The Gospel of Isaiah: Ch. 50:4, The Third Servant Song (Part 1)
The Gospel of Isaiah: Ch. 50:4, The Third Servant Song (Part 1).
WANTED: An imaginative scribe who can write exquisite poetry. A faithful, articulate believer in Yahweh who can switch from one extreme to another at the Lord’s command… from a sublime vision of God’s glory, to a ridiculous demonstration of shameful nakedness; from confronting the people over their sinfulness, to comforting people with hopefulness; from being an outspoken messenger one minute, to a living object lesson the next; from having one foot in the immediate surroundings one minute, to one foot in the future messianic realm the next. Must be adaptable, thick-skinned, and extraordinarily brave. Person who answers, “Here I am. Send me!” will be especially considered. (from The Jerusalem Post, 740 BC).
Words that Sustain the Weary.
“The Sovereign LORD has equipped me with an instructed tongue,
to know the timely word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
Wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.”
(Isaiah 50:4, NIV)
Isaiah is singing one of his prophetic Servant Songs. This passage in Isaiah 50 is the first verse in the third Servant Song. These are the prophesied words of Jesus Himself, speaking of His being a Disciple of the Father and His dependence upon the Father for what to say and do. This Servant Song points to Messiah Jesus as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s Word from the Lord. The Lord God equipped Jesus with an instructed tongue, and Jesus lived into that instruction by offering a word of encouragement, comfort and aid to those who were exhausted and burdened. “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls.” (Matt. 11:28-29). Jesus indeed woke up every morning to listen to the Father for His guidance and wisdom. In fact, Jesus states seven different times in the gospel of John that He spoke only what the Father taught Him to say (eg, John 8:28 and 12:49). The very spirit of Jesus was continuously open for business, receptive to His Father and thus always poised to sustain the weary. Jesus, the submissive disciple of the Lord God. Jesus’ words were anointed because He first listened to the Sovereign Lord.
“Sovereign Lord.” Two proper Hebrew names for God are used here… Adonai and Yahweh. Adonai means Master, Owner, Authority. We are not our own, we are God’s dear possession. He has supreme authority over us and over all creation. The name Adonai implies that we have a servant relationship with His Royal Majesty. Yahweh is the Great I AM, the name God used for Himself with Moses at the burning bush. Yahweh is God’s mysterious, spiritual version of the “to be” verb… I AM WHAT I AM; I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE; I AM HE WHO IS. I exist. I am the One who was, who is, and who ever will be. There’s Me, God is saying, and then there’s everything else. When Adonai and Yahweh are used together, the Hebrew scholars say, they are meant to reinforce God’s singular matchlessness. When we refer to Adonai-Yahweh, we can only bow the knee and take off our shoes.
“instructed”. This Hebrew word is used to signify a disciple, a student, a follower, an apprentice. The student in this verse is well-educated, highly taught, skilled, well-trained. Remember that this verse first applies to Jesus, then to the followers of Jesus. The learner here is one who is able to speak well about what he has learned, is receptive and open to offering to others what he has first received from Adonai-Yahweh. This instructed one is always learning, receiving God’s wisdom in order to grow and then to offer it to others. This verse in Isaiah implies that we are all sitting at the feet of the Lord, learning His wisdom, developing His character as we humbly walk with Him every day. “I have not mastered human wisdom, nor do I know the Holy One. Who but God goes up to heaven and comes back down? Who holds the wind in his fists? Who wraps up the oceans in his cloak? Who has created the whole wide world? Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to all who come to him for protection. Do not add to his words, or he may rebuke you and expose you as a liar.” (Proverbs 30:3-6, NLT). “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be pleasing in your sight O Yahweh, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (Ps. 19:14).
“tongue”. In this case an instructed tongue is a well-trained student who has the ability to speak on behalf of God, who represents God’s thinking. This tongue offers to others what God would say if He were you… a timely word in season. This student of God seems to have wisdom at the tip of the tongue, the gift of inspirational speech to those who need encouragement. This highly skilled follower of God offers his anointed tongue as an “instrument of righteousness.” (Romans 6:13). Only God can produce that, as He did with Moses… “Then Moses said to the Lord, ‘Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since thou has spoken to thy servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Is it not I, the Lord? Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to say.” (Exodus 4:10-12, NASB). If we are well-trained by Adonai-Yahweh, we could be a Moses, or we could be a Jeremiah… “Then Yahweh stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and Yahweh said to me, ‘Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.” (Jeremiah 1:9, NASB).
“know”. This Hebrew word “yada” is jam-packed with meaning. On the one hand it implies acquiring something factual through the intellect. It is mentally grasping some piece of knowledge and remembering it. When you know something, your mind says, “I got this.” So on the one hand, knowing is a mental exercise. But on the other hand yada is so much more. In the Hebrew meaning, knowing implies an intimate understanding of something. Knowing is a deep personal union (Adam “knew” Eve), a personal experience with truth. In the Hebrew mind, one didn’t really know something until it became a part of you, until you could live it out. To know was to be involved, to participate in that truth. Something isn’t truly known unless it changes the knower. To know a truth means the knower is responsible to use it properly in his life. True knowledge is a personal relationship with the truth. In this Isaiah verse, to know the timely word is to experience it in your life and offer it to others. “Make me know thy ways, O Yahweh; Teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation; for thee I wait all the day.” (Ps. 25:4-5).
