Make Lent more meaningful this year | Sing Isaiah 53:1-5!

Tomorrow is the start of Lent.

For some people that means giving up something. This year, I’m calling you to pick up something: 12 verses.

A chapter that has shaped Christianity most profoundly.

During Lent many Christians reflect on the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I want to use this time to present a 3-song series on a passage all about what Jesus did on the cross: Isaiah 53.

In this post, I will share:

1. Today’s song (video);

2. My reasons against memorizing this chapter now;

3. My reasons for deciding to press on;

4. Some sermons I’ve found and listened to on Isaiah 53 which I recommend; and

5. A quick poll about developing a community here.

The First Song: SURELY

The series goes like this:

1. Verses 1-5 (Tuesday, February 13, 2024) - Today

2. Verses 6-9 (Tuesday, February 20, 2024)

3. Verses 10-12 (Tuesday, February 27, 2024)

I have named each song, just to aid in meditation as well. While you learn the verses this week, you can think about this word: Surely.

Isaiah 53:1-5

53 Who has believed what he has heard from us?
    And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
² For he grew up before him like a young plant,
    and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
    and no beauty that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by men,
    a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
    he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

⁴ Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.

Why Isaiah, Why Now

I have been struggling with doing Isaiah 53 now.

I have always loved this chapter. I may have even memorized it before. I’m almost sure of it. But I didn’t do the work to understand its significance.

My love affair with this passage is a perfect demonstration a problem in my faith life the Lord exposed to me in 2023, and which propelled me to restart my memorization journey.

Let me show you what I mean.

In 2017 I released a song called, What A Story, all about the work of Christ and my opening line was the first verse of Isaiah 53:

“Who has believed our report / who accept our chat?”

Yet can I explain the chapter to you now? Before setting out to memorize it this time around, did I remember anything besides the first line?

I could hear Jesus saying to me as he did to the Sadducees “you do not know the scriptures.”

That’s why I set out to learn the chapter as one of the foundational texts I believe I should know as a Christian.

Reasons against memorizing Isaiah 53 now

In making my plan for the year I knew I wanted to do this chapter around Easter.

Yet after putting last week’s verse to bed and looking out to this week, I started to have doubts.

First, I wonder if going to an Old Testament prophet will break your momentum.

I have to remember you and I are different people. I want to encourage, not discourage you.

In January I read an article by Andrew M. Davis, How (and How Not) to Memorize Scripture, which warned: “Don’t do prophetic genre (i.e. OT prophetic books) too early in your career.”

In my experience, they are the hardest books to memorize since the Spirit leads the prophet in trains of thought that are not always easy to follow. I am well aware that “all Scripture is God-breathed and useful” for our full fruitfulness in Christ. However, I am speaking as one with a lot of experience. The memorization I did in the minor prophets and in Ezekiel was the hardest I ever did. Work on a New Testament epistle first, or a portion of a Gospel. It will feed you and encourage you immediately, and your confidence will grow. Tackle the visionary prophets later.

Second, I’ve googled the most popular verses and they are verses I would also love to memorize - so why not do one of those?

Check out this list, The Top 100 Most Read Bible Verses, published by BibleGateway.com.

Here are the top 5:

1. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

2. Jer 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

3. Rom 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

4. Ps 23:4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5. Ps 23:6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Like everyone else, I want to be encouraged by rich promises of God’s love and care for me. These verses talk about that love so clearly and directly.

Third, not a single verse from Isaiah 53 made that list of popular verses.

Even if I am going to go to Isaiah, why not go to Isaiah 54:17, “no weapon forged against you will prevail…” (NIV), which made the list at number 94?

It may be Lent, but the things that cause us distress are still going on. So why take this detour to look at what may seem like something for academics?

Reasons for memorizing Isaiah 53 now

I have four reasons why I think we should press ahead with this.

First, it’s just one chapter.

I do take that point from Andrew Davis, and so I wouldn’t start at Isaiah 1.

Even if these are your least favourite verses this year, it will just be 3 weeks over which you’ll be asked to consider a few verses of a single chapter.

Second, this is an exceptional chapter.

Listen to what pastor John Piper says in the introduction to a sermon on Isaiah 53:

“Nowhere in all the Old Testament does the gospel of Jesus Christ shine more clearly than in Isaiah 53. Seven hundred years before Jesus came into the world, God opened the eyes of his prophet to see into the very heart of Christ's saving work.”

700 Years. That’s nothing to scoff at.

Third, we should question why a passage like this isn’t among even the top 100 verses people read online.

This is a post by itself - what we want, versus what we need from our bible verses.

