Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 49:4
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.
4. Although cast down for a moment by his want of success, he does not yield to despondency (cf. Isa 42:4), but leaves his cause in the hands of God.
Then I said ] R.V. But I said (with a certain emphasis on the “I”).
my judgment ] i.e. “my right,” as in ch. Isa 40:27. my work should be my recompence (R.V.); see ch. Isa 40:10.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Then I said – I the Messiah. In the previous verses he speaks of his appointment to the office of Messiah, and of his dignity. The design here is to prepare the way for the announcement of the fact that he would make known his gospel to the pagan, and would be for a light to the Gentiles. For this purpose he speaks of his labors among his own countrymen; he laments the little success which attended his work at the commencement, but consoles himself with the reflection that his cause was with God, and that his labors would not go unrewarded.
I have labored in vain – This is to be regarded as the language of the Messiah when his ministry would be attended with comparatively little success; and when in view of that fact, he would commit himself to God, and resolve to extend his gospel to other nations. The expression used here is not to be taken absolutely, as if he had no success in his work, but it means that he had comparatively no success; he was not received and welcomed by the united people; he was rejected and despised by them as a whole. It is true that the Saviour had success in his work, and far more success than is commonly supposed (see the notes at 1Co 15:6). But it is also true that by the nation at large he was despised and and rejected. The idea here is, that there were not results in his ministry, at all commensurate with the severity of his labors, and the strength of his claims.
I have spent my strength for nought – Comparatively for nought. This does not mean that he would not be ultimately as successful as he desired to be (compare the notes at Isa 53:11); but it means, that in his personal ministry he had exhausted his strength, and seen comparatively little fruit of his toils.
Yet surely my judgment is with the Lord – My cause is committed to him, and he will regard it. This expresses the confidence of the speaker, that God approved of his work, and that he would ultimately give such effect to his labors as he had desired. The sense is, I know that Jehovah approves my work, and that he will grant me the reward of my toils, and my sufferings.
And my work with my God – Margin, Reward (see the notes at Isa 40:10). The idea is, that he knew that God would own and accept his work though it was rejected by mankind. It indicates perfect confidence in God, and a calm and un wavering assurance of his favor, though his work was comparatively unsuccessful – a spirit which, it is needless to say, was evinced throughout the whole life of the Redeemer. Never did he doubt that God approved his work; never did he become disheartened and desponding, as if God would not ultimately give success to his plans and to the labors of his life. He calmly committed himself to God. He did not attempt to avenge himself for being rejected, or for any of the injuries done him. But he left his name, his character, his reputation, his plans, his labors, all with God, believing that his cause was the cause of God, and that he would yet be abundantly rewarded for all his toils. This verse teaches:
1. That the most faithful labors, the most self-denying toil, and the efforts of the most holy life, may be for a time unsuccessful. If the Redeemer of the world had occasion to say that he had labored in vain, assuredly his ministers should not be surprised that they have occasion to use the same language. It maybe no fault of the ministry that they are unsuccessful. The world may be so sinful, and opposition may be got up so mighty, as to frustrate their plans, and prevent their success.
2. Yet, though at present unsuccessful, faithful labor will ultimately do good, and be blessed. In some way, and at some period, all honest effort in the cause of God may be expected to be crowned with success.
3. They who labor faithfully may commit their cause to God, with the assurance that they and their work will be accepted. The ground of their acceptance is not the success of their labors. They will be acceptable in proportion to the amount of their fidelity and self-denying zeal (see the notes at 2Co 2:15-16).
4. The ministers of religion, when their message is rejected, and the world turns away from their ministry, should imitate the example of the Redeemer, and say, my judgment is with Jehovah. My cause is his cause; and the result of my labors I commit to him. To do this as he did, they should labor as he did; they should honestly devote all their strength and talent and time to his service; and then they can confidently commit all to him, and then and then only they will find peace, as he did, in the assurance that their work will be ultimately blessed, and that they will find acceptance with him.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 49:4
Then I said, I have laboured in vain
Christ in prophecy
These prophetic sayings go to Christ, not outside of and separate from mans struggle, but in and through it.
As all true Christians are living over again, in an imperfect way, the details of Christs own experience, so were all true godly men, before His coming, feeling their way into it, being guided by Christs spirit, and having the throb of His life, which is the life of God, already palpitating in their bosoms. (J. Ker, D. D.)
The complaint for frustrated aims
These words bring before us a feeling that belongs to the human heart in all places and times–the complaint of man for frustrated aims. It is not easy to say in what distinct form it is present to the mind of the original speaker here. Sometimes he appears to express the feeling as his own personal experience–a man among his fellow-men–and sometimes he seems to personify the nation to which he belongs. Probably both are struggling together in his heart. The people of his race were selected by God for a great purpose–to hold up His name and knowledge pure and unsullied in the midst of the worlds defections. But the purpose is, for the while, an apparent failure. The world has corrupted those who should have purified it, and Gods judgment has fallen on their unfaithfulness till they are scattered among the heathen and ready to perish. It seems as if Israels history were labour in vain. For himself, the prophet thought that he had been chosen to bring back his people to the way of truth and righteousness. But the people have erred, the prophet has failed, and he speaks both for himself and for the best part of the nation, the true Israel of the Covenant. (J. Ker, D. D.)
Apparent failure
I. SORROW FOR THE FAILURE OF LABOUR. In thinking of this we may go down to a still lower stage than that from which these words sprang in the heart of this man of God. The complaint is made by many who have never sympathised with his high aim or shared in his Divine work.
1. Take the first of the two great objects that call man to labour–the gratification of self. How few prizes are drawn for the many blanks! When some one spoke to Napoleon of his Italian campaign, and asked if that marvellous part of his career did not give him exquisite pleasure, he replied: It did not give me one moment of peace. Life was only incessant strife and solicitude. The inevitable battle of the morrow might annihilate all memory of the victory of to-day. We may call to mind the saying of poor Keats when dying: I have written my name in water; nor would it probably have comforted him much more at that time to think he had engraved it in marble. Even affection and sympathy–how often are they not reciprocated, or returned with ingratitude, or felt to be not of the deep kind the heart had yearned for!
