• Journal
  • Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:
    • A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
    • A Guide to Self-Reflection
    • A chart to help articulate feelings

• Read & Reflect

  Isaiah 42:1–9 

  ¹ Behold my servant, whom I uphold,

    my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

  I have put my Spirit upon him;

    he will bring forth justice to the nations.

  ² He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,

    or make it heard in the street;

  ³ a bruised reed he will not break,

    and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;

    he will faithfully bring forth justice.

  ⁴ He will not grow faint or be discouraged

    till he has established justice in the earth;

    and the coastlands wait for his law.

  ⁵ Thus says God, the Lord,

    who created the heavens and stretched them out,

    who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

  who gives breath to the people on it

    and spirit to those who walk in it:

  ⁶ “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;

    I will take you by the hand and keep you;

  I will give you as a covenant for the people,

    a light for the nations,

  ⁷    to open the eyes that are blind,

  to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

    from the prison those who sit in darkness.

  ⁸ I am the Lord; that is my name;

    my glory I give to no other,

    nor my praise to carved idols.

  ⁹ Behold, the former things have come to pass,

    and new things I now declare;

  before they spring forth

    I tell you of them.”

  “The Hebrew word translated ‘justice’ in 42:1, 2, and 4 … has the idea of ‘right order.’ … So Isaiah is saying that the coming Messiah will do all that is necessary to restore God’s right order on the earth.”[1]

  Isaiah 42:1-4

  • How does the description of the manner in which the Servant will bring justice compare with typical notions of justice?  Reflect on the ways this prophecy has been fulfilled in Jesus’ life.

  Isaiah 42:6-7

  • How can life apart from God be characterized by blindness, imprisonment, and darkness?
  • What are the ways in which God has restored order in my life?

   

• Gratitude Journal & Prayer of Thanksgiving
• Write down three things that you are thankful for.

[1]  John N. Oswalt, Isaiah, The NIV Application Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003), 470.