1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath He made mention of my name.
God called Isaiah from birth.
God knows before we are born what talents we will have and He makes plans for our lives. We have the choice to follow those plans or not, but they are there.
2 And He has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand has He hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in His quiver has He hid me;
God makes each of us to be a weapon in His war against the devil. If we allow Him, He prepares us for battle just as the warrior of old would carefully carve and hone each arrow in his quiver.
3 And said unto me, “Thou art My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
God's intention was that Israel would evangelize the world. They did have a good influence on their neighbors occasionally, but most of the time they choose to be bigots and idolaters instead.
4 Then I said, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.”
Isaiah, who love the Lord, felt like he had wasted his strength, wasted his life, because no one listened to him.
5 And now, says the Lord that formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob again to Him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.
We are not responsible for the response of others to the message God gives each of us to preach. We are only responsible for preaching the message. If we obey Him, we are beautiful in His eyes and He strengthens us. The results of our message is none of our business.
6 And He said, “It is a light thing that thou should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou may be My salvation unto the end of the earth.”
God considered it no big deal to call Isaiah to minister to Israel. As a blessing for his obedience God is also going to make him a messenger to the rest of the planet, as indeed, he has been for the last 2500 years or so.
7 Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers, “Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and He shall choose thee.”
Untold thousands have come to worship God because of Isaiah’s faithfulness in writing down his prophecies, especially the ones concerning Cyrus. This one prophecy has brought untold glory to our Lord.
8 Thus says the Lord, “In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;
God takes care of His people.
9 “That thou may say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth;’ to them that are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.
10 “They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for He that has mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall He guide them.
God guided His people back to their homeland and protected them on the way.
11 “And I will make all My mountains a way, and My highways shall be exalted.
12 “Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.”
The Assyrians and Babylonians scattered Israel/Judah all over the known world. God will bring them back.
13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord has comforted His people, and will have mercy upon His afflicted.
This all looks like the end of God's people, but it’s not.
14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, and My Lord has forgotten me.”
At this time when Israel has been destroyed and Assyria is marching through Judah conquering cities, God's people feel forsaken.
15 “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
A mother will forget her babies she has birthed before God forgets His people.
16 “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me.
No matter what it feels like, God has not forgotten His people. He can’t forget them. It’s not possible.
17 “Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.
The enemy will leave.
18 “Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live,” says the Lord, “thou shall surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride does.
The Jews will once again be a wealthy, beautiful people, unlike their conquerors who will be destroyed.
19 “For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.
At this point, God has already sent the Assyrians away. He is in control.
20 “The children which thou shall have, after thou have lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, ‘The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.’
Don’t know.
21 “Then shall thou say in thine heart, ‘Who has begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? And who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?’”
Though they will lose many children in the conquest, God will bless them during captivity with many more; so many more it will surprise them.
22 Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will lift up Mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up My standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
God will restore.
23 “And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shall know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for Me.
God will make Judah triumphant again.
24 “Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
25 “But thus says the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contends with thee, and I will save thy children.”
God protects the children of His servants. He will bring them out of captivity.
26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
God will bring glory to Himself by saving the children of His servants.