2. The second is God and the good of His world. The higher a mans idea of what the condition of the world Should be–of what a reign of righteousness and happiness there might be if God had His due place–the more likely is he to be depressed at times by the view of things around him, and the slow way in which all our effort is bringing us to the goal.
II. SOME OF THE TEMPTATIONS TO WHICH THIS SORROW FOR THE FAILURE OF LABOUR IS SUBJECT.
1. Take first, again, that class of men who have set before them in life some personal object, and have been disappointed in it. The great temptation in such cases is to brood over and magnify their disappointment.
2. Then, as to those who have a higher aim in life than any mere personal one–who are truly seeking the glory of God and the good of their fellow-men–they have also their temptations under failure. We are so ready to judge of the plan of the world by our own little share in it, and to think all the war is lost when our small detachment suffers a check.
III. THE RESOURCE WE HAVE IN THE MIDST OF THIS SORROW FOR FAILURE. Yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. There are two things this speaker fixes upon, and they are a powerful stay if we can bring them as clearly and confidently to God as he did. My judgment is with the Lord. I can appeal to His decision for the character of my motive. It was, so far as I knew it, pure and true. My work is with my God. I can cast on His decision the result of my labour. I do not say that any mere man can do this with a perfect assurance that all is right with him, and that He who searches the hearts, and tries the reins, can absolve him as faultless; but I do say that there are men who, by the grace of God, can appeal to God Himself for the sincerity of their aim. Let us see how it should influence both the classes we have been considering.
1. Those men who have been seeking some personal object in life, and have failed in it, may learn much here. Let us take it for granted that there was nothing sinful in your aim, and that you did not wish for any good, inconsistent with the rights and the happiness of your fellow-creatures. It seems very hard to you that you should be denied what many of them enjoy, and you can scarcely help comparing your lot with theirs, with a sense of bitterness, at least of regret. Here is a more excellent way of it. Instead of putting your life beside theirs, refer yourself to Gods judgment. If you can put the case truly before the Judge and Controller of life, you may find something in your life to correct, and something also that will give comfort. May it not be that you have been making the aim of your life too narrow, even as it concerns your own welfare? You have been thinking, perhaps, of worldly position and acknowledgment, more than of the building up of your character in what is true and pure and godlike–more of your outward than of your inward and real life. These failures may be to teach you to begin again, and to aim at a wider basement and a higher top-stone–to take into your edifice the souls interests, and to let its front look Godward and heavenward. And you have been making, perhaps, the aim of your life too narrow as it concerns your fellow-men. You have made self too exclusive. If you come, after all the failures of life, in this submissive spirit to God for His judgment, He will give you not only means of correction, but comfort. Though you may have lost what you once reckoned the good of life, there is another and higher good still open to you, not merely hereafter, but here. God can teach you how to build on the ruins of former hopes–nay, He can show you how you may take the very stones of them that have fallen and lie scattered around, and may joint them into a new and most beautiful and enduring structure. You may never in this world have the keen thrill of joy your heart once panted for, but a conscious and deep peace will recompense its absence,–more satisfying and more abiding.
2. There is a resource here, also, for that nobler style of men, who have laboured for the cause of God and their fellow-creatures, and have failed to find the success they sought. It may seem strange at first sight that there should be such failures. Yet there are some things which make it not so strange, if we will but reflect. Are we sure that our motives are always as high as we ourselves fancy, and may not failure be meant to send us back to sift and purify them? Our very despondency may arise from our having looked too much to success and too little to duty. God must have standard-bearers who are ready to make a shroud of their colours, and how can they be known but in hours of defeat? And, though our motives are pure, is our work always wise? Are Christians to expect that carelessness and rashness will succeed, simply because of good intentions? After all, however, the great resource we have is to fall back on this appeal My judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. Man judges by success, God by simplicity of heart; and many an unnoticed effort and inarticulate prayer that never seemed to touch the conflict shall share in the full triumph of the victory. Those who have failed to find position or comfort, fame or sympathy in the world, may have One who can bear His share with you here, who chose this place in life, which you call loss, that He might be nearer you, and show you that life has greater things than all you have coveted. Those of you who complain that you have laboured for your fellow-men and God with small return, have One here who gave up infinitely higher things, and met from men a more cruel award. Let all be done under the cover and trusting in the strength of Him who alone works all our works in us. Let the sinful past come under this shadow to find forgiveness; the narrow and selfish life, to find a new and lofty aim; and all our fears and griefs and disappointments, to find comfort and hope in Him who entered the world to redeem it from fall and loss, and to make every true life succeed at last, even where it seemed to fail. (J. Ker, D. D.)
The glorification of civic life
Think of the worth and greatness of a human life in that elect society and holy city which is the servant of God. If the corporate consciousness of the city should become a judgment and recompense with God; if the sense of God and His holy presence should envelop the whole city in its power, and reach every man in it, even as the morning light comes into every home; if the city should awake with God; if, throughout the day, in the mind of the city, the thought of God should have its dwelling-place, and if in the government of the people the law of God should have its throne; if some awe of the Divine righteousness should pervade the business of the city, and some deep sense of Divine blessedness, like a fountain of life, should well up and abound in the happiness of the city, and some greatness of the Divine purpose should enlarge all the work of the city, and make the least faithfulness a service of God; if some peace of the Divine eternity should rest upon all lifes changes in the city, and the hope of some Divine event bend over every new-made grave, and the comfort of some Divine omnipresence fill as with an all-pervasive love every heart in the city that had been left in loneliness of grief;–if, in one word, a whole city should become, what Isaiah beheld in the far future, a city of God, a Messianic city, the elect servant of God,–think you that in that city Sought out, a city not forsaken, any humanlife could seem to be a life for nought, and its labour in vain?–a worthless thing to be trodden under foot, or only a moments flash of pleasure?–a life not to be prized and kept as a sacred, immortal trust? Would not every least life in a city of God, full of the consciousness of God, become a life of moral worth, a birth into an immortal consciousness, a part in some universal good, a fellowship with something celestial, an anticipation and a share in some eternal triumph and joy of life? (N. Smyth, D. D.)
