Isaiah begins now a hymn to a servant, often known as the suffering servant in these chapters. The servant is one in whom God delights, the servant is one who brings justice, and the one who continues to strive to do what God calls the servant to do. Often as Christians we read these passages as references to Jesus. The passage could also refer to Isaiah who is willing to go with the People of God into exile. The passage is also a reminder that often following God's nudges does not lead us to the easy pathway beside the chocolate river, rather it can be the proverbial "path less taken".
This servant than breaks forth into a hymn, singing to God a new song. Think about if you had to compose ode to God, what would you sing? Many people struggle with what to say in prayer, lend alone if the words had to rhyme and be set to music. They hymn is not some melodious, uplifting hymn that is sugary sweet. Rather it is a hymn the servant cannot help but sing, it erupts out of her very soul, almost like the shout of a woman in labor. I am not sure that hymn is our hymnal, but maybe I will try to look again.
But I love at the middle of hymn Isaiah speaks of God changing darkness into light; and the rough places into plain, level place. There are times in my life I wished that was more than hymn, but a reality. Let's face it, what is in our hymnal is an ode to "The Bleak Midwinter". And it is now February in Wisconsin which mean I know the full brunt of how true that can be. But a hymn that promises God will shine light into the places of darkness is at once amazing and a bit scary. Think about being in a room where it is completely dark and all of the sudden a light comes on...it is blinding and takes time for our minds and eyes to adjust.
It can be disorienting, but once our eyes do adjust, we realize how much we were missing by trying to see in the dark. I wonder how often in the midst of rough places and difficult times, it is like our eyes and imaginations and lives are trying to adjust. When things happen at the church, it can be like a light being turned on. But often in our rush to keep the calm, we try to find the switch to extinguish the light.
Is there a place where your eyes or heart or life is trying to adjust? And would you want to sing a hymn in response? Maybe there would be a trace of God's grace in the midst of that.
Blessings and peace
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