Isaiah 53: The Value Of Silence Series

ISAIAH 53 SERIES: VALUE OF SILENCE

ISAIAH 53:7 | #Isaiah53

PERSON IN THE CONGREGATION READS ISAIAH 53

READ ISAIAH 53:1-12 (ESV)

“Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For He grew up before Him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. 4 Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on a Him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made His grave with the wicked and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, and there was no deceit in His mouth. 10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush Him; He has put Him to grief; when His soul makes an offering for guilt, He shall see His offspring; He shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by His knowledge shall the Righteous One, My Servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and He shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the many, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”

INTRODUCTION… TIMES WHEN YOU SHOULD KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT

There are some times when it is absolutely good to keep your mouth shut. And by “keep your mouth shut” I mean the ability to refrain from saying something stupid or even trying to change someone’s mind because they won’t change. Most of the time we want to say something to defend ourselves, share our opinion, or set the record straight with facts as we see them. It is not always good to do that. There are other times when not answering is perhaps a good thing to spare someone’s feelings. Sometimes we want to tell the truth, but the truth won’t be heard or we realize that we cannot share the truth in a loving way. When are times you and I should keep your mouth shut?

* Any time any woman asks a man if an outfit “makes her look fat.”

* If you are the keeper of nuclear launch codes and someone asks you for them.

* Any time your in-laws want to talk about politics at Thanksgiving Dinner

* Any time zombies are on the other side of the door and you say they can’t pick locks.

* If you are ever tempted to say “We will fight in the shade!”

* Whenever you are at a silent auction.

* Anytime you are at an event and you want to say “at least it’s not raining.”

* Whenever a person says they will see their cat in heaven.

* Any time someone wants to ask “how bad can it get.”

* Whenever someone wants to comment “that was easy and we have no problems”

There are many times when we should just keep our mouths shut. We often do not. We answer the woman asking about an outfit or blurt the launch codes or shout our love at Thanksgiving for Vermin Supreme when he runs for President.

My attempt at some humor this morning is because we have a passage in Isaiah 53 that predicts that the Suffering Servant will be one that mostly keeps His mouth shut. That feels quite serious given the context of the verse and the overall framework of the passage. We are looking at Isaiah 53:7.

RE-READ ISAIAH 53:7 (ESV)