Yahweh, you are my God. I will exalt you! I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago, in complete faithfulness and truth. For you have made a city into a heap, a fortified city into a ruin, a palace of strangers to be no city. It will never be built. Therefore a strong people will glorify you. A city of awesome nations will fear you. For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the blast of the dreaded ones is like a storm against the wall. As the heat in a dry place you will bring down the noise of strangers; as the heat by the shade of a cloud, the song of the dreaded ones will be brought low.
In this mountain, Yahweh of Armies will make all peoples a feast of choice meat, a feast of choice wines, of choice meat full of marrow, of well refined choice wines. He will destroy in this mountain the surface of the covering that covers all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He has swallowed up death forever! The Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from off all faces. He will take the reproach of his people away from off all the earth, for Yahweh has spoken it.
It shall be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God! We have waited for him, and he will save us! This is Yahweh! We have waited for him. We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation!” For Yahweh’s hand will rest in this mountain. Moab will be trodden down in his place, even like straw is trodden down in the water of the dunghill.
He will spread out his hands in the middle of it, like one who swims spreads out hands to swim, but his pride will be humbled together with the craft of his hands. He has brought the high fortress of your walls down, laid low, and brought to the ground, even to the dust.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 Thus the Prophet giveth thanks to God because he…
Thus the Prophet giveth thanks to God because he will bring under subjection these nations by his corrections, and make them of his Church, which before were his enemies.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–12 Isa 25:1 O LORD, thou [art] my God; I…
Isa 25:1 O LORD, thou [art] my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful [things; thy] counsels of old [are] faithfulness [and] truth.
Ver. 1. O Lord, thou art my God.] Sunt verba fidelium in regno Christi, saith Piscator. These are the words of the subjects of Christ’s kingdom, who in the end of the former chapter are called his ancients or elders. See Rev 4:4. But that of Oecolampadius I like better: More suo in iubilum et hymnum erumpit propheta. The prophet, as his manner is, breaketh forth into a joyful jubilation; and being ravished, and as it were rapt beyond himself with the consideration of such marvellous things, he first maketh a stop or breathing, and then sweetly celebrateth God’s power, truth, justice, and mercy; the naked heart of it were seen, as it were in an anatomy, in the sending of his Son, and the benefits thereby; concerning which the apostles afterwards discoursing more plainly and plentifully, do yet make use of some passages in this chapter, as is to be seen. {1Co 15:51-57 Rev 7:10-17; Rev 21:24-27}
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Thou art my God.] So to say ex animo is the very pith of true faith; the property whereof is to individuate God, and appropriate him to itself.
I will exalt thee.] This we do when we bless and praise him for his blessings. But what a mercy is it of so great a Majesty that he should count himself thus exalted and magnified by such worthless worms as we are! And how should this excite and edge us to so holy a service!
For thou least done wonderful things.] In the world’s creation, but especially in the Church’s preservation.
Thy counsels of old.] Thy promises and threatenings are all fulfilled and verified; they are faithful and firm.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–12 The prophet reflecting upon those great and glorious prophecies…
The prophet reflecting upon those great and glorious prophecies which he had delivered concerning the destruction of his enemies, and the protection and deliverance of his people, and the sending of the Messiah, and the establishment of his own kingdom in spite of all opposition, interrupteth the course of his prophecies, and breaketh forth into a solemn celebration of all these wonderful works.
Thy counsels of old are faithfuless and truth; thy counsels, from which all thy works proceed, and which thou hast from time to time revealed to thy prophets and people, which were
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of old, being conceived from all eternity, and long since made known by thy threatenings and promises, are true and firm, and therefore shall certainly be accomplished,
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 6, 9 It is said in the close of the foregoing…
It is said in the close of the foregoing chapter that the Lord of hosts shall reign gloriously; now, in compliance with this, the prophet here speaks of the glorious majesty of his kingdom (Psa 145:12), and gives him the glory of it; and, however this prophecy might have an accomplishment in the destruction of Babylon and the deliverance of the Jews out of their captivity there, it seems to look further, to the praises that should be offered up to God by the gospel church for Christ's victories over our spiritual enemies and the comforts he has provided for all believers. Here,
I. The prophet determines to praise God himself; for those that would stir up others should in the first place stir up themselves to praise God (Isa 25:1): "O Lord! thou art my God, a God in covenant with me." When God is punishing the kings of the earth upon the earth, and making them to tremble before him, a poor prophet can go to him, and, with a humble boldness, say, O Lord! thou art my God, and therefore I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name. Those that have the Lord for their God are bound to praise him; for therefore he took us to be his people that we might be unto him for a name and for a praise, Jer 13:11. In praising God we exalt him; not that we can make him higher than he is, but we must make him to appear to ourselves and others than he does. See Exo 15:2.
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II. He pleases himself with the thought that others also shall be brought to praise God, Isa 25:3. "Therefore, because of the desolations thou hast made in the earth by thy providence (Psa 46:8) and the just vengeance thou hast taken on thy and thy church's enemies, therefore shall the strong people glorify thee in concert, and the city (the metropolis) of the terrible nations fear thee." This may be understood, 1. Of those people that have been strong and terrible against God. Those that have been enemies to God's kingdom, and have fought against the interests of it with a great deal of strength and terror, shall either be converted, and glorify God by joining with his people in his service, or at least convinced, so as to own themselves conquered. Those that have been the terror of the mighty shall be forced to tremble before the judgments of God and call in vain to rocks and mountains to hide them. Or, 2. Of those that shall be now made strong and terrible for God and by him, though before they were weak and trampled upon. God shall so visibly appear for and with those that fear him and glorify him that all shall acknowledge them a strong people and shall stand in awe of them. There was a time when many of the people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell upon them (Est 8:17), and when those that knew their God were strong and did exploits (Dan 11:32), for which they glorified God.
