August 21

1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my Spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

4 He shall not fail, nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.

5 Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and wretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein.

6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

8 I am the LORD; that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

9 Behold, the former things are come to pass,

and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.

10 Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.

11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their town, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them sing from the top of the mountains.

12 Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands.

13 The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war; he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.

14 I have long time holden my peace, I have been still, and refrained myself: unto will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.

15 I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.

16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

In this lesson the prophet describes the character of the Messiah. He is the servant of Jehovah, endowed with the fulness of the Divine Spirit: meek, and lowly, and gentle, and kind; unobtrusive and noiseless in His movements, and yet securing the conquest of truth.

In verse 3 His tender mercy is beautifully set forth. Luther has well expressed this: "He does not cast away nor crush, nor condemn the wounded in conscience, those who are terrified in view of their sins; the weak in faith and practice; but watches over and cherishes them, makes them whole, and affectionately embraces them."

"A bruised reed He will not break." Simple but expressive emblem! The most fragile thing in nature is the shivering reed by the river side. The Eastern shepherd tending his flock by the streams where these reeds grow, appears to have used them for his rustic pipe. When one of them was bruised or broken, he never made the attempt to mend it. By inserting it among the others he would make his instrument discordant, and accordingly he threw it aside as worthless. Not so the Great Shepherd. When a human soul is bruised and mutilated by sin, He casts it not away. That bruised reed 'He will not break.' He repairs it for its place in the heavenly instrument, and makes it once more to show forth His praise."—Macduff.

Closet Promise.—I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known.—Isa. xlii. 16.

Oh, what joy it brings to me to think that I am not a lonely wanderer trying to find my way, but that the vague and inexplicable yearnings which I have, and which I am following, are the drawing-strings thrown out to lead me by One who knows just what my necessities are, and who stands ready to relieve them all. He is my King, my Priest, my Prophet, my all in all, to do whatever I need to have done, in body or soul, for time and for eternity.