes
- 42:4 Greek version reads And his name will be the hope of ail the world. Compare Matt 12:21.
Life Application Notes 6 notes
42:1-9Sometimes called the Servant Song, these verses are about the Servant-Messiah, not the servant Cyrus (described in chapter 41). Israel and the Messiah are both often called servant. Israel, as God's servant, was to help bring the world to a knowledge of God. The Messiah, Jesus, would fulfill this task and show God himself to the world.
42:6,7Part of Christ's mission on earth was to demonstrate God’s righteousness and to be a light for the Gentiles (to all nations). Through Christ, all people have the opportunity to share in his mission. God calls us to be servants of his Son, demonstrating God’s righteousness and bringing his light. What a rare privilege it is to help the Messiah fulfill his mission! But we must seek his righteousness (Matthew 6:33) before we demonstrate it to others and let his light shine in us before we can be lights ourselves (Matthew 5:16; 2 Corinthians 4:6).
42:10Look at all the LORD will do for us and through us (42:6-9)! Majestic works prompt majestic responses. Do you really appreciate the good things that God does for you and through you? If sa, let your praise to him reflect how you really feel.
42:19,20How could Israel and Judah be God’s servants and yet be so blind? How could they be so close to God and see so little? Jesus condemned the religious leaders of his day for the same disregard of God (John 9:39-41). Yet do we not fail in the same way? Sometimes partial blindness—seeing but not understanding, or knowing what is right but not doing it—can be worse than not seeing at all.
42:23We may condemn our predecessors for their faiures, but we are twice as guilty if we repeat the same mistakes that we recognize as failures. We may be so ready to direct God’s message at others that we can’t see how it touches our own life. Make sure you are willing to take your own advice as you teach or lead.
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Study feature · page 1157
THE SERVANT IN ISAIAH
The nation Israel is called the servant:......... 41:8; 42:19; 43:10; 44:1, 2, 21; 45:4; 48:20
The Messiah is called the Servant:............ 42:1-17; 49:5-7; 50:10; 52:13; 53:11 The nation was given a mission to serve God, to be custodian of his word, and to be a light to the Gentile nations. Because of sin and rebellion, they faited. God sent his Son, Christ, as Messiah to fulfill that mission on earth.