Well, let's open to Isaiah chapter 50. We're going to begin in verse 4 tonight. Isaiah is moved from 39 chapters addressing Judah in light of the military threat posed by Assyria and others. And then nine chapters focus primarily on the exile of Judah in Babylon and the deliverance of the people from exile by the decree of Cyrus. to focus, beginning in chapter 49, on the coming Messiah of whom he had spoken. Anybody know the chapters, the places where Isaiah has already talked about the Messiah? Where else have we seen Isaiah speak of the Messiah? What has he told us about the Messiah? Maybe I should put it that way. He'd be born of a virgin. Chapter 7, chapter 9, he would be a light to the Gentiles. He would come into the land of Naphtali and Zebulun. He'd be a wonderful counselor, mighty God, prince of peace, everlasting ruler. Chapter 11, he would be the shoot from Jesse. He would also be the root of Jesse, the father of David. Chapter 32, He'd be a righteous king. All of these things He's been telling us about the Messiah. But now in chapter 49, He begins to really focus on the Messiah. He's also prophesied God will deliver His people and one day establish His eternal righteous kingdom. And that kingdom, Isaiah has told us several times, will include people who believe in Him from every nation of the earth. And it will be ruled by His righteous king. Chapters 42 and 49, God calls this king by the name of what? My servant. He's the Messiah who would come and save his people from their sins. And the overriding message of the prophet Isaiah has been to call the people of Judah to return to him and to what? Trust him. Great is his faithfulness. We should trust him. But they've rejected God. They've rejected His prophets, including Isaiah. They've been obstinate. But His plan will be fulfilled. Isn't that a wonderful thing to know that His plan being fulfilled is in no way dependent on us? So the words of these servant songs, and tonight we're going to see the third one, are directed really to distant nations, but it's the people of Jerusalem who are going to actually hear what Isaiah is saying. The first servant song in chapter 42, we saw the servant, Jesus, is one chosen by God, filled with the Spirit, he's humble, he'll introduce the kingdom of God, he'll establish a new covenant between himself and God's people, which will include Gentiles. The second servant song in chapter 49 added to this and it spoke of the mission of the spirit-filled servant and the resistance and opposition to him. In both servant songs we see these things. He's a light to the nations. He's a covenant for the people. He will free the captives and He will glorify God through His work. Both servant songs bring a message of hope, though, about God accomplishing this eternal plan and bringing everything to a final consummation through the work of this servant. He's the very embodiment of God's love for us. He's the Lord's voice on earth, and He'll conquer the enemy's sin and death. So he was sent to call all the nations to the Lord. I want you to look at chapter 49, verse 6. This is one of the most quoted and most important verses in Isaiah. It is too small a thing, he says, that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also make you a light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. So we see again, this was not some new plan when Paul was sent up into Antioch and up into Asia. No, this was always God's plan. Many passages show us that Isaiah understood that the inhabitants of the future Zion would include both Jews and people from every nation of the earth. Look at 49-22, God speaks of His calling of all the nations to bring their sons to Zion. In verse 7 of chapter 49, Yahweh tells us the Lord's servant will meet with hatred and rejection, but that he will be victorious. Let me ask you this. Did Isaiah get anything wrong? Isn't this amazing? And we're just getting started with his prophecies about the Messiah, even though there have been quite a few. Well we saw last week in 49.14, Israel didn't quite see the salvation of the Lord. She thinks God has forsaken and forgotten her. Isaiah doesn't tell us why, but God has not forsaken or forgotten His people, and He speaks encouraging words to them in chapter 49. In 49-26 we learn God will break and destroy every evil power that seeks to keep His people from coming to Him. Ultimately, it's sin and death and whatever power Satan has left that Christ will overcome. And they'll be abolished forever. Isn't that a great picture in Revelation 20, is it? Well, it's 19 and 20, where death and Satan and the false prophet and all of these beasts are thrown into the lake of fire. And the last enemy to be abolished is what? Death, that's right, death. God gets rid of death. All of these things overcome. through the work of the servant. So in the first three verses of chapter 50, last week we had a third response to this question, this issue about whether God had forgotten them. And God said to them in those first three verses of chapter 50, look, I didn't divorce you. I didn't give you a certificate of divorce. I didn't sell you into slavery. I haven't forgotten a single word of the promises I've made. You were sent into exile as a judgment for your own sins. But I didn't pronounce a final judgment on you, but the reason for your problems, your trials, your tribulations, and your exile was your own faithlessness. And he asked them these questions. Where were you when I came to