III. He observes what is, and ought to be, the matter of this praise. We and others must exalt God and praise him; for, 1. He has done wonders, according to the counsel of his own will, Isa 25:1. We exalt God by admiring what he has done as truly wonderful, wonderful proofs of his power beyond what any creature could perform, and wonderful proofs of his goodness beyond what such sinful creatures as we are could expect. These wonderful things, which are new and surprising to us, and altogether unthought of, are according to his counsels of old, devised by his wisdom and designed for his own glory and the comfort of his people. All the operations of providence are according to God's eternal counsels (and those faithfulness and truth itself), all consonant to his attributes, consistent with one another, and sure to be accomplished in their season. 2. He has in particular humbled the pride, and broken the power, of the mighty ones of the earth (Isa 25:2): "Thou hast made of a city, of many a city, a heap of rubbish. Of many a defenced city, that thought itself well guarded by nature and art, and the multitude and courage of its militia, thou hast made a ruin." What created strength can hold out against Omnipotence? "Many a city so richly built that it might be called a palace, and so much frequented and visited by persons of the best rank from all parts that it might be called a palace of strangers, thou hast made to be no city; it is levelled with the ground, and not one stone left upon another, and it shall never be built again." This has been the case of many cities in divers parts of the world, and in our own nation particularly; cities that flourished once have gone to decay and are lost, and it is scarcely known (except by urns or coins digged up out of the earth) where they stood. How many of the cities of Israel have long since been heaps and ruins! God hereby teaches us that here we have no continuing city and must therefore seek one to come which will never be a ruin or go to decay. 3. He has seasonably relieved and succoured his necessitous and distressed people (Isa 25:4): Thou has been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy. As God weakens the strong that are proud and secure, so he strengthens the weak that are humble and serious, and stay themselves upon him. Nay, he not only makes them strong, but he is himself their strength; for in him they strengthen themselves, and it is his favour that is the strength of their hearts. He is a strength to the needy in his distress, when he needs strength, and when his distress drives him to God. And, as he strengthens them against their inward decays, so he shelters them from outward assaults. He is a refuge from the storm of rain or hail, and a shadow from the scorching heat of the sun in summer. God is a sufficient protection to his people in all weathers, hot and cold, wet and dry. The armour of righteousness serves both on the right hand and on the left, Co2 6:7. Whatever dangers or troubles God's people may be in, effectual care is taken that they shall sustain no real hurt or damage. When perils are most threatening and alarming God will then appear for the safety of his people: When the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall, which makes a great noise, but cannot overthrow the wall. The enemies of God's poor are terrible ones; they do all they can to make themselves so to them. Their rage is like a blast of wind, loud, and blustering, and furious; but, like the wind, it is under a divine check; for God holds the winds in his fist, and God will be such a shelter to his people that they shall be able to stand the shock, keep their ground, and maintain their integrity and peace. A storm beating on a ship tosses it, but that which beats on a wall never stirs it, Psa 76:10; Psa 138:7. 4. That he does and will shelter those that trust in him from the insolence of their proud oppressors (Isa 25:5): Thou shalt, or thou dost, bring down the noise of strangers; thou shalt abate and still it, as the heat in a dry place is abated and moderated by the shadow of a cloud interposing. The branch, or rather the son or triumph, of the terrible ones shall be brought low, and they shall be made to change their note and lower their voice. Observe here, (1.) The oppressors of God's people are called strangers; for they forget that those they oppress are made of the same mould, of the same blood, with them. They are called terrible ones; for so they affect to be, rather than amiable ones: they would rather be feared than loved. (2.) Their insolence towards the people of God is noisy and hot, and that is all; it is but the noise of strangers, who think to carry their point by hectoring and bullying all that stand in their way, and talking big. Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise, Jer 46:17. It is like the heat of the sun scorching in the middle of the day; but where is it when the sun has set? (3.) Their noise, and heat, and all their triumph, will be humbled and brought low, when their hopes are baffled and all their honours laid in the dust. The branches, even the top branches, of the terrible ones, will be broken off, and thrown to the dunghill. (4.) If the labourers in God's vineyard be at any time called to bear the burden and heat of the day, he will find some way or other to refresh them, as with the shadow of a cloud, that they may not be pressed above measure.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–12 O Lord, thou art my God,.... Not by creation…
O Lord, thou art my God,.... Not by creation and providence only, but by covenant and grace. This is the first and foundation blessing of grace, and secures all the rest; in this true happiness consists, and is preferable to every other enjoyment; the knowledge of it is come at in effectual calling, and by the witnessing of the Spirit; it is the highest attainment of grace to be assured of it; and though it is not always seen and known, it will always remain, and will be the glory of the New Jerusalem state, Rev 21:3. These are the words, Aben Ezra says, either of the prophet, or of the ancients, before whom the Lord will reign, Isa 24:23. Kimchi says of the latter, which seems very probable, these are the elders and representatives of the church; see Rev 11:16.
I will exalt thee; the Lord God, Father, Son, and Spirit; the Father, by attributing the whole of salvation to his love and free favour; the Son, by ascribing deity to him, by making use of him in all his offices of Prophet, Priest, and King, and by giving him the glory of salvation wrought out by him; the Spirit, in his person, and the operations of his grace. Christ, in particular, will be exalted in this state as King of saints, and because of his having taken to himself his reigning power, Rev 11:15.
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I will praise thy name; celebrate his perfections, confess him before men, praise him for all his benefits; this is one way of exalting him, and is the great work of New Testament saints, and especially in the latter day; see Rev 19:1.
for thou hast done wonderful things; this respects not so much the wonderful things in nature and grace, either in creation and providence, or in redemption and effectual calling; but what will be done in the latter day; as the conversion of the Jews and Gentiles, the destruction of antichrist, and the glorious appearing of the kingdom of Christ:
thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth; the decrees and purposes of God, which are from eternity, are all truly and faithfully performed; this is an amplification of the wonderful things which are done according to the counsel of the divine will; not only the choice of men to salvation, the redemption of them by Christ, and their effectual calling; but the calling of the Jews and Gentiles, in particular, in the latter day, and all things relating to the church to the end of time; which, as they were fixed in the eternal purpose of God, they are punctually and exactly brought about in time; these are the true and faithful sayings of God, Rev 19:9.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1–12 God glorious in his judgments on Babel, ver. 1-5.…
God glorious in his judgments on Babel, ver. 1-5. and his people's salvation, ver. 6-12.
O Lord - The prophet reflecting upon those great and glorious prophecies which he had delivered, interrupts the course of his prophecies, and breaks forth into a solemn celebration of God's wonderful works. Thy counsels - From which all thy works proceed, and which thou hast from time to time revealed to thy prophets and people, which were of old, being conceived from all eternity, are true and firm, and shall certainly be accomplished.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 The short glance which the prophet gave at the…
CHAPTER XXV
The short glance which the prophet gave at the promised
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restoration of the people of God and the Messiah's kingdom, in
the close of the preceding chapter, makes him break out into a
rapturous song of praise in this, where although he alludes to
temporal mercies, such as the destruction of the cities which
had been at war with Zion, the ruin of Moab, and other signal
interpositions of Divine Providence in behalf of the Jews; yet
he is evidently impressed with a more lively sense of future
and much higher blessings under the Gospel dispensation, in
the plenitude of its revelation, of which the temporal
deliverances vouchsafed at various tines to the primitive
kingdoms of Israel and Judah were the prototypes, 1-5.
