Isaiah 42:6, commentary and pictures

The Lord who made the heavens and the earth and gives life to all upon it calls His chosen Servant, the Messiah, in righteousness to His work. He promises to hold Him by the hand and keep Him, sustaining and protecting Him, and to give Him as a covenant for the people and a light to the nations beyond Israel. By Him blind eyes are opened and prisoners sitting in darkness are brought out, bringing truth, judgment and deliverance to uplift fallen humanity and restore God's image in man. That pledge to the Son embraces all who receive Him, for to everyone who draws near by faith God gives mercy, adoption and power to become His sons and daughters. Those He calls He also keeps in covenant and sends to carry that light to those in darkness, opening blind eyes and freeing souls from bondage without display or self-exaltation.

Voice and Context

The voice speaking is the LORD Himself, the Creator who made and stretched out the heavens, who spread forth the earth, and who gives breath and spirit to the people living upon it. His declaration displays His power, His care for His people, and His yearning desire to bring those ignorant of His purposes under His beneficent care. That care calls forth a new song of praise to Him from the end of the earth. He keeps His glory and His praise for Himself, and will not give them to another nor to graven images.

The surrounding passage sets this calling within the Servant's work of bringing forth judgment and truth to the Gentiles and of setting judgment and law in the earth for the isles to wait for. It is the work of opening blind eyes and of bringing prisoners sitting in darkness out of the prison house and dungeon. That mission belongs to the prophecies of the Lord's comfort and redemption for the uplifting of fallen humanity, in which the Servant perseveres until judgment is established on earth. The chapter stands as a full revelation of God's purpose for His people.

It directs them to seek wisdom from God rather than from finite human beings, and not to trust human agencies as divine. It is given as a source of unfailing promises, assurance, and encouragement, for the Lord's word will be fulfilled for those who live by what He has promised. It is therefore an appeal to study what God's message means and to learn the practical godliness and knowledge required of His people.

Christ the Servant

The one called in righteousness, held by the hand, kept, and given for a covenant of the people and a light of the Gentiles is the Messiah, Christ Himself. He is God's chosen Servant and anointed Son in whom God delights, upheld, sustained and protected by God for His mission. That mission is to bring forth judgment and truth to the Gentiles, to set judgment and law in the earth for the isles to wait for, to open blind eyes, and to bring prisoners sitting in darkness out of the prison house. God puts His Spirit upon Christ for this work, and Christ carries it out in dependence on God with perfect obedience that reveals God's commandments in human life.

As the covenant, Christ joins the majesty of an all-powerful King with the gentleness and tenderness of a shepherd who cares for His people. He was foretold by the patriarchs and prophets as the distinguished Teacher and Master. His coming brings God's plan of redemption to completion and fulfills what the earlier ceremonies and prophecies anticipated, with people from the Gentiles coming to His light. He did not fail nor become discouraged, and those abiding in Him will likewise not fall nor be discouraged when difficulties arise and the work goes hardest.

Covenant and Light

God has called His Servant in righteousness and pledged to hold His hand and keep Him, sustaining, upholding and protecting Him for His work. That divine support fits Him for His righteous appointment and guarantees His mission will not lack strength or guardianship. He is given for a covenant of the people and for a light of the Gentiles, extending saving light beyond Israel to the nations everywhere rather than hiding it. That light is meant to reach people who sit in darkness in every place, bringing spiritual knowledge, rescue and salvation.

His mission opens blind eyes and brings prisoners out of prison and those sitting in darkness out of the prison house. That deliverance frees from spiritual bondage, which is bondage to unbelief, and brings guidance, truth, judgment and law to the world. His teaching, preaching and healing ministry expresses this mission, revealing the truths of God's Word to bring people to salvation. He does this humble, quiet, persevering work without crying out in the street, without noise, display or self-exaltation. He gently sustains the bruised reed and does not quench the smoking flax, guiding those who cannot see and making their path clear through the power of the cross.

He does not fail nor become discouraged but perseveres until He establishes judgment in the earth, bringing forth judgment unto truth and setting judgment and law in the earth for the isles and nations to wait for. The purpose of this mission belongs to God's plan of redemption for the uplifting of fallen humanity. It restores the moral image of God in man, which the destroyer has nearly obliterated, as all who connect with God have His moral image restored in them through faith and imputed righteousness in the new birth.

Israel Entrusted Tested

God called Israel to this righteous purpose and set them apart for it. He entrusted them with His law and with sacred, eternal truth to preserve the knowledge of the living God. That trust was given so that His truth would shine as heaven's light into a world darkened by idolatry and spiritual darkness.

Had Israel been faithful to the trust, they would have called all peoples to turn from idols to serve the living God. They would have displayed the superiority of His worship. People throughout the earth would then have praised the Lord and souls would have been converted.

