Isaiah 42

The Servant's Mission

1 "This is My Servant; I strengthen Him, [this is] My Chosen One; I delight in Him. I have put My Spirit on Him; He will bring justice^[a] to the nations.

2 He will not cry out or shout or make His voice heard in the streets.

3 He will not break a bruised reed, and He will not put out a smoldering wick; He will faithfully bring justice.

4 He will not grow weak or be discouraged until He has established justice on earth. The islands will wait for His instruction."

5 This is what God the Lord says- who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and life^[b] to those who walk on it-

6 "I, the Lord, have called you for a righteous [purpose],^[c] and I will hold you by your hand. I will keep you, and I make you a covenant for the people [and] a light to the nations,

7 in order to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, [and] those sitting in darkness from the prison house.

8 I am Yahweh, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, or My praise to idols.

9 The past events have indeed happened. Now I declare new events; I announce them to you before they occur."

A Song of Praise

10 Sing a new song to the Lord;^[d] [sing] His praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea with all that fills it,^[e] you islands with your^[f] inhabitants.

11 Let the desert and its cities shout, the settlements where Kedar dwells [cry aloud]. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy; let them cry out from the mountaintops.

12 Let them give glory to the Lord, and declare His praise in the islands.

13 The Lord advances like a warrior; He stirs up His zeal like a soldier. He shouts, He roars aloud, He prevails over His enemies.

14 "I have kept silent from ages past; I have been quiet and restrained Myself. [But now,] I will groan like a woman in labor, gasping breathlessly.

15 I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their vegetation. I will turn rivers into islands, and dry up marshes.

16 I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on paths they have not known. I will turn darkness to light in front of them, and rough places into level ground. This is what I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.

17 They will be turned back [and] utterly ashamed- those who trust in idols and say to metal-plated images: You are our gods!

Israel's Blindness and Deafness

18 "Listen, you deaf! Look, you blind, so that you may see.

19 Who is blind but My servant, or deaf like My messenger I am sending? Who is blind like [My] dedicated one,^[g] or blind like the servant of the Lord?

20 Though seeing many things,^[h] you do not obey. Though [his] ears are open, he does not listen."

21 The Lord was pleased, because of His righteousness, to magnify [His] instruction and make it glorious.

22 But this is a people plundered and looted, all of them trapped in holes or imprisoned in dungeons. They have become plunder, with no one to rescue them, and loot, with no one saying "Give [it] back!"

23 Who among you will pay attention to this? Let him listen and obey in the future.

24 Who gave Jacob to the robber,^[i] and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the Lord? Have we not sinned against Him? They were not willing to walk in His ways, and they would not listen to His instruction.

25 So He poured out on Jacob His furious anger and the power of war. It surrounded him with fire, but he did not know [it]; it burned him, but he paid no attention.^[j]

Isaiah 42 Commentary

Chapter 42

The character and coming of Christ. (1-4) The blessings of his kingdom. (5-12) The prevalence of true religion. (13-17) Unbelief and blindness reproved. (18-25)

Verses 1-4 This prophecy was fulfilled in Christ, ( Matthew 12:17 ) . Let our souls rely on him, and rejoice in him; then, for his sake, the Father will be well-pleased with us. The Holy Spirit not only came, but rested upon him, and without measure. He patiently bore the contradiction of sinners. His kingdom is spiritual; he was not to appear with earthly honours. He is tender of those oppressed with doubts and fears, as a bruised reed; those who are as smoking flax, as the wick of a lamp newly lighted, which is ready to go out again. He will not despise them, nor lay upon them more work or more suffering than they can bear. By a long course of miracles and his resurrection, he fully showed the truth of his holy religion. By the power of his gospel and grace he fixes principles in the minds of men, which tend to make them wise and just. The most distant nations wait for his law, wait for his gospel, and shall welcome it. If we would make our calling and election sure, and have the Father delight over us for good, we must behold, hear, believe in, and obey Christ.

Verses 5-12 The work of redemption brings back man to the obedience he owes to God as his Maker. Christ is the light of the world. And by his grace he opens the understandings Satan has blinded, and sets at liberty from the bondage of sin. The Lord has supported his church. And now he makes new promises, which shall as certainly be fulfilled as the old ones were. When the Gentiles are brought into the church, he is glorified in them and by them. Let us give to God those things which are his, taking heed that we do not serve the creature more than the Creator.

Verses 13-17 The Lord will appear in his power and glory. He shall cry, in the preaching of his word. He shall cry aloud in the gospel woes, which must be preached with gospel blessings, to awaken a sleeping world. He shall conquer by the power of his Spirit. And those that contradict and blaspheme his gospel, he shall put to silence and shame; and that which hinders its progress shall be taken out of the way. To those who by nature were blind, God will show the way to life and happiness by Jesus Christ. They are weak in knowledge, but He will make darkness light. They are weak in duty, but their way shall be plain. Those whom God brings into the right way, he will guide in it. This passage is a prophecy, and is also applicable to every believer; for the Lord will never leave nor forsake them.

Verses 18-25 Observe the call given to this people, and the character given of them. Multitudes are ruined for want of observing that which they cannot but see; they perish, not through ignorance, but carelessness. The Lord is well-pleased in the making known his own righteousness. For their sins they were spoiled of all their possessions. This fully came to pass in the destruction of the Jewish nation. There is no resisting, nor escaping God's anger. See the mischief sin makes; it provokes God to anger. And those not humbled by lesser judgments, must expect greater. Alas! how many professed Christians are blind as the benighted heathen! While the Lord is well-pleased in saving sinners through the righteousness of Christ he will also glorify his justice, by punishing all proud despisers. Seeing God has poured out his wrath on his once-favoured people, because of their sins, let us fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of us should be found to come short of it.

Footnotes

• [a]. DSS read His justice
• [b]. Lit spirit
• [c]. Or you by [My] righteousness; lit you in righteousness
• [d]. Ps 96:1; 98:1
• [e]. Ps 96:11; 98:7
• [f]. Lit their
• [g]. Hb obscure
• [h]. Alt Hb tradition reads You see many things;
• [i]. Lit to loot
• [j]. Lit he did not put on heart

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 42

This chapter begins with a prophecy concerning the Messiah, under the character of the servant of the Lord, and his elect, whom he supported, and was well pleased with; whose work is pointed at, and for which he was well qualified with the Spirit without measure, Isa 42:1 and is described by his humility and meekness, Isa 42:2, by his tenderness to weak and ignorant persons, Isa 42:3 and by his courage and resolution, Isa 42:4 then follow his call to his work, and the several parts of it, introduced with setting forth the greatness of God that called him, as the Creator of the heavens and of the earth, and of men upon it, Isa 42:5-7, whose name is Jehovah, and whose glory is incommunicable to a creature, and whose knowledge reaches to future things, which are predicted by him, Isa 42:8,9, and then Gentiles are called upon to praise the Lord, and give glory to him, partly for the above promises concerning the Messiah, Isa 42:10-12, and partly for the destruction of his enemies, Isa 42:13-15, and also for his gracious regard to such who had been blind and ignorant, Isa 42:16, the confusion of idolaters is prophesied of, and an exhortation is given them to make use of the means of light and knowledge, Isa 42:17,18, and the blindness, ignorance, and stupidity of the Jews, are exposed, though there was a remnant among them with whom the Lord was well pleased, for the sake of the righteousness of his Son, Isa 42:19-21, but as for the body of the people, they were to be given up to the spoilers and robbers for their sins and disobedience, and be the butt of the divine wrath and vengeance, Isa 42:22-24.