These blessings are described under the figure of a feast made
for all nations, 6;
the removing of a veil from their faces, 7;
the total extinction of the empire of death by the resurrection
from the dead, the exclusion of all sorrow, and the final
overthrow of all the enemies of the people of God, 8-12.
It does not appear to me that this chapter has any close and particular connexion with the chapter immediately preceding, taken separately, and by itself. The subject of that was the desolation of the land of Israel and Judah, by the just judgment of God, for the wickedness and disobedience of the people: which, taken by itself, seems not with any propriety to introduce a hymn of thanksgiving to God for his mercies to his people in delivering them from their enemies. But taking the whole course of prophecies, from the thirteenth to the twenty-fourth chapter inclusive, in which the prophet foretells the destruction of several cities and nations, enemies to the Jews, and of the land of Judah itself, yet with intimations of a remnant to be saved, and a restoration to be at length effected by a glorious establishment of the kingdom of God: with a view to this extensive scene of God's providence in all its parts, and in all its consequences, the prophet may well be supposed to break out into this song of praise; in which his mind seems to be more possessed with the prospect of future mercies than with the recollection of the past. - L.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXV
Verse 1. Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.] That is, All thy past declarations by the prophets shall be fulfilled in their proper time.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 Isa 25:1. O Lord — O Jehovah, thou art…
Isa 25:1. O Lord — O Jehovah, thou art my God — In covenant with me: my friend, my father, my portion. The prophet speaks in the name of the whole church, and of every true member of it. I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name — Expressions these flowing from a deep and grateful sense of the divine goodness. Those that have Jehovah for their God are in duty bound to praise him. For thou hast done wonderful things — In different ages and nations from the beginning hitherto, especially for thy own people, and against their enemies. Thy counsels of old — Hebrew, מרחק, properly, from afar, signifying not only counsels long before taken, but which had been long before declared and published by the prophets; are faithfulness and truth — That is, thy counsels, from which all thy works proceed, and which thou hast from time to time revealed to thy prophets and people, which were of old, being conceived from all eternity, are true and firm, and shall certainly be accomplished.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–12 O Lord, thou art my God - The prophet…
O Lord, thou art my God - The prophet speaks, not in his own name, but in the name of the people that would be delivered from bondage. The sense is, that Yahweh had manifested himself as their covenant-keeping God; and that in view of his faithfulness in keeping his promises, they now had demonstration that he was their God.
I will exalt thee - A form of expression often used to denote praise Psa 118:28; Psa 145:1, meaning that the worshipper would exalt God in the view of his own mind, or would regard him as above all other beings and objects.
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For thou hast done wonderful things - On the meaning of the Hebrew, פלא pel' - ‘wonderful,’ see the note at Isa 9:6.
Thy counsels of old - Which were formed and revealed long since. The counsels referred to are those respecting the delivery of his people from bondage, which had been expressed even long before their captivity commenced, and which would be now completely and triumphantly fulfilled.
Are faithfulness - Have been brought to pass; do not fail.
And truth - Hebrew, אמן 'omen - whence our word Amen. Septuagint, Γένοιτο Genoito - ‘Let it be.’ The word denotes that the purposes of God were firm, and would certainly be fulfilled.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11 Amen. He approves of God’s judgments (Haydock) against Jerusalem.…
Amen. He approves of God’s judgments (Haydock) against Jerusalem. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On vv1, 6 1 O Lord, thou art my God;
3. ISRAEL’S SONG OF PRAISE FOR DELIVERANCE
Isa_25:1-5
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1 O Lord, thou art my God;
I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name;
For thou hast done wonderful things;
Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
2 For thou hast made of a city an heap;
Of a defenced city a ruin;
A palace of strangers to be no city;
It shall never be built.
3 Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee,
The city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.
4 For thou hast been a 1strength to the poor,
A 2strength to the needy in his distress;
A refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat;
3When the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
5 Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers,
As the heat in a dry place;
Even the heat with the shadow of a cloud:
The 4branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa_25:1. אדוממך (comp. Psa_30:2) forms an intended rhyme with שִׁמְךָ. The expression עשׂה פלא first occurs Exo_15:11. Comp. פֶלֶא יוֹעֵץ Isa_9:5. Here עצות follows פלא as there יוֹעץ. Is this accidental? אמן אמונה (אמן is ἄπ. λεγ.). The two words are dependent on עשׂית. God has shown truth which is faithfulness, i.e., faithful, certain. The two substantives of the same root (comp. Isa_3:1; Isa_16:6) which are placed togother, stand in the relation of apposition. Similar constructions occur Pro_22:21; Jer_10:10; Gen_1:12; Jer_20:1. In these cases the substantive standing in apposition serves the place of an adjective that is wanting, or intensifies the notion of the adjective.
Isa_25:2. The construction שׂמת מעיר לנל is a confusio duarum constructionum. For it must be either שַׂמְתָּ עִיר לְנַל (comp. Joe_1:7; Isa_5:20; Isa_14:23, et saepe) or שַׂמְתָּ נַּל מֵעִיר (comp. Hos_13:2; Gen_2:19). The construction here employed has arisen from the blending of these two modes of expression. Before חרֶֹב, Isa_25:5 b, we have to supply כְּ from the first part of the verse, or חרב is to be regarded as in apposition.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. The contemplation of the mighty acts of God naturally excites to praise and thanksgiving. We are here reminded of Rom_11:33 sqq., where Paul cannot avoid praising in a hymn the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. In like manner the Prophet here extols the Lord for having executed so gloriously His wonderful purpose embracing the most remote times, thus having proved Himself to be true, and at the same time having attested the Prophet as a faithful interpreter of the thoughts of God (Isa_25:1). The Lord has shown how He can make good what is most incredible. He announced the destruction of great cities, when they were in the height of their power and glory; and so it has happened (Isa_25:2). He has thereby constrained even His enemies to honor and fear Him (Isa_25:3). But to His poor oppressed church He has been a shield and refuge; and has subdued the raging of her enemies against her (Isa_25:5).
