50 Thus says the Lord,
“Where is the certificate of divorce
By which I have sent your mother away?
Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you?
Behold, you were sold for your iniquities,
And for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
2 “Why was there no man when I came?
When I called, why was there none to answer?
Is My hand so short that it cannot ransom?
Or have I no power to deliver?
Behold, I dry up the sea with My rebuke,
I make the rivers a wilderness;
Their fish stink for lack of water
And die of thirst.
3 “I clothe the heavens with blackness
And make sackcloth their covering.”4 The Lord [a]God has given Me the tongue of disciples,
That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
5 The Lord God has opened My ear;
And I was not disobedient
Nor did I turn back.
6 I gave My back to those who strike Me,
And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard;
I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.
7 For the Lord God helps Me,
Therefore, I am not disgraced;
Therefore, I have set My face like flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.
8 He who vindicates Me is near;
Who will contend with Me?
Let us stand up to each other;
Who has a case against Me?
Let him draw near to Me.
9 Behold, the Lord God helps Me;
Who is he who condemns Me?
Behold, they will all wear out like a garment;
The moth will eat them.
10 Who is among you that fears the Lord,
That obeys the voice of His servant,
That walks in darkness and has no light?
Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.
11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
Who [b]encircle yourselves with firebrands,
Walk in the light of your fire
And among the brands you have set ablaze.
This you will have from My hand:
You will lie down in torment.
As this chapter begins, it feels like we take an immediate left turn. That is, v. 1 asks strange questions that don’t seem to make a lot of sense. Potentially, the mother in this passage is Israel, who has been sent away (or will be). We see an important bit in v. 2 though, as God asks, “Is My hand so short that it cannot ransom? Or have I no power to deliver?”
God then answers His own question with a small sample of His deeds (future or past, it isn’t clear). From there, the next section seems to go back to describing some aspects of Jesus’ future ministry. This includes some specific details regarding His torture before the crucifixion. For instance, His back being given to those who struck Him (many times), plucking out His beard, humiliation and spitting.
All of this was done, yet He states that God is His help (vv. 7-9), so that He is not disgraced, nor will He be ashamed. All of this leads into the final verses, where God addresses those who find themselves in darkness. Flipping it around, there are those who try to help themselves, and we might say, but doesn’t “God help those who help themselves?” Sorry, that isn’t in the Bible, it’s an old pagan/Greek philosophy.
Rather, God helps those who cannot help themselves–which is all of us, but we have to admit that. God tells those who attempt to make their own/false light that they will “lie down in torment”. They might solve a temporary physical problem, but none of us can solve the lasting problem of actual, and very real, spiritual darkness.
Just as Jesus found His help in His Father, so are those in darkness–and really, all of us–instructed to “trust in the name of the Lord and rely on our God.” There is only One with the power to deliver, who can ransom us from the pit of our sin, and exchange our mourning for gladness. Put your trust in God alone, and you will lie down in safety.