The ineffectiveness of Christs personal ministry, a man-reveallng fact
Assuming that these words express Christs experience, they cannot be taken in an absolute sense. He laboured in vain, compared with what the kind and amount of agency employed were suited to effect. We shall look at this fact as revealing certain other facts in relation to human nature.
I. IT REVEALS MANS FREEDOM OF ACTION. We cannot conceive of a mightier moral energy being brought to bear upon mind than that which Jesus brought to bear upon the Jewish mind, and yet it was resisted. The Jews resisted moral omnipotence. He appealed in the most powerful way to three of the most influential principles in our nature.
1. Belief. If you want to influence men, you must take your stand upon their faiths. There were, especially, two faiths which Christ appealed to; the one instinctive, and the other attained. The former was, that miracles are the works of God; the latter, that their Scriptures predicted a Messiah. Christ appealed to these predictions.
2. Conscience. His character, doctrines, and precepts bore directly on the conscience.
3. Interest. He revealed the judgment-day, unfolded heaven, uncovered hell. Thus He assailed their souls; and yet they resisted. Do not say that man has no moral power; he has proved himself, by the comparative ineffectiveness of our Saviours labours, to have power to resist the mightiest moral influences of God.
II. IT REVEALS MANS PERVERSITY OF CHARACTER. The possession of the capacity to resist the highest moral influences is the gift of God. It is neither subject for blame nor praise, but for thankfulness to God. But the using of that capacity to oppose holy and Divine influences is our guilt and ruin. There were three perversities in the Jews that led to this resistance. 1: Perversity of judgment.
(1) Their judgments were sensuous. They judged after the flesh, In the Scriptures they read of a coming king, priest, conqueror; they identified that king with pageantry–that priest, with flowing robes and sacrifices–that conqueror, with mighty armies. When the true King, Priest, and Conqueror came, He had none of these, and they would not have Him.
(2) Their judgments were servile. The Scribes and Pharisees were their theological masters. They allowed them to manufacture their creed. Christ came and denounced their great leaders as heretics and hypocrites, and they waxed indignant. This sensuous, servile judgment in religion is ever an obstruction to the spread of truth.
2. Perversity of feeling. There were two perverse feelings, especially, that led them to reject Christ.
(1) An undue reverence for the antique. They loved the antiquity of Judaism. Men who tie themselves to precedents rather than principles, can never advance.
(2) An undue respect for worldly greatness. They thought a deal about worldly wealth and pomp; Christ had none.
3. Perversity of life. Josephus informs us that so corrupt was the Jewish nation in the time of Christ, that had not the Romans come and destroyed them, God would have rained fire from heaven, as of old, to consume them. These perversities of judgment, feeling, and life, have ever been impulses stimulating man to oppose Christianity.
III. IT REVEALS MANS EXCLUSIVE SUPPORT IN HIS HIGHEST LABOURS. The highest labour is that in which Christ was engaged. What was His support? Not adequate success; for He complains of not having it. Here it is, Surely My judgment is with the Lord, and My work with My God. Two supporting ideas are here involved–
1. That the cause in which we are engaged is the cause of God. My work is with my God
2. That the reward of our efforts is from God. My judgment (reward) is with the Lord. The good will he rewarded, not according to the success of their labours, but according to the purity of their motives, and the devotion of their power. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Apparent failure sometimes the truest success
1. This is just the language which we find at times forcing its way from the lips of most of those great men who have felt most conscious of having a mission from God. Those who have most deeply and radically influenced for good the minds of their generation have been usually distinguished by fits of profound melancholy; regret that they have ever entered on their heroic course; weariness at the opposition which they meet with; distrust of their own fitness for the task; doubts whether God has really commissioned them to act on His behalf. Why is this? It is because Gods results are for the most part secret. A man who sets a great example is hardly ever conscious of the effect which his example produces. If his plans are not carried out precisely in the way and to the end which he had originally contemplated, he persuades himself that they have been an utter failure, that no good can have arisen from them; whereas the truth is, and other persons see it, that the particular plans were from the outset worthless, in comparison with the exhibition of character by which the very attempt to execute them was accompanied.
2. The Cross of Christ is the true guide to the nature and value of real success. What a failure was the life of Christ, if we measure it by immediate results! No wonder that the Cross was to the Jews a sore stumbling-block, and to the cultivated Greeks utter foolishness, just as it would now appear to most of us. For even we, the heirs of eighteen centuries of faith in the Crucified One, seem hardly yet to have learned the lesson that the suffering, self-sacrifice, devotion to principles, and heedlessness of immediate consequences, are the indispensable foundations of all permanent success. (H. M. Butler, D. D.)
Comfort under self-depreciation
1. Some persons give themselves much unnecessary pain by underrating their real service in the world. The question of good-doing is one of great subtlety. The quiet worker is apt to envy the man who lives before society in a great breadth of self-demonstration. It is as if the dew should wish to be the pattering hail, or as if the soft breeze should disquiet itself because it cannot roar like a storm. We forget that whirlwind and earthquake, fire and cloud, tempest and silence, have all been Gods messengers; and it would be foolish of any of them to suppose that it had been of no use to the world.
2. The text shows the true comfort of those who mourn the littleness and emptiness of their lives. My judgment is with the Lord, &c. God knows our purposes, our opportunities, and our endeavours, and He will perfect that which concerneth us. The intention of the heart, which it was impracticable to realise, will be set down to our favour, as if we had accomplished it all. (Y. Parker, D. D.)