2. O LORD … truth.
Isa_25:1. The Prophet here sings a psalm as in chapter 12. The very commencement: O LORD, thou art my God recalls places of the Psalms as Psa_31:15; Psa_40:6; Psa_86:12; Psa_118:28; Psa_143:10; Psa_145:1; comp. Jer_31:18, places which are related to the one before us partly as models, but mostly as copies. The עצות מרחק are in my judgment not merely the counsels conceived from afar, i.e., from eternity (Isa_22:11; Isa_37:26), but also the counsels reaching to a remote incalculable distance. מרחק can grammatically bear this meaning (Isa_17:13; Isa_20:3). And is it not a quite characteristic mark of the prophecy contained in chap. 24 to which this hymn particularly relates, that it reaches to the utmost, end of the present aeon of the world? Could this have remained unknown to the Prophet? Although, according to 1Pe_1:11, Isaiah, when reflecting on the time of the fulfilment, could not attain to exact knowledge, yet so much he must have been aware of, that his look was fixed on facts which follow the destruction of the globe of the earth in its present form (Isa_24:17 sqq.). The Prophet risked something when he gave expression to these strange unintelligible things which appeared such as an enthusiast would utter. But he could not do otherwise, and he did it unhesitatingly, confiding in the omniscience and veracity of the Lord. And this sure confidence, that he with his bold prophecy would not be put to shame, did not deceive him. He sees all the marvels which he predicted realized. Therefore he praises God’s truth, faithfulness.
3. For thou hast made—fear thee.
Isa_25:2-3. The Prophet now goes into details. The prophecy contains partly threatening, partly promise. The Lord has made both good. This is first affirmed of the threatening, and at the same time the salutary effect of its fulfilment is shown (Isa_25:3). כִּי in the beginning of Isa_25:2, and כִּי in the beginning of Isa_25:4 correspond to one another. Both serve to prove the truth of what was said in Isa_25:1 : For thou hast done,etc. The general expression for thou hast made of a city a stone-heap, sets at defiance all attempts of modern criticism to explain the prophecy of some definite historical fact. Not only once, but as often as it was predicted, the Lord has converted into a stone-heap a city which at the time of the threatening was mighty and flourishing. City and defenced city are used collectively. After the all-including עִיר the Prophet makes mention of the prominent parts of the city, the fortifications and the high buildings (palaces). ארמון23:13; Isa_32:14; Isa_34:13. The palaces of the foreigners (comp. on Isa_1:7) have become מֵעִיר, i.e., without city, and therefore no city. They stand desolated and solitary in the midst of the destroyed city, still capable of being recognized as palaces, but yet in the way of becoming what all around them is. For what else than a ruin can a palace become, which no city, no wall encompasses, which is exposed to every attack? The ruins of the palaces of Nineveh, Babylon, etc., attest this. מִן in מֵעִיר is therefore to be taken in that negative sense in which it can denote “without,” and also “not.” (Comp. Isa_17:1; Isa_7:8; Isa_23:1). We have further to observe that the two מֵעִיר in Isa_25:2 correspond to one another; if out of the city (מֵעִיר), there has become a heap, then the ארכאן is also מֵעיר, i.e., the palace has no longer a city around it, and is also no more a city. This is very prominently set forth by the last clause it shall never be built (from Deu_13:7, comp. Job_12:14). The conquered must own the might of the victor, do him homage and fear him. This homage and fear may be caused by sheer force, and so be merely outward. But it is possible that the conquered have been inwardly vanquished by their adversary, i.e., that they have perceived that there is error and injustice on their side, and on the side of their conqueror, truth and right. In this case the honor and fear which they render, will be not merely constrained and outward, but voluntary and sincere. The latter is to be supposed here. Isaiah has frequently predicted the conversion of the heathen Isa_2:2 sqq.; Isa_11:10; Isa_19:18 sqq.; Isa_23:15 sqq.; Isa_24:13 sqq. Mark the imperfects (futures) in Isa_25:3. The Prophet sees what is expressed in Isa_25:2 as absolutely past; but the honoring and fearing spoken of in Isa_25:3, will continue to all eternity.
4. For thou hast been—brought low.
Isa_25:4-5. The leading thought of these two verses is that the Prophet perceives with gratitude and joy the manner in which the Lord has fulfilled His promises. כִּי in Isa_25:4 corresponds therefore to כִּי in Isa_25:2. That the Lord will be מָעוֹז (stronghold, Isa_17:9-10; Isa_23:4; Isa_23:14; Isa_27:5; Isa_30:3) to the דַּל (Isa_10:2; Isa_11:4; Isa_14:30; Isa_26:6) and to the אֶבְיוֹן (Isa_14:30; Isa_29:19; Isa_32:7; Isa_41:17) has been often enough declared by the Prophet (comp. the passages referred to). דל and אביון are, as Delitzsch remarks, designations, well-known from the Psalms, of the “ecclesia pressa.” The second part of Isa_25:4 is almost wholly borrowed from Isa_4:6. What is there promised is here seen by the Prophet as fulfilled (comp. Isa_32:2). But this fulfilment has a positive and a negative side. The positive, i.e., the giving of safety is only possible on the ground of the negative, i.e., after the destruction of those who would deprive the poor of safety and bring them to ruin. כִּי (translate for) before רוּחַ is therefore not co-ordinate with כִּי in the beginning of Isa_25:2; Isa_25:4, but is subordinate to the latter. רוּחַ is here the blast, the storm, the furious snorting, raging of the violent ones (Isa_30:28; Isa_33:11). זרם קיר is a wall-storm,i.e., a storm beating against a strong wall. See a parallel expression in Isa_9:3 : מַטֵּה שְׁכֶם, the staff striking the shoulder. Mark how the hindrances to safety previously mentioned are here represented under a three-fold gradation רוּחַ ,שָׁאוֹן and זְמִיר. We shall not err if we regard the first word as marking the beginning, the second the middle, and the third the end of the hostile action. For one part of the assaults made by the wicked on the servants and children of God is warded off at the very commencement, when it is yet only snorting. It rebounds without doing harm as rain from the stone wall. But another part reaches its full meridian height. It sends forth the arrows of its fury as the sun sends forth the arrows of its flame in the hot land, but the Lord bends them downwards. After a victory has been won, songs of triumph are sung (זמיר means triumphal song, not branch, comp. Son_2:12). The enemies of the people of God can in many cases have their victory and triumph. But even when it has gone so far, the Lord is still able to afford deliverance. He can bow to the dust the enemy already triumphant, and singing songs of praise. As the shadow (Isa_30:2-3; Isa_49:2; Isa_51:16) of a cloud keeps off the rays of the sun, and so diminishes the heat, so will a humiliating termination be prepared for the enemies’ song of victory by the hand of the Most High, which He holds as a sheltering shadow over His people (Isa_49:2; Isa_51:16; Job_8:9).
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Isa_24:2. “When general judgments take place, no distinction is observed between man and wife, master and servant, mistress and maid, learned and unlearned, noble and plebeian, clergy and laity; therefore let no one rely on any external prerogative or superiority, but let every one without distinction repent and forsake sin.”—Cramer. Though this is right, yet we must, on the other hand, remember that the Lord declares in reference to the same great event, “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left” (Mat_24:10 sq.). There is no contradiction in these two statements. Both are true: outward relations will make no difference; there shall be no respect of persons. But the state of the heart will make a difference. According to the inward character there will, in the case of those whose external position in the world is perfectly alike, be some who enter life, others whose doom is death.
