Isaiah 42:1-7 – 1“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. 2He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; 4he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.” 5This is what God the Lord says— the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: 6“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. “The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.”
Isaiah wrote of the coming Messiah hundreds of years before He was born on earth. When He was born His name was Jesus. Here Isaiah describes Him and the life He would live.
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight.” Delight. God Almighty delights in Jesus. He sent Jesus He because delights in all whom He has drawn to Jesus. Have you ever delighted in someone. Not be delighted, as if they did something nice for you one time, but just delighted in them. Delighted beyond circumstances. Just loved the person beyond expression. Perhaps, even beyond their affection back? God the Father found great delight in Jesus. He finds it in those whom Jesus will present before His throne. What a wonderful thing is that relationship. Delight!
“I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.” Be one with. What is it for you to desire that your spirit would dwell within another? Oh Family, it is great love. Love that dances from your heart to theirs and delights in being within them. It is a desire to be united and never separated. Think marriage, perfectly done, with the perfect love of God. It is love that says I love you and will never stop. What beauty to give. What beauty to receive. Be one with!
“2He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice. 4He will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.” Gentleness, humility, strength and justice. One who brings love, gentleness, humility, strength to, and for the world, must also bring justice. Without pure justice in the world there can be no pure love. Wrongs must be repented from or punished, for true love to be also present. God is both love and righteousness. Contemplate how shallow love for the world would be without justice. How wonderful it shall be to love in perfect love and perfect justice. How wonderful it will be to have both perfect love and perfect justice not be an external goal, but intrinsic and flowing from within. Gentleness, humility, strength and justice.
“In his teaching the islands will put their hope.” Giver of hope. Man does not live without hope. Without hope we are empty and life seems futile. How hurt and broken are those who feel like they have no hope. Those are the ones who give up. Whose imagination for a reality of love and beauty have faded. Long before the body dies, they die within. How horrid. How terribly sad that even one would feel this way. Jesus is God expressed to the world. He who loves the souls of mankind brings teaching that inspire, give reasons for life, radiate eternal love that immediately lives in the soul and spirit of all who would receive it. He gives structure that is born of a blended material called righteousness and love. This material is stronger than any metal, stronger than physical, and it is alive. It is spiritual and can only be received from God. It is so valuable that no one can afford it. It can only be received when one receives it from Jesus. He is on every street corner handing it out. Oh yes He is! He commands His Words of life, that give hope for us to live and have meaning. That give hope for us to smile so deeply that it has overflowed from an eternal fount within. That is a hope that cannot be stolen, cannot rot or decay, and will never end. Jesus is where beauty for life is found. Giver of hope.
“This is what God the Lord says— the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it.” The owner. No one can give what one does not have. No one can give love if love is not within. No one can give food, or water, if one does not have it to give. No one can be a basis for sure hope but God Almighty. Only He who created all, the Mighty and Limitless One, He, and only He can give sure hope. Firstly because only He has the absolute power to assure. Secondly, because only He has already completely provided the reason for it. The one who assures the future must own the future. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the owner. The owner.
“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” Covenant Keeper. One who comes to set free from that which binds the world must be greater than that which binds. He must be softer, kinder, more tender and tougher, stronger and able to conquer. He must be strong enough to vanquish an enemy while tenderly holding a child’s hand. He can swing a sword and never will the child feel a change in the tender grip. A covenant keeper must have the character, ability and desire to keep the covenant. He must be sure and never falter. The covenant must start within Himself and not from without. He must be able to not only uphold all His responsibility within the covenant, but also to be able to enable the one whom He has made a covenant with. He keeps the covenant from both sides because of the love and care that brought Him to enter the covenant. He cannot break the covenant because He is true to Himself and He is one who has never broken a covenant and never will. He says what He means and He means what He says. Covenant keeper.
“The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.” Complete. God is complete. He lacks nothing, knows everything, is stronger and mightier than everything, and loves with an encompassing and eternal love. He has had a plan from the start that He never had. He is He who prepared a future before there was time. He created time and will see the end of it. He has love because it is who He is. He rescues because it is who He is. He has a prepared home He is leading all of His people to because His love for us is being true to Himself. He is who He is. He is all that is good and nothing that is bad. He is God and there is no other. He is the Savior, His name is Jesus, and there is no other. He is the beginning and the end. He has painted all the broad strokes and the finest detail. He is the only one who needs no one while loving everyone. He draws those that are His near, and holds them close. They feel the hug of His mighty and tender loving arm. They are aware of His presence and see His footsteps behind them, beside them, and before them. He is God. There is no other. He is the Savior Jesus and there is no other. Complete.
Family we are one with He who has delights in us, who defines gentleness, humility, strength and justice, who is the Giver of Hope, the Owner of all, who is the eternal Covenant Keeper and who is complete. We are one with Him because He is the great “I AM.” Our hope is sure because it is in God. Certain hope comes only through Him. We have Him because He has always had us. Some things never change. Praise the Lord!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.