Discouragement
Each epoch has its special temptations and trials. For Christians of to-day, one of these maladies is discouragement.
Discouragement! not in that acute and passionate form which strikes us in the bitter and despairing complaints of the prophets and believers of other centuries. We suffer from a less violent ill, less dangerous in appearance, but dull, slow, and treacherous.
1. Many causes explain it to us. The human mind, in its progressive march, passes by turns through phases of assurance and disturbance.
(1) At an epoch when analysis is carried to excess, the vital powers of the soul become weak and are in danger of dying. One of the first fruits of this tendency in religious minds, will be languor. How can one love, act, and believe, when at each of its aspirations the soul finds planted before it a perhaps? If this spirit of analysis is destructive to individual enthusiasm, it acts in a still more enervating manner upon the collective life. Every one asserts his independence, his right to examine; and often the spirit of party alone replaces the unity which disappears.
(2) Our age has another character–it wants to be practical. A scorn scarcely dissembled confronts inquiries, which reach beyond the world of sense or of pure logic. The supernatural passes for mysticism, and this word, with many, is a condemnation without appeal. This tendency reacts on the Church. It is certain that the same utilitarianism is invading it.
(3) Add to these causes the influence of certain tendencies of spirit and temperament, causes entirely physical, which act in a mysterious but powerful manner on the moral state. Add to these that inclination which the most serious minds have to look on the sad side of human things. Add those tendencies which exist in all ages, but which, in the general condition I have described, develop with much more power and rapidity;–and you will comprehend why nothing is rarer in these days than that joyous, heroic, serene faith which characterised other ages.
2. In certain circles it is sought to escape from it by excesses of feverish zeal. The imagination is excited by the prospect of the immediate realisation of the promises of prophecy. These fictitious but intermittent flashes only terminate in changing this languor into incredulity. What must be done then? Build up your life on another foundation than that of your passing impressions; fix it upon the central, eternal truth which dominates over the fluctuations of opinions and beliefs; live in Jesus Christ; and upon the heights to which this communion lifts you, breathe the vivifying air which alone can give you strength. Then only can you oppose faith to sight, the eternal to the transitory, and thanksgiving to discouragement.
But this is to tell you that you must be, must (it may be) become again, Christians. Now this remedy is not to be reached in a single day.
3. In going to the bottom of things I discover two principal causes of the discouragement of the Christian. The first is the greatness of the task which God sets before him; the second is his inability to accomplish it.
(1) We are so constituted that every time the ideal of love and holiness to which the Gospel calls us is presented to us in its sublime beauty, our heart vibrates with a profound assent, and we feel that it is for this end that we were created. But when we must not only admire but act, then we measure with dismay the distance which separates us from it, and discouragement seizes us. It prescribes for us not only that love of our neighbours, which is after all only an enlarged selfishness, but charity, and, if need be, charity which goes even as far as sacrifice.
(2) The ill success of his labour is the second cause of the Christians discouragement. What Christians mourn the most deeply over the ill success of their efforts? They are almost always the most active and advanced Christians. It enters into Gods plan to conceal from us almost always the results of what we do for Him. Why does God will it? Doubtless, that faith may be exercised. God does not wish to be served by mercenaries. He often hides from His children the fruit of their labours, to the end that they may work for Him and not for themselves; He hides it from them in order that they may find in Him their recompense, and not in the result of their work, nor in the outward success which would take the place of His approbation, nor even in the progress of a sanctified life, for perfection apart from Him might become an idol It is also to humble us. How seldom is it that man can bear success, and not bend under its weight! He teaches them, moreover, gentleness and compassion. Success alone will never develop these. However, this fruit is only hidden; it will appear in due time. No one in serving the Lord has the right to say, I have laboured in vain. Even when the indifference of the world shall seem to conceal for ever your labours and your sacrifices, there will be left you the consolation of the prophet, My judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. (E. Bersier.)
Ideal and realisation
Draw near to those giants of the spiritual order, those workmen of God who in different ages have been called Elijah, St. Paul, Chrysostom, St. Bernard, Luther, or Whitefield, and who confound you by the immense work which they have accomplished, you will hear them groan under the small results of their works. Elijah cries out to God: Take away my life; I am not better than my fathers. Isaiah pronounces the words of my text: I have spent my strength for naught, and in vain. St. Paul trembles in fear of having been a useless labourer; St. Bernard expresses in his last letters the painful feeling of having accomplished almost nothing. Calvin, dying, said to those who surrounded him: All that I have done has been of no value. The wicked will gladly seize upon this word. But I repeat it, all that I have done has been of no value, and I am a miserable creature. What must we conclude? That these men did nothing? No, but that, in the presence of the ideal which God has put in their heart, their work appeared to them almost lost. (E. Bersier.)
Labour in vain, yet, not in vain in the Lord
I. A LAMENTABLE COMPLAINT, wherein our Lord complaineth, that although He came to the house of Israel, where He published the Divine doctrine, wrought many miracles, and showed admirable holiness of life, yet for most part He had lost His labour. I have laboured in vain, &c.
II. A CONSOLATION of Himself upon this complaint, wherein He reareth up Himself with the consolations of God in the midst of all those oppositions that were made against Him, and all His lost labour. My judgment is with the Lard, and My work with My God.
III. A CONFIRMATION of this consolatory part, by three arguments–
1. From the assurance of His calling. And now thus saith the Lord that formed Me from the womb to be His servant.
2. From His own faithfulness. Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord; I do My duty faithfully.
3. From the faithfulness of God. My God shall be My strength: as if He had said, I know that God called Me to this office, and that I am faithful in it, and therefore He will assist and stand by Me, and reward Me. (T. Taylor, D. D.)
