Christ in the Old Testament

Isaiah 50:4

The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue,
    to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
    wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. (NIV)

Today’s Reading: Isaiah 50:1-11

Morning by morning, the Servant would begin his day with the Sovereign Lord – his Father. Jesus was dependent on the Father’s word and would awaken every morning to consume it.

• “Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God”‘” (Matt 4:4).
• “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35).
• “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16).

Jesus knew how to speak a word in season to those who are weary because he heard those words from his Father every morning. We would do well to follow in Jesus’ footsteps as he models what a perfect disciple does. Every morning, at the very least, we should waken and ask the Lord, “What do you want me to do today?” Just as Jesus did, spending time with our Father should be the first thing we do everyday.

Isaiah literally says, “He wakens me to hear like a disciple.” The Hebrew word used for “one being instructed” is again that word limmud which implies that you will be formed by the words you consistently hear. A true disciple tunes out all the other noise and listens to his teacher.

The Hebrew word šāmaʽ is being translated as “listen” or “to hear.” The word means more than simply hearing sound. This word combines hearing, attention and response into one term. It’s sometimes translated as “obey” because it contains the idea that you are putting into action what you hear. It’s the same word used in the following verses:

• “To Adam he said, ‘Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you’” (Gen 3:17).
• “But Samuel replied: ‘Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams’” (1 Sam 15:22).
• “Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the LORD’s commands” (Judges 2:17).
• “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong” (1 Kings 3:9).

Jesus was given an ear so that he could listen, discern and obey his Father. Morning by morning, he would awaken to receive his direction for the day ahead. And he was obedient. Isaiah then says:

“The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears;
    I have not been rebellious,
    I have not turned away” (vs. 5).

If you are truly listening to God, your actions will match what you hear. Obedience is proof that you really listened. Jesus was not rebellious. He did not turn away from the path set before him:

• “The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him” (John 8:29).
• “But [Satan] comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me” (John 14:31).
• “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love” (John 15:10).
• “Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will’” (Matt 26:39).
• “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Phil 2:8).

Jesus did not turn back. He was willing to pay the price of true discipleship. Jesus said, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). We are tempted every day to not follow through on being obedient to our mission. There are dozens of excuses we can make to turn back.

But once God has opened our ears, we must respond in obedience. Being fit for service in the kingdom of God means no turning back. The kingdom of God is here now. We must wake up every morning to receive the Word and listen like Jesus.

Today’s Prayer: Thank you Jesus for setting the example of listening like a disciple. Help me today to stay the course. Help me to not make excuses and be obedient to the words you put in my ear.