He says to Israel,

“Where is your mother’s divorce certificate that I used to send her away? Or who were My creditors that I sold you to?” (v. 1).

Israel was in Babylonian captivity and hurting. They wondered, as a covenant people of God, ‘did God divorce us?’ And the answer is a resounding ‘no.’ He did not divorce them nor did he abandon them.

“Is my hand too short to redeem? Or do I have no power to deliver” (v. 2).

In an normal season of my would I would just move on to the next verses without much thought. Not this time. A season of very prolonged suffering with prayers wondering if there is deliverance has made me think not too dissimilar from Israel. And yet God says…

“Is my hand too short to redeem? Or do I have no power to deliver” (v. 2).

I would do well to look to God in hope for deliverance rather than say other things are my deliverer.

But moving on…

The next section is said to be said of the Messiah, and there are definite themes of that here.

“The LORD God has given me the tongue of those who are instructed to know how to sustain the weary with a word” (v. 4).

Again this hip me. In this year so far I have had four people I know lose the lives of their adult children. The most recently hit harder. She is grieving so very deeply at the loss of her handsome, beautiful son of 30. He thought he could take a motorcycle at high speed around a corner and it didn’t work out like he thought. She is deeply broken inside.

When someone is in grief, we feel so strongly to express our love to them, and yet we are afraid of saying something stupid, and are at a total loss for words. She doesn’t live near so I just let them know I love them.

But what a precious thing to have knowledge of how to help people and sustain the weary with your words.

Now we move on to vs. 4-9 which are considered the songs of the Servant, as in descriptions relating to the Messiah.

“I gave My back to those who beat Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spitting” (v. 6).

I’m doing a teaching study on the crucifixion of Christ on YouTube right now and this could not be more descriptive of Jesus’ suffering on the cross. This is the place where we read out that they pulled out the beard of Jesus. That had to be painful and disfiguring as well as all the other things he suffered.

Last we go to vs. 10-11 which is the comparison of two lights.

“Who among you fears the LORD, listening to the voice of His Servant? Who among you walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of Yahweh; let him lean on his God.

Look, all you who kindle a fire, who encircle yourselves with firebrands; walk in the light of your fire and walk in the light of your firebrands you have lit! This is what you’ll get from My hand: you will lie down in a place of torment.”

You can the light that comes through turning to God, leaning on him and listening to the voice of His Servant. Or you can walk in your own light, in your own understanding, in your own ways, and doing what you think is right. But the result will not end well.

When I read this chapter, I think there are several things we can absorb into our souls.

1. Sometimes it feels like we are as one who is divorced. That somehow God has left us and we are cut off from him. But feelings are not reality. In Christ we have made a covenant with him. At times he feels oh so very distance and our prayers do not feel heard. But he is with us. His hand is not to short to save us. It just looks different and is not on our time frame and isn’t according to our purposes but His wise and good purposes. Dear self, read this again.
   
2. There is a servant who is wise and understanding and that is Jesus. He has suffered on our behalf that we might be righteous and free.
   
3. We are globally moving into a time when people want to walk by their own light alone. This was the sin of the garden, that “what is best for them” is what they think, not what God says. And this is true in the church as well. Biblical illiteracy among Christians is staggering. Culture over Bible is becoming accepted. And truth has been watered down in dangerous ways. We must know the Word. We must know His ways. We must know Him. This is the deep burden of my heart that keeps me up at night.