you? Why didn't you answer? Did you think I was powerless to protect you? Do you think I wouldn't hear you? If that was the case, then they really didn't know God, did they? Truth is, they, like unbelievers in every age, were blinded by their sin and their unbelief. And in many instances, we saw that rather than trusting in God, they trusted in three things. What were they? What were the things that they were trusting in whenever they'd have a military threat against them, rather than trusting in God? other nations, usually godless nations, fake gods, imaginary gods. And then they trusted at times when they were doing pretty well in their own strength. All three always ahead of God, the one who could help them. This is the issue for all people. So they were blinded by their sin, their idolatry. They had turned away from Him. He hadn't forgotten them. They had forgotten and forsaken Him. So now in chapter 50 verses 4 through 9 is the third servant song. And we're going to learn more about the servant himself. This is not unlike Colossians, where Paul is teaching us about the person of Christ, who he is in reality, and what is the meaning of his work. Well, Isaiah is doing the same thing here. He's telling us about who this servant is and about the meaning of his work. Only he's doing it 750 years before it happens. So he, the servant who was a light to the nations in chapter 42 and 49, is going to be described now, and what he's going to teach us is about listening to God. He is described here as a disciple who listens to God, his Father. and who suffers but faithfully maintains his trust in God. He listens to God, he endures suffering, and faithfully, in the midst of suffering, maintains his trust in God. Why? Because he knows what? He knows that God will vindicate him. and will vindicate his work. That's called trusting God. It's something that's sometimes not as easy to do as other times. But this servant song is about listening to God, and so is the few verses that follow this. So there's really a great lesson for us here, and our example is the Lord Jesus. The nation of Israel did not listen to God, and it was their undoing. But the servant of the Lord did listen. He had an ear, we will see, constantly open to God. The lesson here, as we see throughout chapter 51 in the first eight verses, all who seek righteousness, if you're seeking the righteousness of God, you must be a good listener. Now we do that through reading in the Scripture, but the point is we must hear God. And in verses 4 through 9, the servant speaks, Verse 10, we're taught, we must open our ears now to Him. He's heard the Father. Now He speaks, and when He speaks, we have to hear Him. And it's only eternity that rests on the question of whether we listen to Him and act upon what we hear. And then in the beginning of chapter 51, Isaiah provides incentives for listening to Him. So let's read, beginning in chapter 50, verse 4, The Lord God has given me the tongue of disciples, that I may know how to sustain the weary one with the word. He awakens me morning by morning. He awakens my ear to listen as a disciple. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not disobedient, nor did I turn back. I gave my back to those who strike me, and my cheeks to those who pluck out the beard. I did not cover my face from humiliation and spitting. For the Lord God helps me, therefore I am not disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed. He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up to each other. Who has a case against me? Let him draw near to me. Behold, the Lord God helps me. Who is he who condemns me? Behold, they will all wear out like a garment. The moth will eat them. Who is among you that fears the Lord, that obeys the voice of His servant, that walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who encircle yourselves with firebrands, walk in the light of your own fire, and among the brands you have set ablaze. This you will have from My hand. You will lie down in torment. Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, who seek the Lord. Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave birth to you in pain. When he was but one, I called him. Then I blessed him and multiplied him. Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places, and her wilderness He will make like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and sound of a melody. Pay attention to me, O my people, and give ear to me. O my nation, for the law will go forth from me, and I will set my justice for a light of the peoples. My righteousness is near, my salvation has gone forth, and my arms will judge the peoples. The coastlands will wait for me, and for my arm they will wait expectantly. Lift up your eyes to the sky, then look to the earth beneath, for the sky will vanish like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a garment, and its inhabitants will die in like manner. But My salvation will be forever, and My righteousness will not wane. Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, a people in whose heart is My law. Do not fear the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings, for the moth will eat them like a garment. and the grub will eat them like wool. But my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation to all generations. You see here in 50, verse 4, the Lord's servant has been taught by God. And he will speak the words of God. What did it say back in chapter 49, verse 2? He has made my mouth like a sharp sword. The relationship between father and son is all over this passage. He will speak the words of God. John 7, 46, the officers of the temple police answered, never has a man spoken the way this man speaks. The point is that the servant of the Lord is wise. He's well schooled in the ways of God. He's wise enough to know how to help weak people, that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word, he says. As we listen to Jesus speak, we see that He is a wonderful Counselor. In Matthew 11, 28, here's how He comes to us. Come to me, you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And He can do this by His Word. He can do this by what He says, just as He spoke the worlds into existence. And this is because though He fully human, fully God, has been discipled by the Lord in how to speak and what to say. The one who was coming, this special servant, the Messiah, was going to be unlike anyone else who'd ever lived. And this speaks here of the prophetic role of the servant. He's had the tongue of disciples. Given the ability to hear and understand the teaching of his father, the servant responds in obedience to him. Now look at this in John 5, 19. Jesus answered and said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of himself unless it is something he sees the father doing. For whatever the father does, these things the son also does in like manner. And then in response to Philip in John 14 in verse 8, here's Philip saying, O Lord, show us the Father, and it's enough for us. Jesus said to him, Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, Show us the Father? So the Father is both his teacher and yet they are one. Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? And look at this, the words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father abiding in me does his works. This is a very different relationship between Father and Son than any other relationship in all eternity. Verse 5, we see the Father opened the Son's eyes and ears to the knowledge that His commission would involve much suffering, but He did not turn away from the mission. He accepted it willingly. He opened His ears even to the difficult truths, and He became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. He chose this mission of suffering. And he gave his back, he says, to those who struck him, past tense. Speaking of events, 700 years in the future. And his cheeks to those who pull out the beard. He walked into great opposition and his eyes were wide open. He knew this was what was going to happen. All those whips, the crown of thorns, he knew all that was going to happen. So while the revelation he received was one that made demands from which there might be a tendency to say, well, maybe not, and back away, he is resolute. He's going to complete the work. In other words, he knows he's being sent on a dangerous, deadly mission that is going to be fraught with much pain. And so there's, even though there's this forewarning of the hardship, he faced it, he accepted it, and he carried it through. We see it in the Gospels, Matthew 16, 21. Remember this when we were in Matthew, from that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, he must suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and scribes, he must be killed and raised up on the third day. What did Peter think of that? God forbid. Get behind me, Satan, Jesus said to Peter. Luke 9, 51, when the days were approaching, and it says interestingly for his ascension, he was determined to go to Jerusalem and he sent messengers on ahead of him and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for him. He's making the reservations for his own execution. Luke 22, 41, we see how painful this was. He withdrew from them about a stone's throw. He knelt down, began to pray, saying, Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Yet not my will, but yours be done. And remember what happened in the next verse. An angel from heaven came and ministered to him. And in verses 6 and 7, Isaiah moves to the day of the crucifixion of our Lord. That's what he's saying here. I gave my back to those who strike me, my cheeks to those who pluck out the beard. I did not cover my face from humiliation and spitting. And why? Look at verse 7. For the Lord God helps me, therefore I am not disgraced. And that should be our attitude, no matter what. We don't know how everything comes out, that's true. But he says, I have set my face like flint. Look at Matthew 27. Here's what he's talking about. Beginning in verse 26, Then he released Barabbas for them, but after having Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. After twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head, a reed in his right hand. They knelt down before him and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! They spat on him, took the reed, and began to beat him on the head. After they'd mocked him, they took the scarlet robe off him, put his own garments back on him, and led him away to crucify. He knew all this was going to happen. Persecution and humiliation did not destroy Jesus' confidence in his Father. It didn't intimidate him, and it did not weaken his will to go through with the mission he had accepted. He continues in this commitment. Like Flint, he says, to continue trusting in God. Why would he do this? He did it out of love. This is a picture of his absolute resolve to do this, of his determination to do