The servant of the Lord: good stuff!

[Becky]

Isaiah 49
The Servant of the LORD

1 Listen to me, you islands;
      hear this, you distant nations:
      Before I was born the LORD called me;
      from my birth he has made mention of my name.
2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
      in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
      he made me into a polished arrow
      and concealed me in his quiver.

3 He said to me, "You are my servant,
      Israel, in whom I will display my splendor."

4 But I said, "I have labored to no purpose;
      I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.
      Yet what is due me is in the LORD's hand,
      and my reward is with my God."

5 And now the LORD saysâ€"
      he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
      to bring Jacob back to him
      and gather Israel to himself,
      for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD
      and my God has been my strength-

6 he says:
      "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
      to restore the tribes of Jacob
      and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
      I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
      that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."

[orion77]

Amen to those verses, here are a few more from the same chapter:


Isa 49:14
Yet saying is Zion,  "I am forsaken by Yahweh, and my Lord has forgotten me."

Isa 49:15
"Will a woman forget her child, not to have compassion on the son of her belly? Even if these a woman will forget, yet I will not forget you,"  says Yahweh.

Isa 49:16
Behold! On My palms I tattoo you, and your walls are in front of Me continually."

Isa 49:17
Your sons hasten more than your demolishers, and those who made you a desert, are faring forth from you.

Isa 49:18
Lift your eyes around and see them all. They are convened and come to you.  "Living am I,"  averring is Yahweh,  "For with them all, as an ornament, shall you be clothed, and you shall tie them on as a bride her wreath.

Isa 49:19
For they are your deserts and your desolations, and the land of your demolitions, for now are you constricted because of the dweller, yet far away are they who swallowed you up.

Isa 49:20
Further, the sons of your bereavements shall say in your ears,  `Constricted for me is the place. Come close to me and I will dwell.'

Isa 49:21
And you say in your heart,  `Who generated these for me, while I was bereaved and a widow, and deported and withdrawn? And these--who brought them up for me? Behold! I remained alone. Yet these--whereat were they?'"

Isa 49:22
For thus says my Lord Yahweh,  "Behold! I will lift My hand to the nations, and to the peoples will I raise My banner high. And they bring your sons in a bosom pouch, and your daughters on the shoulders shall be borne,

Isa 49:23
and kings become your foster fathers, and their chiefesses your wet nurses. Nostrils to the earth, shall they prostrate to you, and the soil at your feet shall they lick up. Then you shall know that I am Yahweh, and those expecting Me shall not be ashamed."



God bless,

Gary