“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;
My chosen one in whom my soul delights.”  Isaiah 42:1

Looking at this from the Servant’s point of view: 

Divine pleasure brings a sense of consolation, energy, and peace.  How freeing it is to serve God out of a heart flooded with the love of the Father and filled with a sense of His approval.  Such deep assurance fortifies God’s servant against human disapproval and protects Him from the vanity that seeks self-satisfaction.  Nourished by God’s endorsement, the Servant can withstand criticism and rejection.  And this assurance of God’s delight surely lifts Servanthood into the realm of relationship.  A look back at Isaiah 41:8 shows us that Abraham, God’s servant, was also called God’s friend.

Servanthood may be unfashionable nowadays but in Isaiah’s day a servant’s dignity was measured by the status of his master, and the role of a servant was not necessarily a demeaning one.  Many nations still reflect this fact, albeit obscurely, by calling their chief political leader “First Minister” (literally ‘first servant’) or “Prime Minister”.  In God’s eyes those who are “first” in the kingdom are not those who have the greatest number of servants but those who serve the greatest number.

“I have put My Spirit upon Him;”

It is one thing to be chosen, it is another to be anointed.  The Servant of the Lord is not only chosen for a task but empowered to perform that task.

It mattered not that God’s servants were not resplendent figures, decked out in fine robes and jewels.  What mattered was that a servant of God was emboldened the servant to represent his Master and reassured him of His authority.

His Holy Spirit is the signature of love divine!  Just as a great artist signs his paintings with pleasure and pride, so God writes His name on your heart by the Spirit and thus owns you as His servant.  His “powerful stamp” is upon you.  Surely that is enough to make even the quietest and most dignified Christians shout “Praise the Lord!”

“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.
He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit
In our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 
 2 Cor. 1:21-22