this, because this was the only way we could be saved. It was it was the only way. I hope you understand that. All humanity. Is stained by the sin of Adam, all humanity sin, and we cannot make it up to God. We could not do it, only he could do it. And he's trusting fully that the end result will not be shame, even though it looks like it, hanging on that cross, bleeding, spit upon. He trusts that God will vindicate him, that God will uphold him, that God will not deceive him, that God will not bring on him the humiliation of trusting in a false hope. Application for us, a firm resolve and a commitment to God's way must be the perspective of all those who truly believe in and serve God. Because God never fails, even though we may suffer persecution, tribulation, even when we're innocent of any wrong we may suffer. When we went through the study in 1 Peter, 1 Peter 2.19, and verse 20 says the same thing, For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows, while suffering unjustly, unjustly, finds favor with God. And He trusts in His Father. Verse 8, He who vindicates Me is near. Who's going to contend with Me? Let us stand up to each other. Who has a case against Me? Servant pictures himself here in the dock, but he's confident that whatever charges are made against him cannot stand, nor will those who make them stand. Now, as I started gathering these scriptures, it was interesting, the crowd of people who came to realize Jesus was innocent. John 8, 46, Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I speak the truth, why don't you believe me? He who is of God hears the words of God. For this reason you don't hear them, because you're not of God. Well Luke 23.4 Pilate said to the chief priests and crowds, I find no guilt in this man. Luke 23.10, though, the chief priests and scribes are standing there accusing him vehemently. Luke 23.13, Have Luke Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and said to them, You brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion, and, behold, having examined him before you, I have found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against him, nor is Herod, for he sent him back to us. And, behold, nothing deserving death has been done by him. Neither Pilate nor Herod found any guilt in him. Thief on the cross. Luke 23, 41. We are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong. Now the thief. Three bad guys, all testifying to Jesus' innocence. Here's a fourth bad guy, Matthew 27, 3. Then when Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that he had been condemned, he felt remorse, returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood, Pilate, Herod, the thief on the cross, and Judas. Finally, Pilate's wife shows up. While Pilate's sitting on the judgment seat, Matthew 27, 19, his wife sent him a message saying, have nothing to do with that righteous man. That's who vindicated him, all of them. And of course, God vindicates him in the end. His best defense here, though, was what? What's his best defense? We saw it in verse 7. Now we see it again in verse 9. The Lord helps me. Behold, the Lord God helps me. This is the second time the servant spoke in these words. Why did the servant have such confidence? Remember, in his incarnation we see the Son of God's total reliance on and trust in the Father. He knows God intimately. He knows that God is near to him and that God will vindicate him. God is not just a name given to some abstract mover force in the world. God is a real being. And when God's people are in distress, God is there. Y'all have distress, I know. I have distress. The question isn't whether we're going to have distress. The question is, do we remember He's there? He's got this worked out for all of you. We know He does, you know He does. He may let us face troubles, folks, but He is there, and He calls us to trust Him. It's not always easy, but it was Jesus' best defense, and it should be ours. So we're seeing a lot about the interplay between Father and Son here. If you want to see more about Father and Son, John 5, verses 18 through 30, and then look at His prayer in John 17. And you know, not only will the servant be vindicated and all of God's people, but his accusers will be vanished, forgotten. Look at this. Who is he who condemns me? Now you're talking about those who oppose him and disbelieve. Those who will condemn him, they will all wear out like a garment. The moth will eat them. There's a final resolution of everything. And that final resolution brings in eternity. We return to eternity. God created time. He put the moon and the sun and the stars and all of this up there. Created time. We're going to go out of time and into eternity. There are some who think that we keep keeping time after when the Lord returns, but I can't think of a good reason to do that. And there's no day and night. Well, the servant is done speaking now, and Isaiah now calls those hearing the servant's words to follow his example. Who is among you that fears the Lord, that obeys the voice of his servant? That's how we know that was the servant speaking. That walks in darkness and has no light. Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. Now, in verse 11, we're going to see those who are going to trust in themselves. But the reference to the Lord's servant, as I said, is here in verse 10, confirms verses 4 and 9 where the servant's song. But now Isaiah is challenging us to trust and follow the servant. So he trusted the father, the father, whatever I see the father doing, I do. Now, He speaks as one who's been taught, which He's done, and now we're called to follow Him, to hear Him. He's speaking to believers, those who fear the Lord, but are walking in difficult times. Now, we saw He rescued us from the domain of darkness. He's not talking about that same darkness. He's talking about the darkness of trouble, doubt, persecution. All of those things that God's people may go through. So these are people who've been rescued from the domain of darkness, but still are facing struggles in life. And that ought to be pretty much all of us. So that's what he means here by walks in darkness and has no light. And then he calls us to trust in the Lord in those difficult times. Especially in those difficult times. because He is the one who provides strength, assurance, and comfort. You know, He never did promise that we would never be confused or distraught or in difficulty, but He did promise that He would what? That He would never leave us or forsake us. So in the difficulty, in the trial, what we need to do is trust that He knows about it. He's there and He's allowing it for His purposes. Even when we can't see Him, He's protecting us, He's leading us. And even when we are in the darkness, we can turn to Him. And that's where we should turn when we are in dark times, because He's the light. You know, this reaction of, well, God is, He just doesn't love me. It's wrong. We shouldn't turn away from Him when we're in difficulty. It's all the more important in those times to turn to Him. And there's a great illustration here in verse 11. The unbelieving don't turn to Him. They turn to their own remedies. He calls it the light of your own fire rather than God's light. And this can never succeed because there is no true lasting light in us or in the things in this world. Those who light their own fires, this is a metaphor of those who try to create their own hope. They've rejected the light from God and have chosen to substitute their own hope, their own light for God's salvation. And the inevitable result, look at the end of verse 11, you will lie down in torment. The writer of Proverbs had a shorter way of saying this, 1625, There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. God's way, our own way. So this boils down to two sorts of people. He who has no light but obeys the word of the Lord's servant by trusting God, and the rest who seek to overcome the darkness by their own remedies. Verse 9, the servant's a good listener, one who hears instruction. Verse 10, the one who fears the Lord should also be listening to the servant. And in the first eight verses, which we're going to look at quickly in 51, all who seek righteousness are also good listeners. Remember what the Bible says, Romans 10, 17, faith comes through hearing, hearing through the word of God. This is the means God has ordained. He calls all people to listen to him, to hear him, to pay attention to him. Listen to me you who pursue righteousness look to the rock so he first he says listen look to the rock from which you were hewn to Abraham your father Look to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain when he was just one I called him But then I blessed him and made him into kings and nations pursuing righteousness That's what he's talking about. Implies a desire for a life characterized by righteousness. But he's saying, remember, I formed you from that barren couple. Clearly talking to the Jews here. Consider those promises I made. The miraculous way I faithfully kept those promises to Abraham. Look back to your roots. Think about what I've done for you. And know that from this barren couple, we've got kings and nations. Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion. Her wilderness He will make like Eden. We've seen this before back in earlier chapters. Her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her. Thanksgiving and sound of a melody. The promise of a glorious future has been made and it is certain to be kept. There will be a joyous end at the consummation of God's eternal plan of redemption. It hasn't happened yet. The condition of the earth before God miraculously acts to change this world, which He will, a new heaven and a new earth, is compared here to ruins of a desert, her waste places, her wilderness. This is not a description of improvements, by the way, or a renovation in the present Jerusalem. This is the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven when God brings a new heaven and a new earth in Revelation 21. Isaiah has already used this very description back in chapter 35. And the prize at the end of all this is what? What is the prize we get at the end of all this, besides God Himself? It's righteousness. We see it in almost every verse here in this section. The promise of righteousness draws us. Why? Because there's something in almost every human being. There are some who are just so wicked that they couldn't care. But in most people, there's something in us that desires righteousness. We want to see rightness and fairness and justice. Those who shall be satisfied are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Look at Matthew 5, 6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. And look at the promise. They shall be satisfied. Many in this world would say they're seeking a fair and equitable state of things for all people. We see everybody posturing on all kinds of sides of this