2. Isa_24:5 sq. “The earth is burdened with sins, and is therefore deprived of every blessing. The earth must suffer for our guilt, when we have as it were spoilt it, and it must be subject to vanity for our sakes (Rom_8:20). What wonder is it that it should show itself ungrateful toward us?”—Cramer.
[3. Isa_24:13 sq. “Observe the small number of this remnant; here and there one who shall escape the common calamity (as Noah and his family, when the old world was drowned), who when all faces gather blackness, can lift up their head with joy. Luk_21:26-28.” Henry.—D. M.].
4. Isa_24:17-20. Our earth is a volcanic body. Mighty volcanic forces were active at its formation. That these are still in commotion in the interior of the earth is proved by the many active volcanoes scattered over the whole earth, and by the perpetual volcanic convulsions which we call earthquakes. These have hitherto been confined to particular localities. But who can guarantee that a concentration and simultaneous eruption of those volcanic forces, that is, a universal earthquake, shall not hereafter occur? The Lord makes express mention of earthquakes among the signs which shall precede His second coming (Mat_24:7; Mar_13:8; Luk_21:11). And in 2Pe_3:5 sqq. the future destruction of the earth by fire is set over against the destruction of the old world by water. Isaiah in our place announces a catastrophe whose characteristic features will be that, 1) there will be no escape from it; 2) destructive forces will assail from above and below; 3) the earth will be rent asunder; 4) it will reel and totter; 5) it will suffer so heavy a fall that it will not rise again (Isa_24:20 b). Is there not here a prophecy of the destruction of the earth by volcanic forces? And how suddenly can they break loose! The ministers of the word have every reason to compare this extreme exposedness of our earth to fire, and the possibility of its unexpectedly sudden collapse with the above-cited warnings of the word of God, and to attach thereto the admonition which is added in 2Pe_3:11.
5. Isa_24:21. The earth is a part of our planetary system. It is not what it appears to the optical perception to be, a central body around which worlds of a different nature revolve, but it, together with many similar bodies, revolves round a common centre. The earth according to that view of the account of the creation in Genesis 1, which appears to me the true one, has arisen with all the bodies of our Solar system out of one primary matter, originally united, common to them all. If our Solar System is a well-ordered, complete organism, it must rest on the basis of a not merely formal, but also material unity; i.e., the separate bodies must move, not only according to a principle of order which governs all, but they must also as to their substance be essentially like. And as they arose simultaneously, so must they perish simultaneously. It is inconceivable that our earth alone should disappear from the organism of the Solar System, or pass over to a higher material condition. Its absence, or ceasing to exist in its previous form and substance, would necessarily draw after it the ruin of the whole system. Hence the Scripture speaks every where of a passing away and renovation of the heaven and the earth (Psa_102:26; Isa_51:6; Isa_65:17; Isa_66:22; Mat_5:18; Mat_24:29; Mat_24:35; 2Pe_3:7; 2Pe_3:10; 2Pe_3:13; Heb_12:26; Rev_20:11; Rev_21:1). The heaven that shall pass away with a great noise, whose powers shall be shaken, whose stars shall fall, is the planetary heaven. The same lot will happen to the companions of our earth, to the other planets, and to the centre, the sun, and to all other co-ordinate and subordinate stellar bodies, which will befall the earth itself. This is the substance of the view which serves as a basis for our place. But personal beings are not thereby by any means excluded from the צבא מרום. The parallel expression מלכי האדמה, and the use in other places of the related expression צבא השׁמים lead us rather to suppose personal beings to be included. But I believe that a distinction must be made here. As the heavenly bodies which will pass away simultaneously with the earth, can only be those which arose together with it, and which stand in organic connection with it, so also the angelic powers, which are judged simultaneously with us men, can be only those which stand in connection with the heavenly bodies of our Solar System, i.e., with the earthly material world. There are heavenly bodies of glorious pneumatic substance. If personal beings stand in connection with them, they must also be pure, glorious, resplendent beings. These will not be judged. They are the holy angels, who come with the Lord (Mat_25:31). But it is quite conceivable that all the bodies of our Solar System are till the judgment like our earth suffered to be the theatre of the spirits of darkness.
6. Isa_24:21-23, It seems to me that the Prophet has here sketched the chief matters pertaining to eschatology. For the passing away of heaven and earth, the binding of Satan (Rev_20:1-3), the loosing of Satan again (Rev_20:7), and finally the reign of God alone, which will make sun and moon unnecessary (Rev_21:23)—are not these the boundary-stones of the chief epochs of the history of the end of the world?
7. Isa_25:6. [“The Lord of hosts makes this feast. The provision is very rich, and every thing is of the best. It is a feast, which supposes abundance and variety; it is a continual feast to believers: it is their fault if it be not. It is a feast of fat things and full of marrow; so relishing, so nourishing are the comforts of the Gospel to all those that feast upon them and digest them. The returning prodigal was entertained with the fatted calf; and David has that pleasure in communion with God, with which his soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness. It is a feast of wines on the lees; the strongest-bodied wines, that have been long kept upon the lees, and then are well refined from them, so that they are clear and fine. There is that in the Gospel which, like fine wine, soberly used, makes glad the heart, and raises the spirits, and is fit for those that are of a heavy heart, being under convictions of sin, and mourning for it, that they may drink and forget their misery (for that is the proper use of wine; it is a cordial for those that need it, Pro_31:6-7) may be of good cheer, knowing that their sins are forgiven, and may be vigorous in their spiritual work and warfare, as a strong man refreshed with wine.” Henry.—D. M.]
8. Isa_25:9. “In the Old Testament the vail and covering were before men’s eyes, partly because they waited for the light that was to appear, partly because they sat in darkness and in the shadow of death (Luk_1:79). The fulfilment of this prediction has in Christ already begun, and will at last be perfectly fulfilled in the Church triumphant where all ignorance and sorrow shall be dispelled (1Co_13:12).” Cramer.
9. Isa_25:8. “God here represents Himself as a mother, who presses to her bosom her sorrowful son, comforts him and wipes away his tears (Isa_66:13). The righteous are to believe and appropriate this promise, that every one may learn to speak with Paul in the time of trial: the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us, Rom_8:18.” Cramer.
