June 16, 2024: Isaiah 49:4 - My Judgment is with the Lord

“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 49:4)

As I mentioned in my May 27, 2024 devotional, recently the Holy Spirit impressed upon me when writing these devotional messages that I needed to stop relying on Bible commentaries to interpret God’s word but to rely solely on the Holy Spirit to guide me in His word, to guide me into all truth, as Jesus said the Holy Spirit will do in John 16:13. This has been difficult for me as I do not want to mislead anyone with these devotionals and my feelings are what causes this concern within me. However, I must put my feelings aside and not be led by them but be led by the Holy Spirit within me. I recently did a short post on Instagram and it said, “I can’t … but Almighty God can.” I must keep this truth in the forefront of my mind when it comes to writing these messages, particularly with this verse in Isaiah 49:4.

This is Jesus Christ speaking through the prophet Isaiah approximately 700 years prior to Jesus’ first coming to earth. At His first coming, Jesus came as both God and man. As God, He quoted the Scriptures even though He had not learned them as men learn them. He is the source, the author, of the Scriptures and didn’t need to learn them from any man, any Jewish leader. He performed many miracles that only God can perform, including raising people from the dead, opening the eyes of the blind, enabling the mute to speak and the lame to walk, calming the storm, walking on water, multiplying a minuscule amount of food so that it fed thousands on two occasions, and many more miracles did He perform. As a man, He lived and experienced all that we humans experience: He grew tired and needed rest, He thirsted, He was hungry, and He was full of sorrow when His friend Lazarus died. Jesus felt pain when He was scourged, spat upon, and struck by those who hated Him, and yet, He did not return to them the venomous hatred they showed to Him. He had walked with them and talked with them and ate with them, and so many of them had betrayed Him. As the man Jesus, surely, He would have felt as though He had labored in vain and spent His strength for nothing. But as God, He knew that His judgment by men was with the Lord God, God the Father. Jesus knew that His work, meaning, that which He would do - and ONLY He could do - on the cross was with God the Father. It is only Jesus who, being judged for all of OUR sins and who committed no sin Himself, and was crucified, died, resurrected three days later, and ascended to heaven, could provide the way - the only way - of salvation of sins by His sacrifice. This was God the Father’s plan from the beginning:

“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it [he; Jesus] shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

“For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled [steadfast], and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister…” “Colossians 1:19-23)

“Beware lest any man spoil [plunder] you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments [basic principles] of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power [rule and authority].” (Colossians 2:8-9)

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John [John the Baptist] bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me [ranks higher than I]: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace, for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. And this is the record [testimony] of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias [Isaiah].” (John 1:14-23)

In the Scripture above, John the Baptist was quoting this Scripture from Isaiah:

“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” (Isaiah 40:3)

As the God man who took on all our sins, Jesus cried out when He was on hanging on the cross:

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)

It was at that moment when Jesus felt all alone, separated from God, wondering where He was. Did you know that when Jesus said this, He was quoting a psalm of David. This beautiful psalm was an expression of David’s heart, but it was also a prophecy of the coming Messiah. This psalm also prophesied how the Messiah would die - by crucifixion. I have included this Psalm - Psalm 22 - in its entirety below:

“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring [groaning]? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee and were not confounded [ashamed]. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly. Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell [can count] all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling [precious life] from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns [wild oxen]. I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye seed of Israel. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him. The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the LORD’s: and he is the governor among the nations. All they that be fat [prosper] upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust [death] shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.” (Psalm 22)

Let us read of the fulfillment of some of the prophecies above:

“And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted [divided] my garments among them, and upon my vesture [clothing] did they cast lots.” (Matthew 27:35)

“And they that passed by reviled [blasphemed] him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself, if thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.” (Matthew 27:39-40)

“Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, he saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.” (Matthew 27:41-44)

How many times in our lives have we felt like God had forsaken us, how many times have we felt all alone? When Jesus was dying on that horrible cross, He felt with same way, with the throbbing pain from the nails in His feet and His hands, His back in excruciating pain after having being scourged with a whip with jagged metal or bone that tore into His flesh, and suffering a deep thirst that could not be quenched. Only a few people lay at His feet, crying for Him, while many others surrounded Him, mocking and spitting at Him. He could have broken free from that cross, but He didn’t. He could have come off of that cross before He gave up His life, but He chose not to because He was obedient to the Father, to the point of death. God had sent Jesus as the sinless Lamb of God to be the perfect sacrifice, a one-time sacrifice, because He is perfect in every way, to offer redemption of sins to all who believe in Him:

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did not esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes [blows that cut in] we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:3-7)

“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:10-12)

Jesus knew what He had to do, and that it must be not His will to be done, but the Father’s will, no matter the amount of suffering He would have to undergo:

“And he [Jesus] took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26:37-39)

“He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.” (Matthew 26:42)

“So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.” (Hebrews 5:5-10)

As believers in Jesus Christ, having been born again by His sacrifice, may we hold onto Him during these turbulent times, during these perilous times that the apostle Paul told us would come in the last days (2 Timothy 3:1). May we remember His obedience to the Father, and all that He had to suffer, because He loves us. May we remember that He did it so that we would be given the way of salvation, if only we put our faith and trust in Him to save us from our sins. May we remember that He alone is our hope, it is He alone who can save us from our sins and who will one day raise us up to be with Him forever:

“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (Jesus Christ; John 6:37-40)

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life.” (Jesus Christ; John 6:47-48)

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11) ✝️