The Servant Songs in Isaiah:

• Chapter 42 - 42:1-4 (42:5-9)
• Chapter 49 - 49:1-6 (49:7-13)
• Chapter 50 - 50:4-9 (50:10-11)
• Chapter 52 - 52:13-53:12 (54-55)

In Isaiah 41:29, “See, they are all false!”, speaks of the idols. The verse actually begins with the word “Behold!” and then continues to describe the idols. These idols present false philosophies and corrupt values found in the world).  Idols are said to be false and amount to nothing. They are mere images and wind that produce confusion.
 
Chapter 42 also begins in the Hebrew with “Behold!” in Isaiah 42:1. But, in Isaiah 42 the “Behold” draws attention to, “Behold, the Servant of God” and his philosophy, values and justice. These will produce righteousness and prosperity.
 
The nations are to make a comparison of the Servant of God and his ways with the idols of the world and their ways.
 
42:1-4
The Description of the Servant of Yahweh and of His Word
The servant of God is brought to the nations attention instead of the idols in ch. 41.
These descriptions of the servant of God can be applied to these classes of servants:

1. They describe the perfect servant of the Lord whoever that would be ( Israel, angels, the church, etc)
2. They obviously where fulfilled by Jesus Christ since he himself is the perfect man and perfect God.  Naturally, he would be the perfect servant.
3. They are the goal of any person wanting to serve God.  These attitudes are a model of what we are to strive for today in our service to God
4. In a more limited sense, Cyrus the Great and other national leaders that God uses to form history.

The Servant of the Lord:

1. The servant is upheld by Yahweh. God empowers his servants.  He does not put us out there and see how we do.  Instead he gives us all the backup we need to accomplish his purpose.
2. The servant is chosen. God chooses our time, place, family, nation, talents, strengths, personality and our spiritual gifts and our spiritual calling.
3. Yahweh delights in the servant. God not only uses us but delights in our service to him. Our service to God is more about a two-way relationship than it is about serving a master.  Similar to a husband and wife relationship more than a master and slave relationship.
4. The servant has God’s Spirit
5. The servant will bring justice to the nations. The word “justice” is the Hebrew word mishpat and refers to social order and legal equality.  It means that the concerns of every one in society are met. Quite different than the fourth generation of Proverbs 30:14.  This is having a society living in line with God’s judgments and standards.  The Servant of the Lord’s culture is a culture that has “true religion” spoken of in James 1:27 – “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (The mention of orphans and widows focuses on those who are in distress at no fault of their own and have nowhere to turn.  This is not supporting a welfare state for men that won’t work or have messed up their lives due to unrighteousness. 
6. The servant will not shout or cry out
7. The servant will not raise his voice in the streets. He would not advertise himself. His ministry would be quiet, unthreatening, and not aggressive
8. The servant will not break a bruised reed. He would not discard what was considered useless by other standards
9. The servant will not snuff out a smoldering wick. What others would consider spent and empty the servant would consider it to be functioning and useful.
10. The servant will bring forth justice in faithfulness. The servant’s mission from God was to bring justice to the nations.  He will execute his purpose faithfully. We each have an assignment, a mission, and a purpose.  We should live each day faithful to this call.
11. The servant will not falter. The servant of the Lord will have obstacles, but he will continue to the end. In establishing the kingdom of God, bringing about social justice or living a righteous life there will be obstacles and oppression that could cause us to stumble, fall and give up.  With a mind set on God’s will and our eyes on Jesus (Heb. 12:2) the servant of God will continue.
12. The servant will not be discouraged until he establishes justice on earth. Discouragement can be overcome with:
1. Understanding of God’s will
2. Trust in God’s ways
3. Gradual movement towards a goal
4. The presence of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life

42:4
The Results of the Servant of The Lord: The islands will put their hope in his law. They will see the benefit of his law in their land, their society and their lives and will be looking for it. Notice the nations are waiting for The Servant’s Law. Not Moses’ Law. They are looking for the fulfillment of Isaiah 2:3-4. 
These are the nations responding to God’s universal law of righteousness.
 
42:5
God now speaks directly to his servant.
God is described in these ways:

1. a created the heavens
2. created the earth
3. created all that is in the earth
4. gives people breath (refers to the beginning of our life)
5. gives life to those who walk on the earth (refers to being given daily life)

42:6-7 
God makes promises to his servant(s). These are the promises concerning the Servant and concerning what God will do through his Servant(s)

1. Called you in righteousness
2. Take hold of your hand
3. Will keep you
4. Make you:
1. to be a covenant for the people. Hebrew “berit ‘am” (literally “a covenant of a people”). The same word is translated “people” in verse 5 and in context refers to humanity. It is a parallel with the next phrase “Gentiles” or “nations”. Point: The servant of God will stand in the gap between God and the people who are in darkness. Through the servant of the Lord many people will be transferred out of the darkness of the pagan idolatry and worldly philosophies. The messenger of Malachi 3:1 for example is the servant telling people that God has made a way. John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”
2. To be a light to the Gentiles
3. To open eyes that are blind
4. To free captives from prison
5. To release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness

42:8
Only Yahweh can do these things.
None of the idols is worthy of his glory.
 
42:9
In context, the old things are the old idols of Israel’s past, the Babylonian captivity.
The new things are Cyrus who God will use to work his plan for history which is the restoration of Israel. This Israel is also to be a servant of the Lord when they serve the Gentiles.
And, ultimately, the coming of the Messiah to shining a light for both Israel and Gentiles.
 
We now are the servants of God. 
He has told us of our role, responsibility, promises, provision and the fruit we will produce. 
What we will do is the new things for today.
He told us ahead of time.  We cannot forsake our potential or our responsibility. 
We stand in line with many who have been titled “the servants of Yahweh.”

“You cannot live your life other than walking in the truth. Your means are as important as your ends.”
- Chuck Colson

A passage of scripture cannot mean something different than its original intent. When the text was written there was an intended thought that was being communicated. That thought remains in the text yet today. The reader does not provide the intention or the thought of the verse. The reader discovers or understands the intended thought of a verse.