“sustain”. This particular Hebrew word “uwth” (ooth), is used only once in the entire Hebrew Bible (the O.T.), and this is the time. The word combines support and encouragement with the idea of hurrying. It gives the picture of someone who hastens to help someone in need, unafraid to step in and offer words of comfort when it’s needed. There is a sense of urgency with this word. If indeed Adonai-Yahweh is training your tongue, don’t be shy when offering a word in season to someone who needs it. Be ready, willing, and able to come alongside someone and be a little paraclete. “Thus says Yahweh of the Angel Armies, the God of Israel… For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes.” (Jeremiah 31:25, NASB). “The tongue of the wise brings healing; the mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life.” (Proverbs 12:18; 10:11).
“weary”. To be human is to be susceptible to times of weariness. Sometimes it’s physical or emotional, and sometimes it’s a soul-weariness that assaults our spirits. Everyone at some point is heavy-laden, overburdened, fearful or exhausted in the struggle to live life as it comes. A timely word in season to the weary is life-giving and brings courage to face adversity. We all need a sustaining word now and then from a well-trained helper listening to the Holy Spirit. We come alongside the burdened just as the Comforter comes alongside us. “Winsome words spoken at just the right time are as appealing as apples gilded in gold and surrounded with silver.” (Proverbs 25:11, TPT). An important aspect of being an effective encourager is to point to Yahweh in times of weariness, and become equipped to offer His word of comfort and encouragement. “For, He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of His understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in Yahweh will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31, NLT).
“morning”. It takes a daily relationship with Jesus, with Adonai-Yahweh, with the Holy Spirit, to develop an instructed tongue. It takes a daily submission to the Master to grow in being a skilled apprentice. It takes a consistent openness to godly wisdom to become a heavenly learner. King David wrote a powerful morning prayer for all who yearn for an instructed tongue. “Let the dawning day bring me revelation of your tender, unfailing love. Give me light for my path and teach me, for I trust in you. Save me from all my enemies, for I hide myself in you. I just want to obey all you ask of me. So teach me, Lord, for you are my God. Your gracious Spirit is all I need, so lead me on good paths that are pleasing to you, my one and only God!” (Ps. 143:8-10, TPT).
“ear”. Here is another organ to offer up as an “instrument of righteousness.” (Rom. 6:13). The Isaiah verse states that Adonai-Yahweh “wakes up” our ears each morning, if we are willing to have them awaken. The Hebrew here is “He arouses for me an ear.” Are we open to having the Lord arouse our ears to listen to Him? Remember the little children’s Sunday School chorus… “Be careful little ears what you hear.”? It is possible to close our ears to the unhealthy and open our ears to the life-giving. Open ears means we are receptive, attentive, obedient to what we hear from God. Sometimes, as David says in Ps. 40, God needs to “dig out” our ears, to remove obstacles to hearing the truth. “My ears Thou hast dug [opened].” (Ps. 40:6). The ear was an important symbol of total receptivity in the Hebrew Bible: In Deuteronomy 15:17, when a servant wanted to swear life allegiance to the master, he would pierce his right ear and commit to being a love-slave. In Exodus 29:20, when a priest wanted to consecrate a sacrifice, he would place a drop of the sacrificial blood on his right ear. The ear is holy, for how else can one hear and receive the word of the Lord? “My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands. Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.” (Proverbs 2:1-2). “The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” (Prov. 18:15).
“listen”. One can hear something without really listening. It takes deep openness to receive truth into your ears, have it register in your receptive mind, and travel to the heart of experience. Listening means it doesn’t merely go in one ear and out the other. To listen like a well-trained disciple, in the Hebrew Bible, is to listen in order to obey. To listen is to activate the will. The Hebrew word used here is “shama,” a form of the great word “shema,” the first word and title for what Jewish children said in their prayers every morning and evening. “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is One! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might!” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, NASB). Jesus quotes the shema and gives it central importance in one’s life as a follower of God. In other words, this prayer is saying, Listen up, people! Hear/Do! Get ready to obey this word from the Lord! This is important! Listen carefully! And that’s something we can think about every morning when God wakes up our ears to listen to Him. For the one who speaks God’s words of comfort must first listen to God, poised to obey. There’s another aspect of listening… One can’t talk and listen at the same time. When in prayer, or as we are walking through the day, it pays spiritual dividends when we stop talking to God and open our ears to listen. May we all, morning by morning, be like little boy Samuel, who responded to the Lord’s wake-up call with, “Speak, Yahweh, for your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:10-11).
“like one being taught”. Here at the end of the Isaiah verse we return to its beginning… the crucial role of the disciple, the student, the learner. We are life-long learners, following the Teacher, becoming trained in speaking words of comfort and encouragement, growing in our listening skills, obedient to Adonai-Yahweh and His Son Jesus through the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Advocate, the Eternal Teacher. May all His followers develop an instructed tongue to offer words that will sustain the weary.
“Jesus Christ knew men [and women]. We do not try enough to know our fellow man. We are ready enough to judge them; but we do not try enough to understand them. We should give ourselves an opportunity to understand humanity, to know those who are around us, and from them to know the individual, until we are a hiding place from the wind, a covert from the tempest, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. Every Christian ought to be a refuge.” (George MacDonald, Growth in Grace and Knowledge).