10. Isa_25:10. “This is now the hope and consolation of the church that the hand of the Lord rests on this mountain, that is, that He will be gracious, and let His power, help and grace be there seen and felt. But the unbelieving Moabites, i.e., the Jews, with all others who will not receive the gospel, shall be threshed to pieces as straw in the mire; these the Lord’s hand will not rescue, as it helps those who wait on Him, but it shall press them down so that they will never rise, according to the saying, Mar_16:16.” Veit Dietrich.
11. Isaiah 25 Three thoughts contained in this chapter we should hold fast: 1) When we see the world triumph over every thing which belongs to the Lord and His kingdom, when our hearts are anxious about the preservation in the world of the Church of Christ, which is sore oppressed, let this word of the Prophet comfort our hearts. The world-city which contains all that is of the world, sinks into the dust, and the church of Christ goes from her chains and bands into the state of freedom and glory. We have often seen that it is the Lord’s way to let every thing come to maturity. When it is once ripe, He comes suddenly with His sentence. Let us comfort ourselves therewith, for thus will it happen with the world and its dominion over the faithful followers of Christ. When it is ripe, suddenly it will come to an end. 2) No one who has a heart for the welfare of the nations can see without the deepest pain how all hearts are now seduced and befooled, and all eyes closed and covered. The simplest truths are no longer acknowledged, but the more perverse, brutal and mean views and doctrines are, the more greedily are they laid hold of. We cannot avert this. But our comfort is that even this seduction of the nations will reach its climax. Then men will come to themselves. The vail and covering will fall off, and the Gospel will shine with new light before the nations. Therewith let us comfort ourselves. 3) Till this happens, the church is sorrowful. But she shall be full of joy. The promise is given to her that she shall be fully satisfied with the good things of the house of the Lord. A life is promised to her which neither death nor any pain can affect, as she has rest from all enemies. The word of the Lord shall be fulfilled in her: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. The Church that has such a promise may wait in patient quietness for its accomplishment, and praise the Lord in affliction, till it pleases Him to glorify her before all nations.” Weber, The Prophet Isaiah. 1875.
12. Isa_26:1. “The Christian church is a city of God. God has built it, and He is the right Master-builder. It is strong: 1) on account of the Builder; 2) on account of the foundation and corner-stone, which is Christ; 3) on account of the bond wherewith the living stones are bound together, which is the unity of the faith.” Cramer. [The security and happiness of true believers, both on earth and in heaven, is represented in Scripture under the image of their dwelling in a city in which they can bid defiance to all their enemies. We dwell in such a city even now, Psa_46:4-5. We look for such a city, Heb_11:10; Heb_11:16; Revelation 21—D. M.]
13. Isa_26:2. [These words may be taken as a description of the people whom God owns, who are fit to be accounted members of the church of the living God on earth, and who will not be excluded from the celestial city. Instead of complaining that only the righteous and the faithful will be admitted into the heavenly city, it should rather give us joy to think that there will be no sin there, that none but the just and true will there be found. This has been a delightful subject of reflection to God’s saints. The last words written by Henry Martyn were: “Oh! when shall time give place to eternity? When shall appear that new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness? There, there shall in no wise enter in any thing that defileth; none of that wickedness which has made men worse than wild beasts—none of their corruptions which add to the miseries of mortality shall be seen or heard of any more.”—D. M.]
14. Isa_26:4. “The fourth privilege of the church is trust in God the Rock of Ages, i.e., in Christ, who not only here, but also Matthew 16; 1 Corinthians 10; 1 Peter 2, is called a rock in a peculiar manner, because no other foundation of salvation and of the church can be laid except this rock, which is here called the rock of ages on account of the eternity of His being, merit and office. Hence a refutation can be drawn of the papistical fable which makes Peter and his successors, the Roman Pontiffs, to be the rock on which the church is built.” Foerster. [“Whatever we trust to the world for, it will be but for a moment. All we expect from it is confined within the limits of time; but what we trust in God for will last as long as we shall last. For in the Lord Jehovah, Jah, Jehovah, in Him who was, and is, and is to come, there is a rock of ages, a firm and lasting foundation for faith and hope to build upon; and the house built on that rock will stand in a storm.” Henry.”—D. M.]
15. Isa_26:5. “It is very common with the prophets, when they prophesy of the kingdom of Christ to make reference to the proud and to the needy, and to represent the latter as exalted and the former as brought low. This truth is directed properly against the self-righteous. For Christ and His righteousness will not endure spiritual pride and presumption; but the souls that are poor, that hunger and thirst for grace, that know their need, these Christ graciously receives.” Cramer.
16. Isa_26:6. “It vexes the proud all the more that they will be overcome by those who are poor and of no consequence. For example, Goliath was annoyed that a boy should come against him with a staff (1 Sam. 13:43) Cramer.
17. Isa_26:8-10. That the justice of God must absolutely manifest itself that the majesty of the Lord may be seen, and that the wicked may learn righteousness, must even from a new Testament view-point be admitted. But the New Testament disputes the existence of any one who is righteous when confronted by the law, and who is not deserving of punishment. [But that there is none righteous, no not one, is taught most emphatically in the Old Testament also.—D. M.]. But it (the New Testament) while it shuts up all, Jews and Gentiles, without exception, under sin (Gal_3:22; Rom_3:9; Rom_11:32), sets forth a scheme of mediation, which, while it renders full satisfaction to justice, at the same time offers to all the possibility of deliverance. This mediation is through the Cross of Christ. It is only when this mediation has not been accepted that punitive justice has free course. It should not surprise us that even the Evangelist of the Old Covenant, who wrote chap. 53, did not possess perfect knowledge of this mediation. Let us remember John the Baptist (Mat_3:7; Mat_11:11) and the disciples of the Lord (Luk_9:54). [Let us not forget that Isaiah was a true Prophet, and spoke as he was moved by the Spirit of God. The Apostle Paul did not find fault with the most terrible denunciations of judgment contained in the Old Testament, or affect a superiority over the men who uttered them. On the contrary, he quotes them as words which could not be suffered to fall, but which must be fulfilled in all their dreadful import. See e.g. Rom_11:9-10.—D. M.].
18. Isa_26:12. “It is a characteristic of true, sincere Christians, that they give God the glory and not themselves, and freely confess that they have nothing of themselves, but everything from God (1Co_4:7; Php_2:13; Heb_12:2).” Cramer.
