The servants who are regarded as worthy may eventually enter into the Joy of the Lord – the kingdom Joy is a zone very few people actually experience because of unfaithfulness. The key is to become a faithful servant until you are counted worthy: if you are faithful over a few you will be given abundance!Are you a worthy or unworthy servant?
Apostle Andre Pelser
2003/06/04

After all we have done for the Lord we are still to call ourselves unworthy servants ? and yet He has made us worthy of everything He has done for us!
WORTHY is an adjective which implies worth, excellence, merit. But it is also used in KJ in cases of fault or wrongdoing, deserving blame or punishment. ?If the wicked man be worthy to be beaten? (Deuteronomy 25:2) means ?if the guilty man deserves to be beaten.? ?Did commit things worthy of stripes? (Luke 12:48) means ?did what deserved a beating.?
?A sin worthy of death? (Deuteronomy 21:22) is ?a crime punishable by death.? Solomon?s judgment upon Abiathar, ?thou art worthy of death? (1 Kings 2:26) means ?you deserve death.? Pilate?s statement concerning Jesus, ?nothing worthy of death is done unto him? (Luke 23:15) is more accurately translated by RSV, ?nothing deserving death has been done by him??the ?unto him? of KJ is an old error in translation that goes back to Wyclif and Tyndale, who failed to recognize that the word for ?him? was in the dative case, denoting the agent, after a verb in the passive voice and perfect tense. Again, the ?worthy of death? idiom appears four times with respect to Paul, Acts 23:29; 25:11, 25; 26:31.
The KJ rendering of Hebrews 10:29 is: ?Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?? RSV has: ?How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the man who has spurned the Son of God, and profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace?? In Revelation 16:6 the concluding clause may easily be misunderstood??for they are worthy.? RSV translates ?It is their due!? This agrees with Knox; Goodspeed and Moffatt have ?as they deserve?; Phillips ?They have what they deserve.?
?Unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion? (1 Samuel 1:5) is based upon a corrupt Hebrew text. Most modern translations follow the Greek and Latin versions, as did Martin Luther in his German translation. RSV translates the verse: ?although he loved Hannah, he would give Hannah only one portion, because the Lord had closed her womb.?

The Law
Deuteronomy 25:2
2?then it shall be, if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, that the judge will cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence, according to his guilt, with a certain number of blows. 3?Forty blows he may give him and no more, lest he should exceed this and beat him with many blows above these, and your brother be humiliated in your sight.

Hannah the mother of Samuel
5But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb. 6And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb. 7And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat. 8Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons?

It seems as if the Hebrew mind connected having a son to being worthy, that is why Elkannah compared his love for Hannah to ten sons. He believed his love for her made her worthy ? but she insisted on producing a make off-spring before she felt worthy enough to be a wife.
Matthew 10: The worker is worthy of his hire.
7And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. 9Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, 10Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat. 11And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. 12And when ye come into an house, salute it. 13And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. 15Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

SERVANT OF THE LORD ? a theological concept in the Book of Isaiah that points forward to Jesus the Messiah. Passages in the book that express this idea are Isaiah 42:1?4; 49:1?6; 50:4?9; and 52:13?53:12.
But even before Isaiah?s time, the concept of God?s servant was deeply rooted in the history of the nation of Israel. The term ?servant? was frequently applied to those who performed some service, task, or mission for the Lord. It was applied to Abraham (Gen. 26:24), Isaac (Gen. 24:14), Jacob (Ezek. 28:25), and Moses (Deut. 34:5), as well as many of the prophets of the Old Testament.
But in the ?Servant Songs? of his book, the prophet Isaiah used the phrase ?Servant of the Lord? in a specialized or messianic sense. The Servant of the Lord not only would encounter and accept suffering in the course of His work, but He also would realize that His vicarious suffering would become the means by which He would give His life as a ransom for others.
The New Testament writers are unanimous in stating that the Servant of the Lord is a messianic figure and that Jesus is that Servant. The first of Isaiah?s ?Servant Songs? (Is. 42:1?4) was quoted by Matthew as being fulfilled in Jesus (Matt. 12:18?21). The Book of Acts emphasized the suffering and hostility the Messiah underwent to accomplish redemption (Acts 3:13, 26; 4:27, 30). In these passages Jesus is referred to as ?His Servant Jesus? (Acts 3:13, 26) and ?Your holy Servant Jesus? (Acts 4:27, 30). The violent treatment suffered by Jesus was precisely what the ?Servant Songs? of Isaiah prophesied about God?s Servant. Jesus saw His role as that of a servant (Mark 10:45, in fulfillment of Isaiah 53:10?11). He taught His followers to view His mission, and theirs as well, in terms of servanthood. Thus the Servant of the Lord, spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, is preeminently Jesus Himself.
According to Isaiah, the Servant of the Lord would ?bring forth justice to the Gentiles? (Is. 42:1) and establish ?justice in the earth? (Is. 42:4). He would bring Jacob back to the Lord (Is. 49:5) and would be ?a light to the Gentiles? (Is. 49:6). He would not hide His face from shame and spitting (Is. 50:6). He would be the sin-bearing Servant, giving His life for the redemption of His people (Is. 52:13?53:12).
Through Jesus the ancient mission given by God to Abraham?to be a blessing to all the families of the earth (Gen. 12:1?3)?is now entrusted to the church. The church?s responsibility is to preach the gospel to Jew and Gentile, bondslave and freeman, male and female, rich and poor. To be a servant of God is to serve Him continually (Dan. 6:20). As His mission was that of a servant, so must ours be (Mark 10:42?45).

Daniel was so sure that the God whom he served would save him:
Daniel 6
19Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions. 20And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, ?Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God,