Welcome to the very last short study of the year! We’re not finished with this book and next week we’ll be in the next chapter, but for this end of year one, we’re going to read all 11 verses. As this is one of the shortest chapters and these are much needed words to hear. Rely on God.
Let’s pray:
Lord Jesus, may we all know You are in the right. Always right. Always true. Always with us. I ask Lord that even though this is a rather wordy chapter, You would help us see exactly where we fall in it and help us either change that or gain confidence and assurance that You know where we stand. In Your blessed and holy Name I pray. Amen.
Please read Isaiah 50:1
God Helps His Servant
1[a]The Lord declares this;
“Where is the certificate of divorce
By which I have sent your mother away, [O Israel]?
Or to which one of My creditors did I sell you [as slaves]?
In fact, You were sold for your wickedness [your sin, your injustice, your wrongdoing],
And for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
Be certain you never act this way. Ask forgiveness every time and trust Him.
Please read Isaiah 50:2-9
2 “Why, when I came, was there no man [to greet Me]?
When I called, why was there no one to answer?
Is My hand really so short that it cannot redeem [My servants]?
Or have I no power to rescue?
Listen carefully, with My rebuke I dry up the sea,
I make the rivers into a desert;
Their fish stink because there is no water
And die of thirst.
3 “I clothe the heavens with the blackness [of storm clouds]
And make sackcloth [of mourning] their clothing.”
4 The Lord God has given Me [His [b]Servant] the tongue of disciples [as One who is taught],
That I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple [as One who is taught].
5 The Lord God has opened My ear,
And I have not been rebellious
Nor have I turned back.
6 I turned My back to those who strike Me,
And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard;
I did not hide My face from insults and spitting.
7 For the Lord God helps Me,
Therefore, I have not been ashamed or humiliated.
Therefore, I have made My face like flint,
And I know that I shall not be put to shame.
8 He who declares Me in the right is near;
Who will [dare to] contend with Me?
Let us stand up to each other;
Who is My adversary?
Let him approach Me.
9 In fact, the Lord God helps Me;
Who is he who condemns Me [as guilty]?
Indeed, they will all wear out like a garment;
The moth will eat them.
Where were those who believed He was coming? He is absolutely all powerful and most certainly can redeem His faithful ones. Look at all that Jesus did. Listen. Learn. Praise and Thank God for waking you in the morning. Thank and praise Him for opening your ears. Do not be rebellious. And you will not be ashamed or humiliated. Thank Him and Praise Him for His constant Help, as He sustains you every day.
Please read Isaiah 50:10
10 Who is among you who fears the Lord,
Who obeys the voice of His Servant,
Yet who walks in darkness and has no light?
Let him trust and be confident in the name of the Lord and let him rely on his God.
Trust and be confident in the name of the Lord. Rely on your God.
Please read Isaiah 50:11
11 Listen carefully, all you who kindle your own fire [devising your own man-made plan of salvation],
Who surround yourselves with torches,
Walk by the light of your [self-made] fire
And among the torches that you have set ablaze.
But this you will have from My hand:
You will lie down in [a place of] torment.
Assurance that judgment is coming. The wicked will have no place with the faithful.
Footnotes
[a] Isaiah 50:1 An ancient rabbi suggested this as an answer that God gave to Isaiah in response to Jews who came to him, but refused to repent. They compared themselves to a wife divorced by her husband and to a slave sold by his master (referring to God as husband and master), claiming that they had no further obligations to God.
[b] Isaiah 50:4 I.e. the Messiah. God Helps His Servant