God Will Send a Servant
Read Isaiah 42:14-21
"For a long time I have held my peace, I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out like a woman in labor, I will gasp and pant."
The Scripture passage for today is part of a hymn, a hymn of praise in fact. This hymn is found in a section of Isaiah describing how the people of Israel have been unfaithful, but that God has not abandoned them. Except for the last verse of today’s passage, all of the words here are meant to be the Lord’s words.
Here, we find God’s reaction to Israel’s unfaithfulness. It seems God could not stand watching his people be unfaithful and live unjustly. When we first read this passage, God seems in agony and anger, and we might think by the imagery of “laying waste” to mountains and hills that God intends to destroy his people! However, God is only trying to get the people’s attention.
In the words here, the people are blind and deaf and do not know where they are or where they are going. So, God will lead them in the right ways. God will illumine their paths. God will help them to see and hear the good! So, God sends a servant…perhaps, one we are waiting for now.
God of Advent, kindle within us the flame of hope. Help us be your beacons of hope for people and places weighed down by hopelessness. As we enter with you into this Advent journey, help us to be your mind, heart, and hands in the world. For we pray in your name. Amen.
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