1.
Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
2.
He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
3.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
4.
He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
5.
Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
6.
I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
7.
To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
8.
I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
9.
Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.
10.
Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.
11.
Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12.
Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands.
13.
The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.
14.
I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.
15.
I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.
16.
And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.
THE SPIRITUALLY BLESSED
‘And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.’
Isaiah 42:16
I. When the prophet Isaiah uses such language as this, ‘I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not,’ he just illustrates the language of Paul, ‘I am what I am by the grace of God that is in me.’— I will do it. It is the Lord who begins and consummates the work: ‘I will bring’—‘I will lead’—‘I will make darkness light’—‘These things will I do.’ It is thus that our thoughts are ever turned to the great First Cause—the Origin as well as the Finisher of all that is good in man.
II. Moreover, they are the blind who are thus brought, and this is one of the wonders of salvation by grace.—It is written, ‘Hear, ye deaf, and look, ye blind, that ye may see’; but is not that only to trifle with the diseased? Is it not to mock their helplessness, or sport with their infirmity? No; when it is omnipotent love which bids the blind to look. The fact that Jehovah gives the command is proof enough that He means to give power to obey it, would man but listen to the words.
III. And, further, the way is an unknown one.—Reason could not discover it. Man’s ingenuity could not invent it. His fancied righteousness would only have blocked it up. Indeed, the efforts made by man for more than four thousand years had all been baffled, and the result of his sagest devices had only been an increase of sorrow. But the Lord points to His way; He leads the blind into it; and then they find it to be one of pleasantness and peace. It is, indeed, the way of life.
IV. And still more, it is written, ‘I will not forsake them.’—Having begun the work He will carry it on, for He is the Lord and changes not. The fabric which grace has founded, grace will rear, till the copestone be put on with shoutings of ‘Grace, grace unto it!’ As surely as rivers run down to the sea, or as light spreads, nay, as surely as God is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, the soul which grace has visited will be guided to glory.
17.
They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.
18.
Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.
19.
Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD's servant?
20.
Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not.
21.
The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable.
22.
But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.
23.
Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come?
24.
Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law.
25.
Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.