Isaiah 49:4

Isaiah 49:4 says, Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.  Isaiah begins to speak about his ministry and to say that he had worked in vain since the people weren’t listening.  It is not our responsibility as Christians to make sure that people believe the gospel if we share it with them, but it is only our responsibility to share it.  Isaiah also said that even if he felt that he had failed, that the judgment of his work was up to the Lord.   We are not the ones who will ultimately determine our success or failure in obeying God, but He is.  We are simply to be obedient to His call, and then we are to leave the results of our work up to Him.  Of course, this passage also points to Jesus Christ when he came to redeem the people of Israel and was rejected.\, but He knew He had done what His Father had sent Him to do.

Verse five adds, And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.  Isaiah said that God had formed him from the womb to bring Jacob, or the people of Israel, to Him again.  God has a purpose for each individual before they are born, but it is up to each individual whether they accept that purpose for their life or not.  If we are to be glorious in God’s eyes, we must obey His will, and when we do, He will empower us to carry out our calling. Once more, this also applies to Jesus Christ when He was here in the world.

Verse six continues, And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.  Though Isaiah had also been speaking of himself in the last couple of verses I believe, here the focus shifts to Jesus Christ once again.  Isaiah could not bring salvation to people to the ends of the earth, and he was not the light that they needed.  He could proclaim God’s word, but that could only point the to the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ is still the only One Who can bring salvation to anyone. 

Verse seven says, Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.  Isaiah now speaks of the humiliation that the Messiah would face, especially by God’s chosen people, Israel.  Jesus Christ came to be the Redeemer of Israel, but the people of Israel despised Him as a nation, because he came as a Servant and not as an earthly ruler.  There are people today who reject Jesus Christ because He doesn’t live up to their standard of what a Christian should be.  We as followers of Christ should never reject the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter Who came to be with us when Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, because what He teaches does not align with what we want. 

Verse eight adds, Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;  Matthew Henry says this refers to God’s saving Jesus Christ at the acceptable time, which was after all His humiliation and His death on the cross.  God did not let death defeat Jesus Christ, but He raised Him from the dead when the time was right.  Without His enduring death for our sins, we could not be saved, so the time was not right before then.  God also said in the day that He raised Jesus Christ from the dead that He established a new covenant with them.  We are a part of that covenant relationship if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.  I believe that the acceptable time that God will hear us is when we call out to Him in faith and finally realize that He alone can save us.  I also believe that it was just a small minority of the people of Israel who did this in that day, but those who did were a part of the true descendants of Abraham.