Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God. (Isaiah 50:10)
This verse starts out with two heart piercing questions. First, "Who among you fears the LORD?"
What does it mean to fear the Lord? The fear of the Lord is not terror, but rather, an intense respect and awe of God. It begins with a high view of God's greatness and glory. The greater my understanding and view of God’s greatness and glory, the greater will be my fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is a desire to please God, obey Him, and live according to His will and Word. It is a desire to honor God and fear dishonoring God. Do you fear the Lord?
The second question is the natural extension of the first. "Who among you . . . obeys the voice of his servant?" If I fear the Lord, I will obey the voice of His servant, Jesus Messiah. No obedience equals no fear. That’s why these questions are really one, two-part question here. I can’t say I have reverential respect for God and disobey Jesus. So, do you fear the Lord . . . are you obedient?
Many Bible scholars believe the expected answer to this question is an affirmative, "I’m one." I may not be able to answer these questions with absolute affirmation, but it is expected that as God’s child I can at least say that it is the overall characteristic of my life. I want to fear the Lord and obey. I am striving to fear the Lord and obey. If I can’t answer this way, perhaps I need to reevaluate if I truly am His child.
The second half of this verse gives a word of encouragement to those who fear the Lord and obey Him . . . "Trust and rely on your God." This word of encouragement is given to those who are in darkness and have no light. This is not referring to unbelievers, but to God’s child who is confused, bewildered, not understanding what is going on in their life.
May I paraphrase this for you in the first person? "God, I don’t understand what is going on in my life. I don’t understand what you are doing. Everything is just so dark. I feel so helpless. Life seems so hopeless. What are you doing?"
"Trust in the name of the LORD and rely on your God." Trust . . . Believe . . . Put your confidence in . . . Stake you life on . . . The name of the LORD . . . Yahweh . . . Creator and Sustainer of the universe . . . the self-existent, uncaused cause . . . sovereign . . . all-powerful . . . all-knowing . . . all-wise . . . gracious . . . merciful . . . loving . . . and always right in all that He does. When everything is dark and you feel hopeless and helpless, trust in the name of this LORD!
Rely . . . lean on . . . find your strength and support in . . . count on . . . your God. Your God is the God who is sovereign ruler over all existence. Your God is the faithful, covenant keeping God. In the context of Isaiah 50, your God is the God who took the most horrific, unjust, darkest series of events in history, the Cross, and orchestrated them to be the most beautiful, glorious, magnificent events in all His-story. We have seen already in Isaiah 50 how God has and will vindicate righteousness, execute His perfect plan and fulfill His purpose. And this God, your God can do the same with the darkness you are facing. And He has promised that He will.
What to do in the darkness? Renew your fear of the LORD. How? Meditate on His greatness and glory. Then, renew your commitment to obey Him. Determine that you are going to follow Him even if it seems to lead you further into darkness. Then trust and rely on the glorious infinite indescribably awesome God of all creation . . . the God of the Cross!
Soli Deo Gloria
Next: The Light that Leads to Destruction. (Isaiah 50:11)
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