19. Isa_26:16. The old theologians have many comforting and edifying thoughts connected with this place: “A magnet has the power to raise and attract to itself iron. Our heart is heavy as iron. But the hand of God is as a magnet. When that hand visits us with affliction, it lifts us up, and draws us to itself.” “Distress teaches us to pray, and prayer again dispels all distress. One wedge displaces the other.” “Ex gravibus curis impellimur ad pia vota.” “Ex monte myrrhae procedimus ad collem thuris (Cant. 9:6). In amaritudine crucis exsurgit odor devotae precationis (Psa_86:6 sq.).” “Ubi nulla crux et tentatio, ibi nulla vera oratio. Oratio sine mails est tanquam avis sine alis. Optimus orandi magister necessitas. Τὰ παθήματα μαθήματα. Quae nocent, docent. Ubi tentatio, ibi oratio. Mala, quae hic nos premunt, ad Deum ire compellunt. Qui nescit orare, ingrediatur mare.” “When the string is most tightly drawn, it sounds best. Cross and temptation are the right prayer-bell. They are the press by which God crushes out the juice of prayer.” Cramer and Foerster.
20. Isa_26:20. As God, when the deluge was about to burst, bade Noah go into his ark as into his chamber, and Himself shut the door on him (Gen_7:6); so does the Lord still act when a storm is approaching; He brings His own into a chamber where they can be safe, either for their temporal preservation and protection against every might (Psa_91:1), or, on the other hand, to give them repose by a peaceful and happy death.” “His anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life (Psa_30:6).” Cramer.
21. Isa_27:1. [“Great and mighty princes [nations] if they oppose the people of God, are in God’s account, as dragons and serpents, and plagues of mankind; and the Lord will punish them in due time. They are too big for men to deal with, and call to an account; and therefore the great God will take the doing of it into His own hands.” Henry.—D. M.].
22. Isa_27:2-5. “It seems to the world that God has no concern for His church and Christians, else, we imagine, they would be better off. But certain it is, that it is not the angels but God Himself that will be watcher over this vineyard, and will send it gracious rain.” Veit Dietrich. [“The church is a vineyard of red wine, yielding the best and choicest grapes, intimating the reformation of the church, that it now brings forth good fruit unto God, whereas before it brought forth fruit to itself, or brought forth wild grapes, Isa_5:4.” “God takes care (1) of the safety of this vineyard; I the Lord do keep it. He speaks this, as glorying in it, that He is, and has undertaken to be, the keeper of Israel; those that bring forth fruit to God are, and shall be always, under His protection. (2) God takes care of the fruitfulness of this vineyard: I will water it every moment; and yet it shall not be over watered. We need the constant and continual waterings of the divine grace; for if that be at any time withdrawn, we wither and come to nothing.” Henry. D. M.].
23. Isa_27:4. “Est aurea promissio, qua praecedentem confirmat. Indignatio non est mihi, fury is not in me. Quomodo enim is nobis irasci potest, qui pro nobis est mortuus? Quanquam igitur appareat, eum irasci, non tamen est verum, quod irascatur. Sic Paulo immittitur angelus Satanae, sed non est ira, nam ipse Christus dicit: sufficit tibi gratia mea. Sic pater filium delinquentem castigat, sed non est ira, quanquam appareat ira esse. Custodia igitur vineae aliquando cogit Deum immittere speciem irae, ne pereat luxurie, sed non est ira. Est insignis textus, which we should inscribe on all tribulations: Non est indignatio mihi, non possum irasci. Quod autem videtur irasci est custodia vineae, ne pereas et fias securus. Luther. “In order to understand fully the doctrine of the wrath of God we must have a clear perception of the antithesis: the long-suffering of God, and the wrath of God, wrath and mercy.” Lange.
24. Isa_27:7-9. “Christ judges His church, i.e., He punishes and afflicts it, but He does this in measure. The sorrow and cross is meted out, and is not, as it appears to us, without measure and infinite. It is so measured that redemption must certainly follow. But why does God let His Christians so suffer? Why does He not lay the cross on the wicked? God answers this question and speaks: the sin of Jacob will thereby cease. That is: God restrains sin by the cross, and subdues the old Adam.” Veit Dietrich.
25. Isa_27:13. [“The application of this verse to a future restoration of the Jews can neither be established nor disproved. In itself considered, it appears to contain nothing which may not be naturally applied to events long past.” J. A. Alexander.—“This prediction was completely and entirely fulfilled by the return of the Jews to their own country under the decree of Cyrus.” Barnes.—D. M.].
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1. On Isa_24:4-6. Fast-day sermon. Warning against dechristianization of the life of the people. 1) Wherein such dechristianization consists: a, transgression of the commandments that are in force; b, alteration of the commandments which are essential articles of the everlasting covenant, as e.g. removing of all state institutions from the basis of religion. 2) Its consequences: a, Desecration of the land (subjectively, by the spread of a profane, godless sentiment; objectively, by the secularization of relations hitherto held sacred); b, the curse consumes the land, Isa_24:4.
2. On Isa_25:1-5. The Lord, the refuge of the needy. 1) He has the power to help. This we perceive a, from His nature (Lord, God, Wonderful); b, from His deeds (Isa_25:1 b, Isa_25:2). 2) He gives His strength even to the feeble, (Isa_25:4). 3) These are thereby victorious, (Isa_25:5).
3. On Isa_25:6-9. Easter Sermon, by T. Schaeffer (Manch. Gab. u. ein Geist III. p. 269):—“The glorious Easter-blessing of the Risen One: 1) Wherein it consists? 2) who receive it? 3) what are its effects? Christmas Sermon, by Romberg [ibid. 1869, p. 78): Our text represents to us Christmas joy under the image of a festive board. Let us consider, 1) the host; 2) the guests; 3) the gifts.”
4. On Isa_26:1-4. Concerning the church. 1) She is a strong city in which salvation is to be found. 2) The condition of having a portion in her is faith. 3) The blessing which she is instrumental in procuring is peace.
5. Isa_26:19-21. The comfort of the Christian for the present and future. 1) For the present the Christian is to betake himself to his quiet chamber, where he is alone with his Lord and by Him made cheerful and secure. 2) For the future he has the certain hope, a, that the Lord will judge the wicked, b, raise the believer to everlasting life.
6. Isa_27:2-9. How the Lord deals with His vineyard, the church. 1) Fury is not in Him towards it; 2) He protects and purifies it; 3) He gives it strength, peace and growth; 4) He chastens it in measure; 5) He makes the chastisement itself serve to purge it from sins.
Footnotes:
[1]stronghold.
[2]stronghold.
[3]for the blast of the terrible ones was, etc.
[4]triumphal song.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2–12 a city . . . heap--Babylon, type of the…
a city . . . heap--Babylon, type of the seat of Antichrist, to be destroyed in the last days (compare Jer 51:37, with Rev. 18:1-24, followed, as here, by the song of the saints' thanksgiving in Rev. 19:1-21). "Heaps" is a graphic picture of Babylon and Nineveh as they now are.
palace--Babylon regarded, on account of its splendor, as a vast palace. But MAURER translates, "a citadel."