Apparent failure
Of Livingstone, on his last journey, his biographer, Dr. Blaikie, says: During all past life he had been sowing his seed weeping, but so far was he from bringing Pack his sheaves rejoicing, that the longer he lived the more cause there seemed for his tears. In opening Africa, he had seemed to open it for brutal slave-traders, and, in the only instance in which he had yet brought to it the feet of men beautiful upon the mountains, publishing peace, disaster had befallen, and an incompetent leader had broken up the enterprise. After twenty-three years of labour, he wrote: By the failure of the Universities Mission, my work seems vain. No fruit likely to come from J. Moffats mission either. Have I not laboured in vain?
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Then I said, by way of objection. Lord, thou sayest thou wilt be glorified by my ministry; but I find it otherwise. I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, without any considerable fruit of my word and works among the Israelites.
My judgment; my right, the reward which by his promise and my purchase is my right. Judgment is oft put for that which is just or right, as Exo 23:6; Job 8:3, and in many other places. And so this clause agrees with the next; and the sense of both is this; Though I see no fruit of my labour among the Jews, and meet with nothing but contempt, and reproach, and ill usage from them; yet God sees my fidelity and diligence in my work, and he will give judgment for me, and my reward is laid up with and by him, which he will give me in due time.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. IMessiah.
in vaincomparativelyin the case of the greater number of His own countrymen. “Hecame unto His own, and His own received Him not” (Isa 53:1-3;Luk 19:14; Joh 1:11;Joh 7:5). Only a hundred twentydisciples met after His personal ministry was ended (Ac1:15).
yet . . . my judgment . . .with the LordUltimately, God will do justice to My cause, andreward (Margin for “work,” compare Isa 40:10;Isa 62:11) My labors andsufferings. He was never “discouraged” (Isa 42:4;Isa 50:7; Isa 50:10).He calmly, in spite of seeming ill success for the time, left theresult with God, confident of final triumph (Isa 53:10-12;1Pe 2:23). So the ministers ofChrist (1Co 4:1-5; 1Pe 4:19).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then I said,…. The Messiah said, by way of objection, in a view of what treatment he should meet with, or when entered on his work, and which he found by experience, what follows:
I have laboured in vain; this is not to be understood of the travail of his soul, or of his sufferings and death, which were not in vain, but issued in the redemption and salvation of his people; but of his ministry and miracles, and fatiguing journeys among the Jews; which, with respect to them, were in vain, as to their conversion and reformation; they rejecting the Messiah, slighting his doctrines and miracles, refusing to be gathered by him, being a faithless and perverse generation:
I have spent my strength for naught, and in vain; by frequent preaching and working of miracles, and travelling from place to place: the same thing is designed as before, repeated in other words, to express the certainty of it, to chew the ingratitude and wickedness of the people, and to utter the complaints of his mind:
yet surely my judgment is with the Lord; or is manifest before the Lord, as the Targum; the Lord knew that he had called him to his office; how prudently, diligently, and faithfully he had executed it; and what was his right and due, and which would be given him; and with this he corrects his former complaint, and makes himself easy, and quiets and satisfies his mind:
and my work with my God; or the reward of my works is before my God, as the Targum; and before himself also, Isa 40:10 as his work was assigned him by the Lord, so his reward was promised him, and which he knew he should have; and having done his work, be asked for his reward, and had it, Joh 17:4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In the next v. the speaker meets the words of divine calling and promise with a complaint, which immediately silences itself, however. “And I, I said, I have wearied myself in vain, and thrown away my strength for nothing and to no purpose; yet my right is with Jehovah, and my reward with my God.” The Vav with which the v. opens introduces the apparent discrepancy between the calling he had received, and the apparent failure of his work. , however, denotes the conclusion which might be drawn from this, that there was neither reality nor truth in his call. The relation between the clauses is exactly the same as that in Psa 31:23 and Jon 2:5 (where we find , which is more rarely used in this adversative sense); compare also Psa 30:7 (but I said), and the psalm of Hezekiah in Isa 38:10 with the antithesis in Psa 38:15. In the midst of his activity no fruit was to be seen, and the thought came upon him, that it was a failure; but this disturbance of his rejoicing in his calling was soon quieted in the confident assurance that his m ishpat (i.e., his good right in opposition to all contradiction and resistance) and his “work” (i.e., the result and fruit of the work, which is apparently in vain) are with Jehovah, and laid up with Him until the time when He will vindicate His servant’s right, and crown his labour with success. We must not allow ourselves to be led astray by such parallels as Isa 40:10; Isa 62:11. The words are not spoken in a collective capacity any more than in the former part of the verse; the lamentation of Israel as a people, in Isa 40:27, is expressed very differently.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
4. And I said, In vain have I toiled. The Prophet here brings forward a grievous complaint in the name of the Church, yet in such a manner that, as we have formerly remarked, we must begin with the Head. Christ therefore complains along with his members, that it appears as if his labor were thrown away; for, having formerly pronounced a high and striking commendation on the power and efficacy of the word which proceedeth out of his mouth, while yet it scarcely does any good, and the glory which God demands from the ministration of it does not shine forth, he therefore introduces the Church as complaining that she spends her labor fruitlessly, because men do not repent at the preaching of heavenly doctrine.
