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, (50:7).

Oh, yesterday… considering Him, Despised. And I still can’t get that out of my mind. But I know it’s a reality. We hear it on TV, we see it on social media, and maybe we even witness it from people we know. He is Despised as people take His Name in vain, deny His claims, or protest His very existence.

And today, it seems as though He’s headed into the very hands of Disgrace and Shame as Isaiah prophesies of the barbaric torture He did in fact endure at the hands of sinful men.

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, (50:6).

Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him. ² And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him; ³ and they began to come up to Him and say, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and to give Him slaps in the face, (John 19:1-3)

Crucifixion was considered the most disgraceful, shameful and torturous form of execution.

“The Jewish historian Josephus, who witnessed live crucifixions during Titus’ siege on Jerusalem, called it “the most wretched of deaths.” Victims were usually beaten and tortured by various means and then forced to carry their own cross to the crucifixion site. Because of the long, drawn-out suffering and horrible manner of execution, it was viewed as the supreme penalty by the Romans.” (https://www.learnreligions.com/what-is-roman-crucifixion-700718)

But as prophesied, and later confirmed, because He trusted the help of His Father, Disgrace and Shame would not have the final say. Because He submitted to His Father’s Will in all humility and obedience, He could say with the utmost confidence, “Therefore, I am not disgraced; And I know that I will not be ashamed.”

Consider Him Who Was Not Disgraced or Ashamed

• He Was Not Disgraced or Ashamed as He heard and spoke His Father’s Word.
  • The Lord 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, (50:4).
    • For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰ I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.” (John 12:40-50).

• He Was Not Disgraced or Ashamed as He obeyed His Father’s Will
  • The Lord God has opened My ear;
    And I was not disobedient
    Nor did I turn back, (50:5).
    
    • “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done,” (Luke 22:42).

• He Was Not Disgraced or Ashamed as He is stood resolute in His Father’s Help
  • 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, (50:7).
    • “Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? ⁵⁴ How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?” (Matthew 26:53-54).

• He Was Not Disgraced or Ashamed as He trusted His Father’s Vindication
  • 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, (50:8).
    • By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness:
      He who was revealed in the flesh,
      Was vindicated in the Spirit,
      Seen by angels,
      Proclaimed among the nations,
      Believed on in the world,
      Taken up in glory, (1 Timothy 3:16).

• He Was Not Disgraced or Ashamed as He accepted His Father’s Verdict
  • 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, (50:9).
    •  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. ¹⁸ He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God,” (John 3:16-18).

How do we respond to Him Who Was Not Disgraced or Ashamed?

So is it really true? Was He not Disgraced or Ashamed? The answer lies in who you ask. But Jesus never looked to man to be validated, nor should we. Let us learn well from our Perfect Savior, Who endured the scorn of men that He would be Honored by His Father, never to be Disgraced or Ashamed.

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, (Philippians 2:9-11).

And because nothing could turn Him from hearing and speaking His Father’s Word, from obeying His Father’s Will, standing resolute in His Father’s Help, trusting His Father’s Vindication and accepting His Father’s Verdict, for this reason He could boldly proclaim:

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, (50:7).

Because He trusted the help of His Father, Disgrace and Shame would not have the final say. Because He submitted to His Father’s Will in all humility and obedience, He could say with the utmost confidence, “Therefore, I am not disgraced; And I know that I will not be ashamed.”

Let us do the same. Oh that we would trust our Heavenly Father, so however this world attempts to humiliate us for our faith, because we submit to Him in all humility and obedience, we would be able to proclaim, like our Savior, “Therefore, I am not disgraced; And I know that I will not be ashamed.”

When the afflictions of this life attempt to shroud our hope, let us see our circumstances through eyes of faith as we look forward to what is coming in our future, knowing that in Him we will never be disgraced or ashamed

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, ¹⁸ while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal, (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

Oh, that we would be so conformed to His image, that in our suffering today we would be enabled to set our face like flint to endure for His sake, committed to always bring glory to Him Who Was Not Disgraced or Ashamed,

but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name, (1 Peter 4:16).

He asks us some questions today. Let us ask Him to increase our faith that we would be empowered to answer Him with a resounding yes.

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, (50:10).

Oh, that by His grace we could answer Him, “Yes, we will fear the Lord. Yes, we will obey His voice. Yes, we will walk in His Light as we follow Him in faith.”

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life,” (John 8:12).

And may we never be ashamed to proclaim His Truth to those who still do not know the power and wisdom of Him Who Was Not Disgraced or Ashamed.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, (Romans 1:16).

but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, ²⁴ but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God, (1 Corinthians 1:23-34).

The day of judgment is coming. Oh, that we would seriously consider the future of those who still treat Him with Disgrace and Shame.

Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
Who 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, (50:11).

Lord, we thank You, that in Christ we have been spared eternal Disgrace and Shame.

Lord, please use us as Your vessels. We confess our own sins, for too often we treat You with Disgrace and Shame when we neglect time with You and disobey Your Word. Forgive us we pray.

Lord, we know the day is coming when every knee will bow before You, when every tongue will confess You as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the day when Disgrace and Shame will be the torturous eternity for all who reject Your incomparable kindness displayed in the public humiliation of the cross.

Please Lord, let us see the urgency, that we would share the light of the gospel with those still blinded from seeing Truth, that we would live as Your bond-servants, willing to face disgrace and shame, for the sake of others and for the sake of Him Who Was Not Disgraced or Ashamed.

in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵ For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ, (2 Corinthians 4:4-6).

Let’s Grow Together!