Isaiah 42:13 - Meaning and Application

It makes little difference whether we take these verses as the song itself that the Gentile world will sing, or as a prophecy of what God will do to prepare for that song, the new gospel song.

He will show his power and glory more clearly than ever. He did this in the preaching of the gospel, in the divine power that went with it, and in its great success in breaking Satan’s stronghold (Isaiah 42:13, Isaiah 42:14). For a long time he kept quiet and held back while he overlooked the times when the Gentile world lived in ignorance (Acts 17:30) and let all nations walk in their own ways (Acts 14:16). But now he goes out like a mighty warrior, like a man of war, to attack the devil’s kingdom and strike it a deadly blow.

The spread of the gospel is shown this way in Revelation 6:2. Christ went out in it, conquering and to conquer. The apostles’ ministry is called their warfare, and they were soldiers of Jesus Christ. He will stir up holy jealousy, showing more concern than ever for the honor of his own name and against idolatry.

He will cry out through the preaching of his word, like a woman in labor. Christ’s ministers preached with deep earnestness, laboring until they saw Christ formed in people’s lives (Galatians 4:19). He will cry out, yes, roar, in the warnings of the gospel, which are more frightening than the roar of a lion. Those warnings must be preached along with gospel blessings to wake up a sleeping world.

He will conquer by the power of his Spirit. He will overcome his enemies and turn them into friends (Colossians 1:21). Those who resist and blaspheme his gospel, he will silence and put to shame. He will destroy and devour at once all the powers of darkness. Satan will fall from heaven like lightning, and the one who had the power of death will be destroyed.

As a picture of this, and to prepare for the Jews’ deliverance from Babylon, God would humble the pride and break the power of their oppressors. He would destroy the Babylonian empire at once. In bringing about this destruction through the Persian army under Cyrus, God would level mountains and hills, dry up their vegetation, and remove every obstacle. The army would carry off forage or destroy it, and by laying bridges of boats over rivers they would turn waters into islands and drain marshes and low places, making the road clear for their march. In the same way, when the gospel is preached, it will have free course, and whatever hinders it will be removed.

He will also show his favor and grace to those whose hearts he has stirred to follow him, as in Ezra 1:5. Those who ask the way to Zion, he will show the way and lead them in it (Isaiah 42:16). Those who are blind by nature, and those who, when convicted of sin and judgment, are at a loss and do not know what to do, God will guide by a way they did not know. He will show them the way to life and happiness through Jesus Christ, who is the way, and carry them along that path, though it was once strange to them.

This is seen in Paul’s conversion, when he was first struck blind and then God revealed his Son in him and removed the scales from his eyes. People are often weak in knowledge, and God’s truths seem hard to understand at first, but God will make darkness light before them, and knowledge will become clear. They are also weak in duty, since God’s commands seem impossible and obedience looks full of obstacles. Yet God will make crooked places straight, their path will be plain, and the yoke easy.

Those whom God brings into the right way he will keep guiding in it. As a picture of this, he would lead the Jews back from captivity along a safe and direct road to their own land, with nothing to trouble or confuse them on the journey. These are great and kind things, very great and very kind. But lest anyone say, “They are too great and too kind to expect from God for such an undeserving people as the Jews, or such an undeserving world as the Gentiles,” he adds, “These things I will do for them.” Take my word for it, I will. And I will not forsake them. He who begins this great mercy will go on to do them good.

He will especially put to shame those who keep clinging to idols, even after the gospel tries to turn them from them (Isaiah 42:17). They will be turned back and deeply ashamed, those who trust in carved images. The Babylonians would feel this when they saw that the Jews, who despised their images, were owned and delivered by the God they worshiped without images. The Gentiles would feel it when they saw idolatry fall before the preaching of the gospel, scattered like darkness before the sun and melting like snow in its heat.

They will be ashamed that they ever said to these metal images, “You are our gods.” How can those help their worshipers who cannot help themselves or save themselves from contempt? In times of reform, when many turn from sin and sin becomes unfashionable, there is reason to hope that even those who do not change in any other way may be moved by shame to turn from it.