Daily Bible Encouragement

Isaiah 49:1b before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name. Even in an age when choosing your own identity is considered to be almost a basic human right, we find it hard not to project our ideas about the future onto babies and children. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” “I wonder if she’ll follow in her mother’s footsteps?�

Isaiah 49:1a Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Over the past 2 weeks, we've looked at verses from chapter 42, where God tells us, through Isaiah, about the character and work of the promised Servant. This week, in chapter 49, we get to hear the Servant himself speaking. And look who he is speaking to! ‘Islands’, as we’ve already seen, means ‘e

Isaiah 42:9 See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.’ So far, we’ve seen that the promised Servant will be gentle, just and faithful. He will bring hope and light to all the nations, by being the one who makes possible God’s covenant with his people. He will free the captives and make the blind se

Isaiah 42:8 I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. Back in verse 5 we were reminded that God is the creator and sustainer of all things. He is the covenant LORD who has committed himself to care for and protect his people. As we remember those things, it would be fitting to praise him. In fact, the next section of this chapter is

Isaiah 42:7 I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness Over the past few years we’ve got used to retailers using our order history to target us with offers for things that they think we’re likely to want. Unfort

Isaiah 42:6b I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles Yesterday we remembered that God is a covenant-making, covenant-keeping God. He chose for himself a people to be his very own, and committed to blessing them. He proved himself to be faithful to that promise even when they were repeatedly unfaithful to him. So it seems natura

Isaiah 42:6a I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people So far in this chapter, God has been speaking to the people about the Servant. It’s as if he is standing on a stage in front of his people, with the Servant next to him, introducing him to them. But here in verses 6 to 7 God

Isaiah 42:5 This is what God the Lord says – the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it So far we’ve seen that the promised Servant will be just, faithful, gentle and will bring hope to the world. That sounds amazing! He’s exactly what our unjust,

Isaiah 42:4b In his teaching the islands will put their hope. What are you hoping for today? This month? This year? Our hopes may be huge – an end to the pandemic, a miracle cure for us or someone we love, world peace. But we all also hope for all kinds of smaller things – making it through the day without losing our temper, finding a parking space when we’re running late. M

Isaiah 42:3b-4a In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. If at first you don’t succeed … try, try again. Why do we have a proverb for that? Presumably it’s because most of us are inclined to give up rather than to persevere. Faced with a simple task, and few obstacles, we might be willing to do som