This is the second of the "servant songs", and it is addressed in the first instance to the "distant islands", namely us! It is also given as coming direct from the servant. Jesus was called before He was born on earth. All notions that are sometimes talked about of God choosing Jesus as a man, or of Jesus becoming God's servant are nonsense. Jesus was God's chosen servant before time began.
This can also be seen as referring to Israel and to the church. God has been making His people into a sharpened sword. We are God's instrument upon the earth. The Lord displayed His glory in Jesus. He will display His glory in and through the church, and in and through Israel. In Jesus we see what the Servant should be like, and what we are becoming.
Sometimes serving the Lord can seem futile, it seems as though we are getting nowhere. But our reward is in the Lord's hand. Jesus knew that His Father would reward Him. He knew that He would be raised from the dead and exalted to His Father's right hand.
Then we get another prophecy of the universal nature of Christ' mission. Bringing Israel back is not the limit of His task, He is also the saviour of the Gentiles, of all peoples.
The world rejected Jesus, but one day every knee shall bow and acknowledge who He is.
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