But Israel neglected the work entrusted to them. They became blind to the light and deaf to God's messages. After rejecting Christ they lost the privilege of the kingdom, and the work of making God's salvation known to the world was entrusted to others.

Promise to Believers

The promise is backed by God's own glory pledged to the success of the Messiah and His kingdom, and He works on behalf of His people when they submit to the Holy Spirit. The call in righteousness upholds and protects the Servant appointed as a covenant for the people and a light to the Gentiles, whose work opens blind eyes and frees prisoners from darkness, where spiritual bondage is bondage to unbelief. That assurance spoken to the Son, the Anointed, embraces all who receive Jesus Christ. To everyone are presented terms of mercy, so that as they draw near by faith He draws near to them, adopting them into His family and giving them power to become His sons and daughters.

The servant language reaches beyond Christ to the church and to anyone God selects and appoints to carry out His work. God keeps His people in covenant with Himself and uses them to bring light and deliverance to others. He constantly works with those who dedicate themselves to Him as His people, holding their hand and keeping them and giving them as a light to the Gentiles. That means not resting satisfied with one's own meetings and camp meetings but warning the world, letting the message go forth in power, refusing to confine labor within one's own borders, and advancing constantly so truth reaches those in the darkness of error, with neglect of this work leaving no excuse.

God knows all who are true and faithful. While everything that can be shaken will be shaken, those who abide in Christ and hold to principle in Him will remain, will not fall nor be discouraged when difficulties arise and the work goes hardest, following the Master who did not fail nor become discouraged. God chooses people for a work and by His own grace gives them fitness to do it, making them successful agents cooperating with divine agencies. No hereditary peculiarity, deficiency of character, or reading of heads to determine character can limit what He will do in restoring His moral image in all who connect themselves with Him through faith and imputed righteousness in the new birth, and human judgment must not turn souls away from the work for which He has chosen them.

Call to Share Light

Christians are to seek their light from the Word of God and then go forth in faith to give that light to those who sit in darkness, to open blind eyes and bring prisoners from prison and those in darkness out of the prison house. The Word from which that light is received is sacred and infinite, and earnest study of it reveals truth. The call carries a full invitation to all to investigate the claims of His law.

Being a light to the Gentiles means warning the world, letting the message go forth in power and refusing to confine labor within one's own borders, but advancing constantly so the truth reaches those in the darkness of error. It means not resting satisfied with one's own meetings and camp meetings, for God wants His people to be light-bearers to the world, neglect of this work leaves no excuse, and carrying it forward is a special work in which He constantly works with those who dedicate themselves to Him. The cause of truth is to go forth as a burning lamp so sin and wrong are not sustained and the law of God is vindicated. That advance reaches to darkened nations and distant islands beyond established centers, and those given resources are to share them so the work can advance. The promise of light is reflected in those who sacrifice comfort and safety to help others know God and come to salvation through the revealed truths of God's word.

The verse is to be diligently studied and treasured as the true science of redeeming grace above gold and silver, calling workers to stand firmly on the Word of God against confusing human science and false science. It belongs to the message of Isaiah 42 to be studied in connection with Isaiah 40 and 2 Peter as the Lord's call for a reformatory work to be carried forward in deeply spiritual lines, where hearts are not prepared to receive God's messages and the nature of the work is not understood. Isaiah 42:5-16 is an appeal to study what God's message means, applying to the need for students to learn practical godliness and the knowledge required of God's people, rather than trusting human agencies as divine. The same work is to be done in Christ's lowly, personal, inexpensive way without theatrical display, with no haphazard work, led by men of clear understanding worked by the Holy Spirit in a work of thorough reformation, including working the cities and seeking wisdom from God rather than from finite human beings.

That humble, quiet, persevering work is to be accomplished in caring for the sick, joining skillful use of natural agencies with earnest prayer and bringing the truths of God's Word to bear on human hearts so that many are turned to the Lord in confidence and receive heavenly gifts with physical healing. It includes outdoor life, exercise, good food, the best treatments, and faith in God's healing power for restoration of health, under His yearning desire to bring those ignorant of His purposes under His beneficent care, calling for a new song of praise from the end of the earth. The chapter foretells the work of presenting the warning message to the world, telling people why believers believe as they do and giving the information they desire through camp meetings. It includes establishing sanitariums in different parts of the world as an educating power to reform people and restore in them the moral image of God, arousing the slumbering senses of the people to see how far they have departed from the Lord's ordinances by adopting worldly policy and conforming to worldly principles in transgression of the law of God, so that through knowledge of the Word men become converted and use their means and ability to extend knowledge of the truth.