Isaiah 50:4a,11

Isaiah 50 is another ‘Servant Song’ about the Messiah. It focuses on the relationship between the Servant and God, how the Servant is ever-reliant on God for help and wisdom. It tells of how the Servant’s obedience to God led Him to forgive those who hurt Him, but also how His trust in God ensured that He would not be disgraced (vs. 7), and that His adversaries could do nothing to Him. He also tells of His redeeming power, for those who rely on God like He does (vs. 10), and verse 11:

‘Look, all you who kindle a fire,
Who encircle yourselves with sparks:
Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled –
This you shall have from My hand:
You shall lie down in torment.’ (Isaiah 50:11)

He makes it clear that man’s own efforts are never going to get him there. The Servant doesn’t redeem those who think they can ‘light their own fire’ as it were.

But the words that struck me most (and these weren’t the main message of the passage, just one example of the overall message – that the Servant was fully reliant on God) were in verse 4:

‘The Lord GOD has given Me
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is weary.’ (Isaiah 50:4a)

I don’t know how many of you have experienced the warmth a ‘word in season’ brings when from a friend. Probably all of you. There are always times in life when we are down and out. Even the happiest people have these times. They are an inherent part of life, an essential flavour if you like. Often the difference between an extremely bad time and a passable time is how others treat us during that time. I am fortunate to have many awesome, caring friends and family. And it shows in times like that.

A ‘word in season’. The right thing said at the right time. Notice that it doesn’t say ‘That I should know how to speak a word to him who is weary’. It says ‘a word in season’. That word needn’t be overly kind on face value. It could be harsh, to the point, blunt, or kind, encouraging, gentle and sympathetic. But in either case it is loving. It is the right word. At the right time. To the right person.

I think we should all be people who seek to be able to give ‘a word in season’ to our friends and loved ones, to help them out when they are weary. Likewise, we should seek friends who are able to give that to us.

But notice the source of the Servant’s gift of ‘the tongue of the learned.’ He says unequivocally that the Lord GOD gave it to Him. And so let us seek it from the Lord, that we also should have the tongue of the learned that we may speak a word in season to those who are weary. But let us also praise God for the beauty of Jesus’ words to us in the Bible, and the encouragement we gain when we ourselves are weary.