Incline Your Ear and Come to Me

“Incline your ears and come to me; listen, so that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the faithful mercies promised to David.”

Isaiah 55:3

Adonai invites us to listen and come to him, promising life and an everlasting covenant. It is a close and simple invitation, yet it holds a question: why is David mentioned here, generations after he was gathered to his ancestors? And how does the chesed promised to him touch us too?

A promise that keeps looking ahead

David was told:

“I will raise up your offspring after you… and establish the throne of his kingdom forever… My chesed will not depart from him.”

2 Samuel 7:12–15

Yet nearly four hundred years after David was gathered to his ancestors, Yirmeyahu still speaks of a king who will arise: “David their king, whom I will raise up for them.” Yechezkel connects that same king with a covenant that will endure forever:

“My servant David will be king over them… I will make a covenant of shalom with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them.”

Ezekiel 37:24–26

Who is this king from David’s house, whose kingdom and covenant do not pass away?

Yeshayahu describes “a shoot from the stump of Yishai,” and later calls him “the root of Yishai,” to whom the nations will turn. This is the familiar chapter where “the wolf will dwell with the lamb.” David himself also says: “Adonai said to my lord, sit at my right hand.”

A son of David’s house, and also the root of the house from which he comes? David’s son, and David’s lord? What is there in his kingdom that was absent from kingdoms that have passed away?

Life, healing, and shalom

Later, Yeshayahu brings before us the servant of Adonai: “See, my servant will act wisely; he will rise, be lifted up, and be greatly exalted.” He bears our wrongdoing, and within the account of his suffering we hear what comes to us:

“The discipline that brings our shalom was upon him, and through his wounds we are healed.”

Isaiah 53:5

Shalom and healing for us, but what will happen to the servant himself? He is said to be “cut off from the land of the living,” and even given a grave. Yet the promise continues:

“He will see offspring and prolong his days, and Adonai’s purpose will succeed through his hand.”

Isaiah 53:10

How can someone cut off from the land of the living still see fruit and prolong his days? What opens for us if Adonai’s purpose continues to succeed through him, even beyond the grave?

Alongside this stands an even greater promise: “He will swallow up death forever, and Adonai Elohim will wipe tears from every face.” Suddenly, “an everlasting covenant” touches more than the years we live here. It reaches those already gathered to their rest. If the King lives and his kingdom endures, death does not have the last word either.

The word sent to bring life

“He sent His word and healed them.”

Psalm 107:20

And in Isaiah 55, the very chapter inviting us to hear and live, Adonai compares His word to rain descending from heaven, watering the earth and bringing forth life:

“So shall My word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty… it shall accomplish what I desire and succeed in the purpose for which I sent it.”

Isaiah 55:11

The word goes out from Adonai, is sent with a purpose and returns having fulfilled it. Suddenly, we hear again the words spoken of the servant: “Adonai’s purpose will succeed through his hand.”

The word is sent and brings healing; the servant brings us healing. The word accomplishes Adonai’s purpose; that purpose prospers in the servant’s hand. What connection begins to come into view?

When the clues come together

A king from David’s house whose kingdom lasts forever. The root of Yishai who is also a son of Yishai’s house. David’s lord. A servant cut off from the land of the living who will nevertheless prolong his days. Scripture does not rush us, but invites us to see how the threads connect.

I am among those who believe this King and servant is Yeshua the Mashiach, the Son of David, who bore our wrongdoing, rose from the dead, and invites us into life within his covenant.

At the end of Revelation, Yeshua describes himself in words that return us to Yeshayahu’s question: “I am the root and offspring of David.” He is the promised descendant of David’s house, and at the same time the root from which life comes.

The invitation is still near

Amid all these great questions, the voice calling us remains clear and simple: “Incline your ear and come to me; listen, so that your soul may live.” A little later we read: “Let him return to Adonai, who will have compassion on him… for he will abundantly forgive.”

We can begin here: listen, trust the one who calls, and take one step toward him. He invites us to come with our lives as they are, while promising compassion, life, and an everlasting covenant.

Let us turn our ears and draw near to him.

Scripture excerpts are translated from this site’s Hebrew text. Full-reading links open the Complete Jewish Bible, which follows Hebrew verse numbering.