John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 44:1

"Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant, and Israel, who I have chosen:" — Isaiah 44:1 (ASV)

Yet now hear. Having previously rebuked the transgressions of the people, and declared that all deserved eternal perdition because both the princes and the people had polluted everything by their crimes, he now mitigates that severity of punishment and comforts the people.

In this passage, I consider the particle ו (vau) to mean But or Yet, as in many other passages. As if he had said, “Though grievous afflictions are about to overtake you, yet now hear what I will do for your sake.”

The verse must be viewed in connection with the former argument, because the Lord declares that he will never permit his people to perish altogether, though they are grievously afflicted. From this, we infer that God is never so angry with his Church as not to leave some room for mercy, as we have already seen on many occasions. The consequence is that the prophets, whenever they threaten, always add some consolation as an abatement.

But lest we should imagine that men have deserved it by their good conduct, he therefore adds, whom I have chosen; for we do not serve God because we are entitled to it, or deserve it, but because he makes us fit by a free election. In this passage, therefore, the words Servant and Elect are synonymous, yet so that election comes first in order, and therefore David says that he was God’s “servant” before he was born, because even from his mother’s womb he had been received into God’s family (Psalms 22:10; Psalms 71:6; Psalms 116:16).