First Servant Song of Isaiah

God's Servant is the World's Only Hope (42.1-9)

In this, the first of four Isaianic servant oracles (cf. 49.1-6; 50.4-9; 52.13-53.12), the prophet begins with the command, “Behold my servant.” The role of the servant in the opening song is to proclaim a message of justice and to declare that the wrongs of the world will be set right. The twelve lines of the song are equally divided into three stanzas. Of particular note is the emphasis in verses three and four on the gentleness of the servant while he is himself implacably resilient. “The title, my servant, says little about the person who bears it. It is mainly used of Messianophoric [Messiah-like] individuals like Moses and David, and this indicates its importance in the purposes of God. Its use with reference to Nebuchadnezzar shows that it can spotlight the function rather than the person. Without any qualifying proper name, it suggests here ‘my pre-eminent servant’, one who embodies true servanthood” (J. Alec Motyer, Isaiah, 319). God’s quintessential servant is Jesus (cf. Matthew 12.9-21). Cyrus was one of the great conquerors of the ancient world; however, the Lord’s servant is strikingly different: he is empowered by the Spirit but he is not destructive or brutal. Quite to the contrary, he is peaceful, gentle and does not attempt to bring public attention to himself. Aspiring empire builders do everything they can to make themselves heard: they boast about their accomplishments, they try to dominate every situation, they marginalize those who cannot advance their cause [sounds like the presidential debates], but the Lord’s servant does none of these things. So gentle is he that even the bruised reed is not damaged by him. The lamp whose fire is about to go out with its last wisp of smoke emanating from wick is of value to him. Nothing is considered useless to him. Everything and everyone is of value. By telling the reader only what the servant will not do [rhetoric: litotes], Isaiah dramatically understates the powerful work of the one who will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth. He endures where others fail. The happiness for which all people long will be accomplished in the justice that the servant brings to the earth. Ultimately, this will be brought about through the suffering and sacrifice of the Servant (Isaiah 52.13-53.12). “Our salvation will never come from our own self-assertion; it will only come from the gentle servant of the Lord. Our idolatries can do nothing but corrupt, because they’re the magnification of our proud self-salvation. That’s why our good intentions end up unleashing more evil. Everything we do is laced with poisons we cannot detect in time. Isaiah has eyes to see this. He also sees God’s alternative – the servant whose salvation will prove how beautiful human life can be, to the glory of God. Jesus will succeed with his gentle servanthood where we have failed with our coercive pride” (Ray Ortlund, Jr., Isaiah, 273).

The oracle opens with a description of the scope of the servant’s work, it concludes (42.5-9) with God’s imprimatur on that work. Each of its three stanzas opens with a statement of self-identification: God is the creator and the author of life (42.5a); he is the Lord of the covenant who sets people to be a nation of priests (42.6a); and he is the Lord who will not share his glory with idols (42.8a). The righteous Israelite reasoned: if God created the world and he also maintains, controls and directs everything in it, then it is not possible for him to neglect his very own people. Isaiah applies this same truth to the rest of mankind: “If he is the universal life-giver, has he plans for the world or only for the chosen few? … The four participles, created, stretched, spread and gives, describe the fourfold, unchanging relationship between the Lord and the created order. … The extent and form of the visible universe is determined by the Creator; its stability is due only to his faithful work, holding it in place” (Motyer, 321). So, then, if God is the author of all creation, then the Gentile, like the Jew, may rest assured that he will care for them just as he cares for the children of the Patriarchs. That is, God will not invite someone to dinner and then not provide him or her with a meal. The work of the servant is to establish a covenant relationship between God and people from every tribe and nation. “The covenant was Israel’s distinctive privilege, from its inception in Abram (Genesis 15, 17) to its climax in Moses (Exodus 2:24; 24:7-8). It is God’s free decision to take and keep a people for his own possession, drawing them to himself (Exodus 6:2-7), constituting himself as their God and Redeemer (Exodus 20:1-2) and bring them into a life of freedom and obedience (Exodus 20:3ff.). The covenant, however, originated in Noah (Genesis 6:17-18), and its extension to the whole world is thus not a violation of its nature but rather its release to be true to itself in a world-wide salvation. The conqueror drives the nations to further idolatry (41:5-7), but the servant brings them to God. Within the all-embracing concept of covenant there is the light of truth, the healing of personal disabilities (exemplified in opening blind eyes), the end of restrictions imposed by others (bringing out captives) and the transformation of circumstances (darkness). They will be perfected people in a perfect society and a perfect environment” (Motyer, 322). 

A New Song (42.10-17)

The servant has done great things and the world is invited to sing a victory song of praise to the servant of the Most High. Isaiah is all-inclusive in his invitation to worship the Lord in song; from the cities in the desert to those living on islands across the sea. Even the descendants of Esau (Sela, Moab) are invited to join the worship; thus, the salvation of the Gentiles is complete. The theme of the song is the greatness of God. This greatness is revealed through the work of the servant and the world must find a way to release its pent-up joy. It is a common occurrence in Scripture to find the people of God singing a “new song” in response to some gracious work of the Lord (e.g. the song of Moses, Deuteronomy 32.1-43; the song of Hannah, 1 Samuel 2.1-10; the song of Deborah and Barak, Judges 5.2-31). So it will be for the saints in heaven: And they sang a new song … (Revelation 5.9; cf. 14.2; 15.3). The Lord speaks: For a long time I have held my peace; I have kept still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor. Just as the expectant mother is anxious for the birth of her child, so the Lord is eager for the day of new things: that is, the day of the Messianic servant who will bring about both the Day of Judgment and the Day of Salvation. Some will find him to be the cornerstone upon which they are broken; others will find that he turns their darkness into light and the rough places into level ground. Regardless, there will no longer be any place for worthless idols. The redeemed of the Lord will turn from their worthless idols and begin to sing a new song: an endless song of infinite beauty.