It was highly necessary that the Prophet should add this; first, that we may know that the fruit which he mentioned is not always visible to the eyes of men; for otherwise we might call in question the truth of the word, and might entertain doubts if that which is so obstinately rejected by many was the word of God. Secondly, it was necessary, that we may advance with unshaken firmness, and may commit our labor to the Lord, who will not permit it to be ultimately unproductive. The Prophet therefore intended to guard against a dangerous temptation, that we may not, on account of the obstinacy of men, lose courage in the middle of our course. And indeed Christ begins with the complaint, for the purpose of affirming that nothing shall hinder him from executing his office. The meaning of the words might be more clearly brought out in the following manner: “Though my labor be unprofitable, and though I have almost exhausted my strength without doing any good, yet it is enough that God approves of my obedience.” Such is also the import of what he adds, —
But my judgement is before Jehovah. Although we do not clearly see the fruit of our labors, yet we are enjoined to be content on this ground, that we serve God, to whom our obedience is acceptable. Christ exhorts and encourages godly teachers to strive earnestly till they rise victorious over this temptation, and, laying aside the malice of the world, to advance cheerfully in the discharge of duty, and not to allow their hearts to languish through weariness. If therefore the Lord be pleased to make trial of our faith and patience to such an extent that it shall seem as if we wearied ourselves to no purpose, yet we ought to rely on this testimony of our conscience And if we do not enjoy this consolation, at least we are not moved by pure affection, and do not serve God, but the world and our own ambition. In such temptations, therefore, we should have recourse to this sentiment.
Yet it ought to be observed, that here Christ and the Church accuse the whole world of ingratitude; for the Church complains to God in such a manner as to remonstrate with the world, because no good effect is produced on it by the doctrine of the Gospel, which in itself is efficacious and powerful. Yet the whole blame rests on the obstinacy and ingratitude of men, who reject the grace of God offered to them, and of their own accord choose to perish. Let those persons now go and accuse Christ, who say that the Gospel yields little fruit, and who defame the doctrine of the word by wicked slanders, and who throw ridicule on our labors as vain and unprofitable, and who allege that, on the contrary, they excite men to sedition, and lead them to sin with less control. Let them consider, I say, with whom they have to do, and what advantage they gain by their impudence, since men alone ought to bear the blame, who, as far as lies in their power, render the preaching of the Word unprofitable.
Godly ministers, who bitterly lament that men perish so miserably by their own fault, and who sometimes devour and waste themselves through grief, when they experience so great perversity, ought to encourage their hearts by this consolation, and not to be alarmed so as to throw away the shield and spear, though sometimes they imagine that it would be better for them to do so. Let them consider that they share with Christ in this cause; for Christ does not speak of himself alone, as we formerly mentioned, but undertakes the cause of all who faithfully serve him, and, as their advocate, brings forward an accusation in the name of all. Let them therefore rely on his protection, and allow him to defend their cause. Let them appeal, as Paul does, to the day of the Lord, (1Co 4:4,) and let them not heed the calumnies, reproaches, or slanders of their enemies; for their judgment is with the Lord, and although they be a hundred times slandered by the world, yet a faithful God will approve and vindicate the service which they render to him.
On the other hand, let wicked men, and despisers of the word, and hypocrites, tremble; for when Christ accuses, there will be no room for defense; and when he condenms, there will be none that can acquit. We must therefore beware lest the fruit which ought to proceed from the Gospel should be lost through our fault; for the Lord manifests his glory in order that we may become disciples of Christ, and may bring forth much fruit.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
ON THE POSSIBILITY OF UNDERVALUING INFLUENCE [1495]
[1495] For many fine words of encouragement for Christian workers, see my Dictionary of Poetical Illustrations (usually referred to as P. D.), 1006, 2011, 2013, 2181, 2182, 2443, 2645, 2767, 2851, 3205, 3278, 3491.
Isa. 49:4. Then I said, I have laboured in vain, &c.
Man will not only work, but he will sit in judgment upon the results of his labour. Accustomed to take the harvest-field as his rule of adjudication, he is not content merely to sow the seed and leave results with God; he must needs see an adequate return for the labour of his hands, else he will complain loudly and bitterly of misspent strength. This anxiety about results is not vicious in itself; it is, indeed, indicative of acute sensitiveness, and when properly controlled may keep a man from carelessness and stagnation. On the other hand, it may be abused and turned into an instrument of daily torture. The idea of a wasted life strikes horror into the reflective spirit. A man should truly be careful about this kind of thingabout the possibility of facing the King without any token that life has been well spentabout the possibility of having no proof that he ever lived, except that he is dead! But some persons give themselves much unnecessary pain by underrating their real service in the world. They mistakenly sayI have, &c. It has been very common to rebuke persons who over-estimate their position and service, and very bitter contempt has most justly been poured upon those who have used the words of modesty without having felt its spiritunder-rating themselves to entrap society into the payment of compliments. Still, there are some who throw their spirits into great disquiet by under-calculating their influence and falsely imagining that they have done little or no good in the world.
This question of good-doing is one of great subtlety. Quiet workers are apt to envy the man who lives before society in a great breadth of self-demonstration, and to under-rate themselves. There are mothers of large families who have no time to do what is generally known as church-work, who are shut up within the sanctuary of home to do work there which attracts no public attention, &c. Do you mean to say that you have spent your strength for nought and in vain? Far from it. Here is a young woman who for years has been afflicted; the day has been long and the night wearisome to her suffering flesh. When she hears of the doings of other people, the tear starts into her eye, and she saysI have laboured in vain, &c. Nay! she passes harsh judgment upon herself, &c. The sister, too, is apt to under-rate her influence, and mistakenly to mourn over a mis-spent life. The same principle applies to different classes of spiritual labourers. It applies to the teacher in the day-school and to the teacher in the Sunday-school. It applies to preachers of the Gospel in a peculiar sense. If they are truly called of God, they thus pass false judgment upon their lives.
The text shows the true comfort of those who mourn the littleness and emptiness of their livesMy judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. The whole case is referred to Him who judgeth righteously. God knows our purposes, our opportunities, and our endeavours, and He will perfect that which concerneth us. The intention of the heart which it was impracticable to realise will be set down to our favour as if we had accomplished it all.
This subject is fraught with very delicate, yet most potent comfort; it is also fraught with warning and rebuke. This is the childrens bread, and not a crumb of it must be given to dogs! Chief among those who must be warned of this comfort are the idlersthose who neglect themselves, neglect home, and neglect the church; and next to them must stand those who are conscious of doing much, yet who covet praise by depreciating their own labour.
