Isaiah 42:10, commentary and pictures

Sing unto the Lord a new song from the end of the earth, with those who go down to the sea and all that is in it and the isles and their inhabitants called by name to give Him praise. The new song is sung because God declares new things before they spring forth through His chosen Servant upon whom He has put His Spirit, who brings justice to the Gentiles without clamor, spares the bruised reed and smoking flax, perseveres till He sets judgment in the earth while the isles wait for His law, and is given as a covenant and light to open blind eyes and free prisoners from darkness. The praise answers Him as Creator who stretched out the heavens and spread abroad the earth and gives breath to men, who sustains His people and yearns to bring the ignorant under His care, and who is glorified in redeeming them so that heaven and earth sing together. With the verses that follow it pictures the wilderness and its cities, the villages of Kedar, and dwellers on the rocks shouting from the mountaintops joining the distant islands in giving Him glory, a work given to Israel which was neglected but would have filled such settlements, cities and heights with praise if faithfully done. The chapter is therefore to be diligently studied as the true science of redeeming grace and the covenant terms of salvation, and its singing is fulfilled when the missionary spirit carries that praise to the ends of the earth, to hard-to-reach places by sea and isle as well as to mountains, highways, wilderness and unwarned cities, till souls converted in every place praise God themselves and lead others to praise Him.

Worldwide Call to Praise

The call is to all the earth to sing a new song to the Lord and sound His praise from the end of the earth, naming expressly those who go down to the sea and all that is in it, and the isles and their inhabitants and their lands. It is a call to peoples throughout the earth and across the seas to extend that praise to all peoples. The new song is sung because God declares new things before they spring forth.

The praise answers the work of God's chosen Servant upon whom He has put His Spirit. That Servant brings forth judgment unto truth to the Gentiles without crying or lifting up His voice in the street, without breaking the bruised reed or quenching the smoking flax, and He does not fail nor become discouraged till He has set judgment in the earth while the isles wait for His law. Called in righteousness and upheld by the Lord, He is given for a covenant of the people and for a light of the Gentiles, to open blind eyes and to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon and those who sit in darkness out of the prison-house, freeing and guiding those in darkness. It answers the Lord's power as He who created and stretched forth the heavens and spread abroad the earth and who gives breath and spirit to men, His sustaining care for His people, and His yearning desire to bring those ignorant of His purposes under His beneficent care. The worldwide song thus expresses praise for His power, care, and saving purpose reaching to the Gentiles.

The praise is joined to the Lord's redemption of His people and His glory revealed through them, so that the heavens and all parts of the earth sing because He has redeemed them and glorified Himself in them, as taught in Isaiah 41-45 concerning the redemption of Israel. Together with the following verses it pictures the wilderness and its cities, the villages of Kedar, and the inhabitants of the rock shouting from the mountaintops joining distant islands in giving glory to the Lord and declaring His praise in the islands for His saving work. Israel had been given the work of making that praise heard throughout the earth but neglected it, and if faithful, converts would have praised God from such wilderness settlements, cities, and mountain heights. The worldwide praise follows God's declaration of new things and accompanies His mighty action against His enemies as a worldwide response to His work.

The verse reveals Christ in covenant uniting the majesty of an omnipotent King with the gentleness and tenderness of a caretaking shepherd. His work is to be presented before the world in distinct, holy, sacred lines, advancing not with outward observation but by the gentleness of the inspiration of His word and by the operation of His Spirit in the soul. God desires men to understand the claims He has upon them, and He will judge any interference that interposes between fellow men and God to lead them into paths not cast up for the ransomed, for such human interference in work God has not appointed has kept His work in many places of the world from being much farther advanced.

Study and Missionary Fulfillment

The verse is to be diligently studied as the true science of redeeming grace, to be treasured above gold and silver, standing firm on the Word of God against false human science that confuses minds and would turn truth into nothingness. It belongs to Isaiah 40 and 42 to be studied in connection with 2 Peter as a call to deeply spiritual lines and thorough reformation, preparing hearts to receive God's messages and raising up men of clear understanding worked by the Holy Spirit to lead without haphazard work. It belongs to a section in which God reveals His purpose for His people, to be studied prayerfully so that people seek wisdom from God rather than turn to finite human beings. The passage of the verse is an appeal to study God's message and learn the knowledge needed for practical godliness and for the work of righteousness in the closing times.

The chapter of the verse teaches about God's covenant with those He seeks to save, the terms of salvation, and the education of greatest value. The same chapter presents God's ordained work and His care for His people, and is a source of encouragement and assurance that the Lord's promises will be fulfilled. The singing of the new song is fulfilled in present work that carries praise to the ends of the earth by going into the mountains, hills, highways and byways to glorify God, pressing the neglected duty to take up missionary work for unwarned cities despite fear, expense and lack of encouragement, going forward with the Spirit of the Lord at every step. The singing is done when the missionary spirit enters believers, and the end of the earth, those who go down to the sea, and the isles and their inhabitants mean distant and hard-to-reach places, including settlements by the sea, which are missionary fields just as much as the cities.

The verse means the salvation of God is to be revealed in the highways, in the wilderness, and in all places with souls converted, and those who bring souls to knowledge of the truth will give God more praise than is now heard, with thankful hearts that cannot hold peace, praising God themselves and leading others to praise Him. Isaiah 42 foretells the great and solemn work of presenting the warning message to the world now by giving the reason for faith through camp meetings, using means to present truth, establishing sanitariums in different parts of the world as an educating power to reform people and restore the moral image of God in them, bringing conversion through knowledge of the Word so converts use means and ability to extend truth, and arousing slumbering senses to see departure from the Lord's ordinances by worldly policy and conformity in transgression against His law. The call for praise from the end of the earth is given because the set time to favor Zion will soon come, and God has provided men and means to accomplish His work and will not leave His people to shame but will move it just as He has ordained it to move. The mention of the islands of the sea points to extending the school's influence of blessing to distant heathen lands and islands.