HERE AM I. SEND ME!

Isaiah 6:1-13 / Keywords 6:8

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Isaiah’s Commission

6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;

    the whole earth is full of his glory.”

4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

9 He said, “Go and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;

    be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’

10 Make the heart of this people calloused;

    make their ears dull

    and close their eyes.[a]

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

    hear with their ears,

    understand with their hearts,

and turn and be healed.”

11 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”

And he answered:

“Until the cities lie ruined

    and without inhabitant,

until the houses are left deserted

    and the fields ruined and ravaged,

12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away

    and the land is utterly forsaken.

13 And though a tenth remains in the land,

    it will again be laid waste.

But as the terebinth and oak

    leave stumps when they are cut down,

    so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”

Footnotes

a. Isaiah 6:10 Hebrew; Septuagint ‘You will be ever hearing, but never understanding; / you will be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ / 10 This people’s heart has become calloused; / they hardly hear with their ears, / and they have closed their eyes

 

1. I saw the Lord (1-7)

King Uzziah had reigned for fifty-two years. When he died, the people could have become anxious. Isaiah had a vision of the Lord seated on his throne. It is not any earthly ruler, but it is the Lord who is ruling all things for his glory. He is the one worthy of our worship. When Isaiah saw the vision of the Lord he thought he was ruined because he was a man of unclean lips. Instead, holy God bore the burden of his uncleanness. He provided atonement for Isaiah and took away his sin. He is holy, yet the whole earth is full of his glory.

 

2. A mission from the Lord (8-13)

When God called Isaiah he responded immediately. He became a new person, one sent by the Lord to carry the message of his glory to a hard-hearted people. God did not promise him success. Isaiah would preach to a people who would not repent and would ultimately be carried away into exile because of their sin. But the Lord would preserve a remnant. He would send the holy seed to accomplish his redemptive work.

 

Prayer Lord, the whole earth is full of your glory. Help me to see it. Make me a willing testimony of your glory.

One Word Here am I. Send me!