The text must be reserved for hardworking, faithful people, who are not favoured with the immediate and visible results which gladden and strengthen some of their fellowlabourers. In the name of Him who did not lift up His voice, or cry in the streets, I would bid such people stand to their work till the bell strikes the ceasing hour.
1. Other men do not see the full result of their labourthey know not how many lamps are kindled by their torch. Did you ever hear of Thomas Barber? Probably not. His name is written but in pale ink on the worlds scroll, yet that man was the means of converting DR. ADAM CLARKE, one of the worlds deepest scholars and most luminous expositors of the Divine Word. Did you ever hear of Robert Burnard? Probably not; yet that good man laid hold of a drunken masons son in Plymouth workhouse, and watched over him with ever-helpful generosity, until that deaf pauper was known throughout the world as DR. JOHN KITTO. These are but two names out of a long roll. They show how even obscure names may be associated with stupendous results. Here is encouragement to continue all good work; for as the rain cometh down, &c.
2. I say with reverence that the Almighty Himself often appears to be spending His strength for nought and in vain. To Israel He saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. Again and again He uttered the voice of complaining: The stork in the heavens, &c. We are, then, as merely human labourers, not alone in our apparent failure. My beloved hath a vineyard, &c. This is apparent failure. Judge not the Divine worker by one thread of the immeasurable web which He is working, or by one stone of the majestic fabric which He is building. He carries great breadths of work before Him, and by reason of its vastness, delicacy, and grandeur, time is required. There are many signs of failure, but they are temporary, not final. Why, then, art thou cast down? &c. If I be true to my work, I can fail only as God failsif the Church be sincere, she can fail only as Christ failsif the spirit be upright, it can fail only as the Holy Ghost fails.J. Parker, D.D.: Pulpit Analyst, vol. i. pp. 661670.
I. The most faithful labourers may be for a time unsuccessful. Not absolutely, but comparatively. If our Lord and Master had occasion to say that He had laboured in vain, &c., we should not be surprised that we have occasion to use the same language. Is the servant above his Lord? It may not be our fault. The opposition of Satan and wicked men may be of such a character as for a time to frustrate our plans, and prevent our success.
II. Faithful labourers will ultimately be crowned with abundant success. It has been so, and will be so to the extent desired, with the Saviour (Isa. 53:11). It will be so with His faithful workers. Not only can no true work done for God be in vain, but it will be rendered abundantly successful sooner or later. This we know from the promises of the sure word (Isa. 55:10-11; Ecc. 12:1, &c.; 1Co. 15:58; Gal. 6:9; Heb. 6:10).
III. Faithful labourers should commit their work to God in the assurance that they and their work will be accepted. Not on the ground of success, but in proportion to their faithfulness and self-denial. Let us never doubt
1. Gods approval of our work. In all our labours, pursued with singleness of eye to His glory, we have His approving smile. He is not only acquainted with all we do, but He approvestakes pleasure in our services (Psa. 149:4; Heb. 6:10; Heb. 13:16; Rev. 2:2). I know thy works; i.e., I approve of themthe meanest as well as the mightiest; the cup of cold water alike with the most costly sacrifice, &c.
2. Gods ultimate and full reward of our work (Gal. 6:9; 1Co. 15:58). It is not as if we were to die, and never live again. There will be a resurrection, and we shall be fully recompensed then. In view of this we should be in labours more abundant and self-denying (Rev. 2:8-10). I will give thee a crown of lifean unfading, imperishable crown; life in its highest forms and manifestations; life eternal and ineffable, ever developing in all strength, and beauty, and joy, and perfection. This reward is certain, for He says I will, whose authority is indisputable, whose power is supreme, whose faithfulness is unchallenged. He will accomplish His own Word.
CONCLUSION.
1. Let us not yield to discouragement, even though our work is comparatively unsuccessful. Jesus never did, and He is the model worker. Success is not the rule of action, but Gods command to go work in My vineyard. Press every energy into this service. Let no obstacles deter, no difficulties drive from the field.
Do all the good you can,
In all the ways you can,
To all the folk you can,
At all the times you can,
And as long as you can.
Mrs. S. Glover.
3. Notwithstanding all the labour and prayer expended, some of you have not been prevailed upon to repent and believe the Gospel. We then, as workers together with God, beseech you, that ye receive not the grace of God in vain (1Co. 6:1-2).Alfred Tucker.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(4) Then I said.The accents of disappointment sound strangely on coming from the lips of the true Servant; but the prophet had learnt by his own experience that this formed part of the discipline of every true servant of God, in proportion to the thoroughness of his service, and therefore it was not strange to him that the ideal Servant should also taste that bitterness. We find in the prophet of Anathoth a partial illustration of the law (Jer. 20:14). We find its highest fulfilment in the cries of Gethsemane and Golgotha, The sense of failure is surmounted only, as here, by looking to another judgment than mans, and another reward (better than work). (Comp. 1Co. 4:3.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. This innermost holy Israel coming to an ideal personality, the Messiah, has wrought long and wearily with little apparent result. The world seems no better for his labours.
Yet surely my judgment is with the Lord Or, my reward, (margin.) The judgment in the case is in my favour my labour shall not be for naught. All is with God, and he will not permit it to be in vain.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 49:4. Then I said, &c. These words contain the complaint of the Son of God, concerning the small fruit of his mission to the Jews, and the small hope of establishing and successfully propagating his kingdom among them; similar to that which is attributed to the same great teacher and his apostles, ch. Isa 53:1. But at the same time he supports himself with the hope, that he should obtain a glorious and abundant fruit of his divine mission in the world; for that his judgment or right was with God, and the reward of his work laid up with him. Bishop Lowth reads the verse, And I said, I have laboured in vain; for nought, and for vanity, I have spent my strength: nevertheless my cause is with JEHOVAH; and the reward of my work with my God.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
What a striking resemblance doth this bear to the preaching of our Lord, when upon earth! Who that reads in the Gospel of the contempt poured upon the person and office of Jesus, but must be struck with this description, Joh 1:11 . And how blessed is it to behold the promised acceptance of Christ’s person, however slighted by the rulers and Pharisees. Reader! never forget in whom all redemption is: and by whom all acceptation is given to the persons and offerings of his people.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 49:4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: [yet] surely my judgment [is] with the LORD, and my work with my God.
