The office of Christ, graced with meekness and constancy, 1-4. God's promise to him, 5-9. An exhortation to praise God for his Gospel, 10-12. God will manifest himself and check idolatry, 13-17. He reproves the people of incredulity, 18-25.
1 "Behold my servant, whom I uphold,/
my elect, in whom my soul delights./
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 he shall not break,/
and the smoking flax he shall not quench./
He shall bring forth judgment to truth.
4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged/
until he has set judgment in the earth./
And the coastlands shall wait for his law."
5 Thus says God the LORD,/
he who created the heavens/
and expanded them,/
he who spread forth the earth/
and that which it produces,/
he who gives breath to the people upon it/
and spirit to those who walk therein:
6 "I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness,/
and will hold your hand/
and will keep you,/
and give you 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 those who sit in darkness out of the prison-house.
8 I am the LORD. That is my name./
And I will not give my glory to another,/
neither my praise to engraved images.
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,/
and new things I declare./
Before they spring forth I tell you of them."
10 Sing to the LORD a new song,/
and his praise from the end of the earth,/
you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,/
the islands, and their inhabitants.
11 Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice,/
the villages that Kedar inhabits./
Let the inhabitants of the rock sing./
Let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the LORD/
and declare his praise in the coastlands.
13 The LORD will go forth as a mighty man,/
he will stir up jealousy like a man of war./
He will cry and even roar./
He will prevail against his enemies.
14 "I have long time held my peace./
I have been still and restrained myself./
Now I will 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 to be islands,/
and I will dry up the pools.
16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they did not know./
I will lead them in paths that they have not known./
I will make darkness light before them,/
and crooked things straight./
I will do these things for them,/
and not forsake them."
17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed,/
who trust in engraved images,/
who say to the molten images,/
"You are our gods."
18 Hear, you deaf,/
and look, you blind, so that you may see.
19 Who is blind, but my servant,/
or deaf, as my messenger whom I sent?/
Who is blind as he who is perfect,/
and blind as the LORD'S servant?
20 Seeing many things, you do not observe./
Opening the ears, he does not hear.
21 The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake./
He will magnify the law and make it honorable.
22 But this is a people robbed and pillaged./
All of them are snared in holes,/
and they are hid in prison-houses./
They are for plunder, and no one delivers,/
for loot, and no one says, "Restore."
23 Who among you will give ear to this?/
Who will listen and hear for the time to come?
24 Who gave Jacob for plunder and Israel to the robbers?/
Was it not the LORD,/
he against whom we have sinned?/
For they would not walk in his ways,/
neither were they obedient to his law.
25 Therefore, he has poured upon him the fury of his anger/
and the strength of battle./
It has set him on fire around, yet he did not know./
It burned him, yet he did not lay it to heart.
Matthew Henry Commentary - Isaiah, Chapter 42[➚]
[v.1] - Quoted in Matthew 12:18.
[v.2] - Quoted in Matthew 12:19.
[v.3] - Quoted in Matthew 12:20.
[v.4] - Quoted in Matthew 12:21.