We need the promises of scripture every second, minute and hour of the day. I don’t want to diminish that in any way shape or form.

Still, how can I ever be comfortable to call myself a Christian, if I don’t understand what Christ did, and treasure it, and if I’m not able to share it meaningfully?

More important, Isaiah 53 is the foundation of all the promises. Meaning, if Christ’s work for me isn’t sufficient, all those promises of love and support mean nothing for me. When I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I should fear EVERY evil if Christ hasn’t been a mediator between me and God.

Fourth, I can only be guided at this point by what I want to understand.

I have sang these 3 songs over and over with much feeling at home, to the point where my four-year-old back-up singer Madison can start the third song without me saying a word.

But still, the feeling is hollow! It is hollow because my head is empty!

I want that feeling to be full.

Now you may say, how is this an argument for memorization if after having memorized it you still don’t get it?

We don’t memorize only what we understand and love but what we want to understand.

Memorization fuels meditation.

Further, because I know the passage, as I’m diving into it i find that though it’s foreign it’s familiar. While it’s still not simple, it’s a lot less strange.

Digging Deeper

I have gathered a list of resources to get you started.

I’ve listened to the sermons I list below. I am going to try to read even one of the sermons in the book I recommend.

It would be great if we could do it together!

Sermons by John Piper

While tossing the idea around in my mind of whether to stick with my plan, I decided to search out resources.

I was greatly encouraged to find a sermon series by pastor John Piper¹ at desiringGod.org which tackles the chapter in almost the same way I’ve divided the verses in these songs.

Piper preached the following sermons over three weeks from the 14th of March to the 4th of April, 1993:

• Surely He Has Borne Our Griefs | Scripture: Isaiah 52:13–53:6   

• Like a Lamb That Is Led to Slaughter | Scripture: Isaiah 53:7–9   

• He Shall Be Satisfied with the Fruit of His Travail | Scripture: Isaiah 53:10–12   

I’ve listened to all three and can say they are a great aid to get us started.

I suggest you listen to them to get a grasp of what the chapter is all about. It will make memorizing it more meaningful.

Sermons by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

I would also recommend these two sermons by Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones (MLJ).²

• A Man of Sorrows | A Sermon on Acts 8:28-36

• Hearing of Faith | A Sermon on Romans 10:16-17

I will listen to anything from MLJ, but what makes these sermons helpful is that they grapple with questions in Isaiah 53 which we may have when we look at it.

The sermon on Acts 8:28-36 is about Philip in the New Testament explaining the passage to the Ethiopian eunuch. It gives me 3 more incentives to memorize:

1. How amazing that Isaiah 53 was the passage God used to convert the first African to Christianity!

2. The bible says he went away with rejoicing. What was it that made this high-ranking official so happy?

3. Philip explained to the eunuch that the prophesy though 700 years old at that time, was as contemporary as ever and held out a promise for him. We are in the same position as the eunuch. The prophesy though now almost 3000 years old is still as relevant to the world as ever.

Sermons By Thomas Manton

If you’ve read my article 119 notable things about Psalm 119 you’d have come across the name Thomas Manton who I mentioned because of how his work on Psalm 119 impacted one of the most famous American theologians in history.

Manton published an extensive, verse by verse, exposition of the Psalm.

Jonathon Edwards, the American theologian and pastor cited one of the sermons as the basis of one of the great resolutions he made early in his life.

I didn’t link to his book of sermons on Psalm 119 because I don’t like the idea of recommending something I hadn’t read and that book is well over a thousand pages.

Since then I have dipped into Manton’s sermons and man, I come away kicking myself over and over for not devoting da ys and nights to reading them.

Manton has done the same kind of work on Isaiah 53, and despite having not read it, I am going to link to it.

The book, Isaiah 53: A Practical Exposition (eBook) can be downloaded for free at Monergism.com in EPUB, .MOBI & PDF FORMATS.

Poll - Sway&Say Community

I hope the songs, podcasts and articles help you to make real progress in learning scripture.

If you think you could benefit from (or would simply enjoy!) regular discussion with me and other like-minded believers about the passages and the memorization work, then let me know below!

1. This biography comes from desiringGod.org:

“John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For more than thirty years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis. He is author of more than fifty books, and his sermons, articles, books, and more are available free of charge at desiringGod.org.”

2. This biography of Martyn Lloyd-Jones comes from the MLJ Trust website:

“David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (20 December 1899-1 March 1981) was a Welsh Protestant minister, preacher and medical doctor who was influential in the Reformed wing of evangelicalism in the 20th century. For almost 30 years, he was the minister of Westminster Chapel in London.”