“He is not dismissive of others: however useless or beyond repair (bruised reed), however ‘past it’ and near extinction (smouldering wick) they may seem. The negative statements imply their positive equivalents: he can mend the broken reed, fan into flame the smouldering wick. The former has been internally damaged, the latter lacks the external nourishment of oil. The Servant is competent both to cure and to supply.”
–J Alec Motyer, Isaiah (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries) [Downer’s Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1999), p. 260 [emphasis his], cited in this morning’s sermon