Servant King – Start The Day

““Listen, O coastlands, to Me, and take heed, you peoples from afar! The Lord has called Me from the womb; from the matrix of my mother He has made mention of My name. ²And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, And made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver He has hidden Me.” ³“And He said to Me, ‘You are My servant, O Israel, In whom I will be glorified.’ ⁴Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and in vain; yet surely my just reward is with the Lord, and my work with My God.’ ” ⁵“And now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel is gathered to Him (For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and My God shall be My strength), ⁶indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth. ⁷Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors, to the Servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship, because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel; and He has chosen You.”’ ”” Isaiah 49:1-7 NKJV

Lord God,

I wondered when I started reading this why My had a capital M if it was Isaiah speaking? A servant who will be raised up? The Bible is full of those You raised up to be servants of the living God – You Lord. Still there are many called today in all walks of life, all ages, all nationalities to serve You. But this One is different. One who can rescue Israel Jacob and be a light to the gentiles? That’s big. Isaiah knows it is not him (Or whoever is the writer to the second half of Isaiah). One who You called from his mother’s womb, was in the shadow of Your hand, and whose words were like a sharp sword . . . We read in verse 7, that this servant is despised and abhorreds, the servant of rulers. This servant, will nevertheless be recognized by the powerful, by kings and princes. A reflection of Jesus?

Your intention God in their future is the restoration of Jacob, “the preserved one’s of Israel” (verse 6). You God intended Israel to be restored as Your people. Their exile is not the end.

They have a greater calling yet to come, to us, the gentiles. Through One who would be born of a woman, be a servant, then despised and rejected. And one day worshipped by all. Jesus, what a wonderful name. We do not exist for ourselves alone either, restoration is not an end in itself, it is a beginning of sharing Your love with others to find their own restoration.

Worship Tuesday 25th August 2026

From heav’n You came, helpless Babe,
Entered our world, Your glory veiled;
Not to be served but to serve,
And give Your life that we might live.

This is our God, the Servant King,
He calls us now to follow Him,
To bring our lives as a daily offering
Of worship to the Servant King.

There in the garden of tears,
My heavy load He chose to bear;
His heart with sorrow was torn,
‘Yet not my will but Yours,’ He said.

Come see His hands and His feet,
The scars that speak of sacrifice;
Hands that flung stars into space
To cruel nails surrendered.

So let us learn how to serve,
And in our lives enthrone Him;
Each other’s needs to prefer,
For it is Christ we’re serving.

Lyrics: Graham Kendrick

“So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. ²⁰Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,” he said, “and then I will come with you.” “Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?” ²¹So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.” 1 Kings 19:19-21 NLT

God who chooses,

Elisha was not part of a school of prophets (2 Kings 2:3 Bethel, 2:15 Jericho, 2Kings 4:38 Gilgal). He is a farmer using 12 yoke of oxen. So perhaps a well off family? He takes Elijah seriously. I wonder if Elijah thought his family would persuade him not to go? Elijah does not try to persuade him but asks a question, “What have I done to you?” Was that because he wanted Elisha to know it was You God that led him there that day not his own good idea?

Elisha returned to Elijah after burning his bridges behind him. 12 yoke of oxen. He didn’t need to do that but it showed he was not going to return to the plough. He knew what Elijah had done. Simply relayed God’s call.

You call us to holy living and sometimes to particular service. But that does not make us more special. We do not all have to burn our employment bridges behind us. But we do have to burn our self reliance our let me do it my way! We turn away from sin. Sometimes, someone else can see what Your calling on our life is but it is up to us to consider and decide if what we hear is in agreement. You know we sometimes need to hear several times to be sure. Elisha hears and obeys. Help us know clearly when You want us to do something specific and help us to put our hands to what is in front of us. Where we are called to help others to do it willingly as if for You.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Worship Saturday 28th June 2025

From Heaven, You came helpless babe
Entered our world, your glory veiled
Not to be served but to serve
And give Your life that we might live

This is our God, The Servant King
He calls us now to follow Him
To bring our lives as a daily offering
Of worship to The Servant King

There in the garden of tears
My heavy load he chose to bear
His heart with sorrow was torn
“Yet not My will but Yours”, He said

Chorus . . .

Come see His hands and His feet
The scars that speak of sacrifice
Hands that flung stars into space
To cruel nails surrendered

Chorus . . .

So let us learn how to serve
And in our lives enthrone Him
Each other’s needs to prefer
For it is Christ we’re serving

Chorus . . .

Lyrics: Graham Kendrick, Chris Llewellyn, Gareth Gilkeson