immigration issue right now. Well, we're the fair ones, we're the moral ones, we're the ones who want what's right. Well, we don't have any way of knowing just what or how much people are willing to sacrifice to bring a truly righteous and just society about, but the truth is that every human effort at a completely righteous and just society has failed. I'm prepared to stand corrected if you can tell me of one that's still been going on, that's been established. Humanity can't do this on its own. Why? Why can't humanity do this? Look, humans by nature are interested in serving first and foremost themselves. Let me get mine, then maybe I can begin to look out for others. That's why God has his people taking 10% off the top before we see what's left at the end of what we needed. But the kingdom of God will be that righteous and just kingdom. That's the prize at the end of this. A place where only righteousness exists. This is what chapter 32 is. A righteous king will rule there. And it is going to happen. Whether you believe it or not, it's going to happen. And the only way in We all know the only way in, right? It's through faith in Jesus Christ and believing in His death as the atonement for your sins. Understanding you need an atonement for your sins. He said He was the only way in. And then to prove what He said was true, God raised Him from the dead. A few days before that, to give us a little extra evidence, He raised Lazarus from the dead. And then the apostles and many other witnesses were executed rather than recant that they had seen him alive. Righteousness is the goal and it is certain to be achieved. And what God did with Abraham, bringing life into a lifeless couple who could not have children, for every believer that sets a pattern. Romans 4.17, God gives life to the dead. God gives life to the dead, and He calls into existence the things that do not exist. Now anybody else that can do that? Of course not. Verses 4 through 6, God will gather His people from all the nations of the world. He's sending out, He says, His law and His light through the gospel. And it comes down to one question. Do you believe God or don't you? You want righteousness? Abraham believed God and God credited to him as righteous. There it is. As God had told Abraham, remember, He said, look around, look at the stars, your descendants will be as numerous as the stars of the sky. Well, now Isaiah tells his readers to look around, lift up your eyes to the sky, then look to the earth beneath. He has a different message, though, than God had for Abraham. He says the sky will vanish like smoke. The earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants will die in like manner. But while all that's going to happen, two things are going to last forever. His salvation and His righteousness. The present heavens and earth will disappear. And you can look later at chapter 24, he talks about this. But while all that we see will disappear, these two things stand forever, God's salvation and His righteousness. His righteousness will be the mark of His kingdom. His salvation will be the means by which He will bring it about. And of course, 32-1, a king will reign righteously. I say it often, our hope, our assurance, is all based on God's promises. Our assurance is based on His promises, and assurances based on God's promises are the only worthwhile hope in this world. There's nothing else that could give you any possible hope for eternity, because it's been made up by men. Well the last couple of verses, he again says it. Listen to me. Third time in this passage. You who know righteousness, a people in whose heart is my law. Don't fear the reproach of man. Don't be dismayed at their revilings. For the moth is going to eat them like a garment. The grub will eat them like wool. My righteousness, he says it again, will be forever. My salvation to all generations. Those who know the Lord. are called to hear Him. And here's where we hear Him, in His Word. Don't be dismayed, He says, or fear what men say. Those things are all going to pass away. But His righteousness, His salvation, accomplished through His servant, will last forever. And yet there will be hardships, and yet there will be persecution. for both the servant of God, by the way, and for those who emulate His commitment. Our confidence and our assurance in such situations is found in God's promises and in His character. So, we've seen what? The servant listened and learned, the servant endured suffering, the servant confidently depended on God, and we are now challenged to follow His example, to listen to God, and to trust Him. Ray Ortland says this, no one has ever listened to God without reward, without benefit. The love of righteousness that He puts in our hearts will be satisfied forever and no one, no one can take it away from us. Our only real danger is our own unbelief and our own fear. We don't need to fear anything. Well, Lord, we thank you for this word. We thank you for the prophets you sent. We thank you for the servant. We thank you for Christ and his love and his mercy and his willingness to save us, to endure whatever was necessary. to bring in righteousness and to make our salvation possible. We thank You for opening our eyes. We thank You for this gift of faith and knowledge and wisdom in Him. We pray, Lord, You will make us useful witnesses, useful servants who will hear You and act upon what we hear for Your kingdom, for Your glory. In Christ's name, amen.