
Trusting God In The Darkness
Trusting God In The Darkness | Isaiah 50:1-11
- Augustine says, “In the Old Testament the New is concealed, in the New the Old is revealed.”
- A question has come up since the last servant song (Ch 49). The people of God are beginning to doubt the covenant God has with them. "Has God forgotten about us?" (Isa 49:14)
- God answers, "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. (Isa 49:15-16)
- He reassures His people of His covenant-keeping faithfulness (Isa 50:1)
a. Divorce - was there any proof of God's abandonment? They were still His wife.
b. Slavery - He didn't sell them. They were still His people.
- Their estrangement was caused by their infidelity and iniquities
- He had saved them in the past over and over. They proved to be infidels but He didn't abandon them.
What does the Servant do?
I. The Servant's sustaining words (Vs 4-5)
- In Isa 49, we read how God prepared Christ to give words to sustain us.
- Remember the story in John 11 about Lazarus being raised to life again. Martha approached Christ and said to Him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Christ responded,
"Your brother will rise again... I am the resurrection and the life... And whoever believes in me, though He dies, yet shall he live." (v. 23, 25)
Mary said the same thing to Jesus as Martha had said, but Jesus knew that she needed a different word. She needed an emotional presence, someone to weep with her.
Both were truth. He still does this today. He tells you the truth when you want an answer and He can empathise with you in your grief.
II. The Servant's trust and courage (Vs 6-9)
- He could face all the spitting, flogging, strikes, like a flint because He trusted in the Father.
- Jesus pressed on ahead towards the cross with such zeal that the disciples were terrified. He did because He knew that the Father helps Him.
- Christians should be one of the bravest people in the world, because our God is our help.
III. God's way with those who walk in darkness (Vs 10-11)
- If there was ever a verse worth memorising, this should be one of those.
- Jesus has a perfect instruction for us in the midst of darkness.
Do we trust His voice? If we do, we will win.
We, too, can be courageous and set our face like flint in the face of troubles.
There is a warning to those who would ignore the light of God and walk with their own torch. They will lie down in torment.
"Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God." (Isaiah 50:10)