Isaiah 49:7 This is what the LORD says— the Redeemer and
Holy One of Israel— to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,
to the servant of rulers: "Kings will see you and rise up, princes will
see and bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of
Israel, who has chosen you."
Comment
Here we find a dichotomy between the Messiah as suffering servant and exalted
King. Isaiah later says, "He was despised and rejected
by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom
men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not."Is
53:3 And yet among some now and all later he will be exalted.
"Therefore God exalted him to the highest
place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name
of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father." Php 2:9-11
What men despised God exalted. And I find that God often exalts the despised.
Jesus chose the despised to be his apostles. But after he humilated the
Pharisees and they became despised in the Christian community the Lord
chose a Pharisee, Paul, to be his greatest apostle, though he reckoned
himself the least. So also in the parable
of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector God exalted the humble.
Are you despised by those around you? Then maybe God is planning to exalt
you. Never underestimate God's grace to the despised.