Behold My Servant

Feature 2 – October 2022 — Grace & Truth Magazine

Behold My Servant

God’s Servants
Our God has had many servants, in both the Old and New Testament times. In this article we would like to present a few of God’s servants, with a special emphasis on His perfect Servant, our Lord Jesus Christ. When we look at other servants, their service was accompanied by failure and sin. But when we look at the Perfect Servant, there was no missing the mark, nothing that was not according to His Master’s mind. How wonderful!

We can trace some of the features of this Perfect Servant in the servants who by grace sought to serve the Lord and His people. May we learn from them how better to serve our Father and the Lord Jesus today.

Moses
The first two servants we will consider began their careers for God as shepherds. When the children of Israel were in Egypt, Moses apparently knew that he was to be their deliverer. However, he acted ahead of God’s timing and murdered an Egyptian who was beating an Israelite (Ex. 2:11-12). We know, in fact, he was to be the vessel God would use to deliver His people out of Egypt, but Moses tried to deliver them with his own strength. We do not say this to unjustly criticize this “servant of Jehovah” (Josh. 1:1 JND), for each one of us has sought to serve Him in our own strength.

Scripture reminds us, “As for God, His way is perfect” (Ps. 18:30). This includes His timing. Consider Psalm 32:8-9: “I will instruct thee and teach thee the way in which thou shalt go; I will counsel thee with Mine eye upon thee. Be ye not as a horse, as a mule, which have no understanding.” How often we are like the horse and run ahead of our God and Father, or like the mule and stubbornly refuse to go when it is our Father’s time!

Each of us has tried to do something even in service for the Lord by our own strength and failed. The Lord Jesus said, “Without Me ye can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5). We remember the apostle Paul asking the Lord three times for his thorn in the flesh to be removed. The Lord did not grant this request but said, “My grace suffices thee; for My power is perfected in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). He in His power uses us when we are consciously weak in ourselves. As long as we think we are able to do something for the Lord in our own strength, He may allow us to taste the bitterness of it like Moses. Let us instead trust Him, fully believing that His time, His way and His strength are perfect and sufficient. As we wait on Him and seek His strength, He is able to make our way perfect, because we are going with Him (Ps. 18:32)!

David
The LORD, Jehovah, said, “I have found David My servant; with My holy oil have I anointed him” (Ps. 89:20). He is the second servant we will consider. While serving in a lowly way as a shepherd, David gained valuable lessons in trusting the LORD. When a lion and a bear came and took one of the sheep, David went after them, defeated them and delivered his sheep. What a wonderful picture of what the Lord Jesus has done for us today, in saving us from our spiritual foes!

In this way David had learned to trust the LORD, so facing Goliath in the valley of Elah was not something that intimidated him. He knew he could rely upon the same LORD who had strengthened him to defeat “the lion and the bear” (1 Sam. 17:36).

May we also be content to serve faithfully in private service, where we will learn valuable lessons. Then when the Lord wants to use us in a more public manner, we will be prepared, having learned to trust, rely and confide in Him! “He that is faithful in the least is faithful also in much” (Lk. 16:10).

Ebed-melech
Another servant to consider is Ebed-melech. His name simply means “servant of the king.” He is referred to numerous times in Jeremiah 38, and in chapter 39 there is a word from Jehovah addressed to this man (vv.16-18).

The evil princes under King Zedekiah of Judah had cast the prophet Jeremiah into the dungeon or pit. There was no water in the pit, only mire, and “Jeremiah sank in the mire” (38:6). Ebed-melech, with permission from the king, took 30 men and rescued Jeremiah out of the pit (Jer. 38:8-13). Though a lowly servant, he had concern for the prophet of the LORD.

In Jeremiah 39 the word of Jehovah to Ebed-melech was He would deliver him when the city, Jerusalem, was given into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. He would do this because Ebed-melech had put his “confidence” in Jehovah (v.18).

Ebed-melech was only a servant, as his name implies, but he was faithful in his work, as seen in his care for Jeremiah. May we also serve faithfully, even if unknown to the world. Remember, we are known in heaven! Our names are written there (Lk. 10:20), and we are not yet home. One day every service done for our Lord – even giving a cup of cold water in His name (Mt. 10:42) – will have its reward. Until that day may we, like Ebed-melech, put our confidence in our Lord and Savior to preserve us throughout our journey here.

Timothy
Timothy was a trusted helper of the apostle Paul, who wrote of him to the saints in Philippi: “I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s” (Phil. 2:20-21 KJV). Therefore Paul was sending Timothy to them.

