We Must Worship Through Our Pains

We have to learn to sing into the difficulty, not just after the victory. 

Isaiah 42:10 (ESV) Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants.

Isaiah 42 is a call to worship as Israel considers the hand of God's judgment. They will be disciplined but they will return. The Lord will come for them and do a "new thing" as was mentioned already in this incredible chapter. 

The call to worship in this chapter seems out of place. How do we sing when we know destruction is coming? Because we know it is only temporary, that God is using it and we will recover from it into a better kind of life. For Israel, it will be the kingdom of heaven inaugurated by Jesus Himself, the Lord's servant. 

How often do we fail to worship God when we need to do so most? In the dark times, in the confusing times, in the times of waiting and hoping - worship God. Do not wait for worship to be felt, worship will create the feelings of hope we are meant to enjoy. 

Isaiah 42:13 (ESV) The LORD goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war he stirs up his zeal; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes.

I love the description of the Lord here. He goes out like a mighty man. He is a man of war with passion and shouting Himself. This is the picture of Christ the world needs to remember. We do not serve a faint-hearted Savior. We serve a warrior who is accomplishing great things in the Earth. That is what worship precipitates, the battle of the Lord - the waging of His warfare on our enemies and in our situation. 

Isaiah 42:14–16 (ESV) For a long time I have held my peace; I have kept still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor; I will gasp and pant. 15 I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn the rivers into islands, and dry up the pools. 16 And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.

Here in verses 14-16 God speaks after a long period of silence. What time does this silence refer to? Perhaps the time Israel would spend in exile in Babylon. We cannot be sure. But we do know this - that even when it seems like God is silent toward us He is building up passion in His heart toward us. He will lead His people though they are blind and ignorant. He is a God of passionate love for His people. 

Consider this passage the next time you think God has forsaken you. He longs to save you. He hands you over to the failure of your idols so that you can learn to see how good and wonderful He is toward you. 

Isaiah 42:18–19 (ESV) 18 Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see! 19 Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as my dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the LORD?

Isaiah describes the nation here as deaf and blind. They have heard God's Words for so long they have grown immune to its importance. 

Isaiah 42:20 (ESV) He sees many things, but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear.

Therefore God reminds them through discipline that all they really need is His Word. 

Isaiah 42:23–24 (ESV) Who among you will give ear to this, will attend and listen for the time to come? 24 Who gave up Jacob to the looter, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned, in whose ways they would not walk, and whose law they would not obey?

We worship in times of hardship because we know ultimately all of our struggles are leading to a glorious future in God. He will not let us stay blind and deaf. He will speak to us and teach us in order to bring us back to Himself.