Ver. 4. Then said I: I have laboured in vain.] I have done little more than preached my hearers to hell. The Pharisees and the lawyers “rejected the counsel of God against themselves”; Luk 7:30 they would not be forewarned to “flee from the wrath to come”; Mat 3:7 to “escape the damnation of hell.” Mat 23:33 Our Saviour lost his sweet words upon them: so did the prophet Isaiah upon his untoward countrymen, who refused to be reformed, hated to be healed. Nothing was unconquerable to his pains, who had, as one saith of Jul. Scaliger, ‘a golden wit in an iron body’; but this matter was not malleable: hence he spake to them to as little purpose as Bede did when he preached to a heap of stones. Hence his complaint: Isa 53:1 “Who hath believed our report?” He might haply hope at first, as holy Melanchthon did, that it was impossible for his hearers to withstand the evidence of the gospel: but after he had been a preacher a while, it is said he complained that ‘old Adam was too hard for young Melanchthon.’ Rev. Mr Greenham, besides his public pains in season and out of season, was wont to walk out into the fields, and to confer with his neighbours as they were at plough. But Dry Drayton, the place where he was minister many years, though so often watered with his tears, prayers, and pains, was little the better for all: the generality of his parish remained ignorant and obstinate, to their pastor’s great grief, and their own greater damage and disgrace. a Hence the verses,
“Greenham had pastures green,
But sheep full lean, &c.”
He might well cry out, as many also do at this day, Eheu, quam pingui macer est mihi taurus in arvo! Our people, alas! are like Laban’s lambs or Pharaoh’s kine; they are even ministrorum opprobria. But if ministers toil all night and take nothing, it is to be feared, saith one well, that Satan caught the fish ere they came at their net.
Yet surely my judgment is with the Lord.
a Mr Fuller’s Church Hist.
I said, or thought: i.e. said to Myself.
strength = strength (to endure). Hebrew. koah. Not the same word as in Isa 49:5.
for nought. Hebrew. tohu. See note on Isa 24:10, “confusion”.
judgment = vindication.
work = recompense.
God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4.
I have laboured: Isa 65:2, Eze 3:19, Mat 17:17, Mat 23:37, Joh 1:11, Rom 10:21, Gal 4:11
spent: Lev 26:20, 2Co 12:15
yet: Isa 53:10-12, Psa 22:22-31, Luk 24:26, Joh 17:4, Joh 17:5, 2Co 2:15, Phi 2:9, Phi 2:10, Heb 12:2
work: or, reward, Isa 40:10, Isa 62:11
Reciprocal: Psa 18:20 – rewarded Isa 40:27 – my judgment Isa 65:23 – shall Jer 6:29 – in vain Zec 11:4 – Lord Joh 8:29 – he that sent 1Co 15:14 – General Gal 2:21 – Christ Phi 2:16 – that I have 1Th 2:1 – in vain 1Th 3:5 – and our
Isa 49:4. Then I said By way of objection; I have laboured in vain Lord, thou sayest thou wilt be glorified by my ministry; but I find it otherwise. I have spent my strength for naught Without any considerable fruit of my word and works. The words, says Vitringa, contain the complaint of the Son of God, concerning the small fruit of his mission to the Jews, and the small hope of establishing and successfully propagating his kingdom among them; like that which is attributed to the same great Teacher and his apostles, Isa 53:1. But at the same time he supports himself with the hope, that he should obtain a glorious and abundant fruit of his divine mission in the world; for that his judgment, or right, was with God, and the reward of his work laid up with him; who would take good care, according to his wisdom and justice, that the proper and full recompense of his labour should be paid him. According to this just exposition of the passage, the latter clause of the verse agrees with the former, and the sense of both is briefly this: Though I see little or no fruit of my labour among the Jews, and meet with nothing but contempt, and reproach, and ill usage from them; yet God sees my fidelity and diligence in my work, and he will give judgment for me, and amply reward me in due time.
49:4 Then I said, I have {f} laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing, and in vain: [yet] surely my judgment [is] with the LORD, and my work with my God.
(f) Thus Christ in his members complains that his labour and preaching take no effect, yet he is contented that his doings are approved by God.
In spite of the Servant’s calling it would appear, even to Himself, that He was less than successful (cf. Joh 1:10-11). If the previous verse describes a more than human Servant, this one presents a fully human Servant. When Jesus Christ died it appeared that He had accomplished very little. Most people regarded His life as a waste. He even prayed on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mat 27:46).
"God does not approach the arrogance and oppression of the world with greater arrogance and greater oppression. Rather, he comes with the humility, the vulnerability, and the powerlessness of a child." [Note: Ibid.]
Nevertheless, the Servant’s work would please God, if not men. Man’s justice gave Messiah the Cross, but God’s justice gave Him the crown. The Servant would commit His work to God and would trust Him for a just reckoning.
This verse clarifies that feelings of futility and faith in God need not be mutually exclusive. The Servant trusted God for the final outcome of His ministry, though as He was carrying it out, it appeared to be ineffective. The Apostle Paul took the same view of his ministry (cf. Rom 8:31-39; 1Co 4:1-5).
". . . despondency arises through listening to ourselves and our self-assessment etc., instead of looking to God, recalling his purposes, living according to our dignity in him and rediscovering in him our source of power." [Note: Motyer, p. 387.]
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)