In a day of great selfishness and self-centeredness, when many only think of themselves and their own circumstances, how wonderful that we can be those who really care for our fellow believers and seek their welfare. Public service is important, and we should not minimize it. To quietly visit the saints in their homes and see something of their circumstances is important too. Paul ministered “publicly, and from house to house” (Acts 20:20).

There is a great need today for servants who don’t just want to be in the public spotlight but are willing to do the “lowly, silent labor”* of visiting the saints in their homes and perhaps giving help from the Word of God. This applies to sisters as well. The Word of God tells us that public speaking and preaching is not the role of sisters (1 Cor. 14:34-35; 1 Tim. 2:11), but there is great need for sisters to listen, help and encourage each other. There are also sisters like Phebe, whom the apostle Paul said was a help to him (Rom. 16:1-2). We all sometimes need a gentle, motherly word to encourage us on in the midst of the turmoil of life.

Dear sisters, your service is just as important in its place as that of the brothers. In the body of Christ, every member is needed (1 Cor. 12:12-13,18). A local gathering of Christians could not continue on long without the quiet, faithful service of godly sisters. Timothy’s mother and grandmother seemed to be two such women. They were faithful to teach Timothy the Scriptures, so from a child he knew them (2 Tim. 1:5, 3:15-17). No doubt this training from a young age contributed to his being a faithful servant on whom the apostle Paul could depend.

Christ
Finally, we want to consider our Lord Jesus Christ. What joy He gave to the Father, who said, “Behold My Servant” (Isa. 42:1; see Mt. 12:17-21). He is the Servant who never failed, who always did the will of God. Moses smote the rock the second time when he was only to speak to it (Num. 20:11). Noah built the ark but then became drunk (Gen. 9:21). David could subdue the surrounding enemies and write many psalms, but he fell into adultery and murder (2 Sam. 11). So the list goes on. But here was one Servant who only and always did what pleased His Father (Jn. 8:29).

He did not seek glory for Himself – although, of course, He was and is rightly deserving of it! Instead, He always sought to glorify His Father. Gideon, however, fell into the snare of seeking some glory for himself. After the victory over the Midianites he asked for the gold and made himself an ephod. Why did he do this? Was he seeking some glory, that of the priesthood, which had not been given to him? This ephod became a snare to all Israel, and they began to offer incense to it as an idol (Jud. 8:24-27). The Lord Jesus would go on to meet other needs rather than basking in the people’s admiration (Mk. 1:35-39). We all need encouragement and appreciate a comment that something we shared was a help to the Lord’s people. Yet, being lifted up in pride can be a danger for us.

The gospel of Mark presents the Lord Jesus as the Servant of God. How wonderful to trace His service through this book. One of the characteristic words of this gospel is “immediately,” or “straightway,” depending on the translation. The Lord Jesus never procrastinated in doing His Father’s will. When it was His Father’s time, He did not linger.

At the same time, the gospel of John tells us that when Lazarus became sick, his sisters Martha and Mary sent a message to inform the Lord. He remained two days where He was before beginning the journey to Bethany (Jn. 11:1-7). The Lord was always ready to do His Father’s will, but He did not rush ahead of the Father’s perfect timing. In Psalm 32:9 we read of how the horse likes to run ahead, and the mule tends to lag behind. How often we are like them! The Lord Jesus, in His service as well as in His life, never did either.

Philippians 2:5-8 is a passage we should never tire of reading. It tells us of the Son of God stooping down to become Man. Not stopping there, He also became a Servant and was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. That is where His perfect service took Him. His doing the Father’s will brought Him down into death.

It is often said that Adam was disobedient unto death, but Christ was obedient unto death. Death had no claim upon our blessed Savior, for He was “without sin” (Heb. 4:15). It was for you and me, dear reader, that He willingly went there, and tasted “death for every thing” (2:9 JND). Do you believe on Him as your Savior?

As we consider Him, can’t we say that He is worthy of even any little service that we are able to render to Him, that He might be glorified? Yes, He is worthy! Not all are preachers, but we all have something to do for Him. May the Lord find us all faithful in serving Him when He returns for us. “After a long time the lord of those bondmen comes and reckons with them … His lord said to him, Well, good and faithful bondman, thou was faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things: enter into the joy of thy lord” (Mt. 25:19,21).

Will He be able to say of you and me, dear reader, that we were faithful in what had been entrusted to us? May it be so for His glory!

ENDNOTE
* From the hymn “Not I, But Christ, Be Honored, Loved, Exalted,” verse 3, written by Mrs. Ada A. Whiddington (1855–1933).

By Kevin Quartell