5 The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears,
and I have not been rebellious;
I have not drawn back.
6 I offered my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
I did not hide my face
from mocking and spitting.
7 Because the Sovereign LORD helps me,
I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint,
and I know I will not be put to shame. Isaiah 50:5-7
The previous words are applied to the coming Messiah. Can you imagine that they were written 700 years before Jesus would come? As I read this passage this morning, my heart was challenged with the determination that Jesus had to do His Father’s will. What a picture of love! Christ would be obedient to His Father even to death on a cross (Phil 2:8)!
Jesus was on a mission in which He would not be deterred. He “set his face like a flint.” Luke 9:51 states that He looked steadfastly toward Jeruslem where He would be crucified. He would not fail in His mission to save us.
Note the opening words of verse seven of our text: “Because the Sovereign Lord helps me.” Jesus glorified His Father not only by His obedience to Him, but His dependence on Him! What a lesson for us to learn! Face all of the hardship of an antagonistic world with steadfast determination and unflagging dependence upon our Lord. It is not in our own strength that we overcome, but in His.