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of strangers--foreigners, whose capital pre-eminently Babylon was, the metropolis of the pagan world. "Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise" (Isa 29:5; Eph 2:12; see in contrast, Joe 3:17).
never be built-- (Isa 13:19-20, &c.).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 1, 2. He sings in words familiar to him…
1, 2. He sings in words familiar to him from Psa_118:28; Psa_77:15; Psa_72:12, etc.; also, from Exo_15:11.
For — Sufficient occasion is it that Babylon (as the vision gives it) is destroyed.
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Palace of strangers — Either a place of traffickers from all regions, or of its own people alienated from Israel’s God, or both.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–12 1. The first half of the verse recalls in…
1. The first half of the verse recalls in every phrase the language of the Psalter. Cf. Psa_63:1; Psa_145:1; Psa_138:2; Psa_54:6; Psa_118:28.
thou hast done wonderful things] as Exo_15:11; Psa_77:14; Psa_78:12. These “wonders” are the execution (in the recent experience of the nation) of counsels of old; i.e. purposes long since conceived and revealed. The last clause is perhaps to be translated: (even) counsels from afar in faithfulness and fidelity.
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1–5. The writer of the psalm, speaking in the name of the believing community, praises God for His wonderful providence (Isa_25:1) manifested in the overthrow of Israel’s enemies (2, 3) and in the mercy vouchsafed to the nation in a time of trouble (4, 5).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–12 (1) O Lord, thou art my God.—The burst of…
XXV.
(1) O Lord, thou art my God.—The burst of praise follows, like St. Paul’s in Rom_11:33-36, upon the contemplation of the glory of the heavenly city.
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Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.—It is better to omit the words in italics, and to treat the words as standing in the objective case, in apposition with “wonderful things.” The “counsels of old” are the eternal purposes of God made known to His prophets. The absence of a conjunction in the Hebrew, emphasises the enumeration.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–12 Vers. 1-12. ISAIAH"S SONG OF PRAISE ON THE ESTABLISHMENT…
Vers. 1-12. ISAIAH"S SONG OF PRAISE ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF GOD"S KINGDOM. AS in Isaiah 12., after describing the first setting up of Christ"s kingdom and the call of the Gentiles, the prophet broke out into song, through joy at the tidings he was commissioned to announce, so now, having proclaimed the final establishment of the same kingdom in the heavenly Zion, he is again carried away by the sense of exultant gladness into a fresh Lobgesang, which he utters in his own person not, as the former one, in the person of the Church. His song divides itself into three sections:
(1) vers. 1-5, a thanksgiving for deliverance;
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(2) vers. 6-8, a commemoration of blessings granted; and
(3) vers. 9-12, exultation in the security obtained.
Thou art my God; I will exalt thee. (comp. Exo_15:2 Psa_118:28) To Isaiah the "Song of Moses" seems to have been a pattern thanksgiving, from which he delighted to draw his phrases when he was bent on formally singing praise to God. Compare the following: Exo_15:2 with Isa_12:2, "He is become my salvation;" the same with Isa_25:1, "He is my God; I will exalt him;" Exo_15:6 with Isa_13:16, "Hath dashed in pieces;" Exo_15:7 with Isa_47:14, "Consumed them as stubble;" Exo_15:11 with Isa_46:5, "Who is like," etc.? the same with Isa_25:1, "Doing wonders;" Exo_15:16 with Isa_8:13, "Fear and dread;" Exo_15:18 with Isa_24:23, "The Lord shall reign." Wonderful things; thy counsels of old are, etc.; rather, thou hast wrought wonders, counsels of old, faithfulness and truth. The wonders for which God is praised were decreed in his counsels from all eternity; their accomplishment shows forth God"s "faithfulness" and "truth.
Vers. 1-12. The place of thanksgiving in the religious life.
It is generally agreed by Christians that the religious life embraces a considerable number of separate duties of a strictly religious character. Among these the first place is ordinarily assigned to prayer; the second to reading of the Scriptures; the third, perhaps, to meditation; and so forth. But it is not always, or indeed very often, that a distinct position, or a very prominent position, is assigned to praise and thanksgiving. Prayer is apt to be made the staple of our religious exercises, thanksgiving to be huddled off into a comer. Yet, if we will consider the matter, we shall find that, on all grounds, thanksgiving is entitled to at least an equal place in our regards with prayer.
I THANKSGIVING IS POINTED OUT BY NATURE AS A DUTY NO LESS THAN PRAYER. It is as the Giver of benefits that man seems first to have recognized God. Worship began with altars and sacrifices, (Gen_4:3-5) which were primarily thank offerings. One of the earliest forms of religion was sun-worship, and the reason for selecting the sun as the object of religious regard was the manifest fact that from the sun man derives so many and such great blessings. Geolatry was another very early form of worship, and took its rise from the feeling that the earth was a nursing mother, comprehending in herself a manifold variety of beneficent influences. The very name "God" is probably a modification of the root gut, or "good," and was given to the Supreme Being by our Anglo-Saxon forefathers, in recognition of his goodness in bestowing upon us so many benefits. The first religious utterances seem to have taken the shape of hymns rather than prayers; (Gen_14:19, 20 Exo_15:1-18) and hymns or psalms form the most antique portions of all rituals.
II THANKSGIVING IS, EQUALLY WITH PRAYER, ENJOINED ON MEN AS A DUTY IN SCRIPTURE. If prayer is required in such phrases as, "Pray without ceasing"; (1Th_5:17) I will that all men pray everywhere"; (1Ti_2:8) "Men ought always to pray, and not to faint"; (Luk_18:1) "Pray one for another"; (Jam_5:16) thanksgiving is as frequently and as positively enjoined in passages like the following: "Give thanks always for all things"; (Eph_5:20) "I exhort that... giving of thanks be made for all men"; (1Ti_2:1) "Offer sacrifices of praises, giving thanks"; (Heb_13:15) "With thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God". (Php_4:6)
III THANKSGIVING IS, EQUALLY WITH PRAYER, SET BEFORE US BY THE CHURCH AS A DUTY. The ritual of the Jewish Church was almost entirely one of praise. The Book of Psalms is the Israelite"s "Manual of Devotion." Our own Church declares the objects for which we assemble in public worship to be
(1) "to render thanks for the great benefits which we have received at God"s hands;
(2) "to set forth his most worthy praise;
(3) "to hear his most Holy Word;" and
(4) "to ask those things which are requisite and necessary as well for the body as the soul assigning to thanksgiving and praise the foremost place. The Eucharistic service is that in which Christian worship culminates, and that service is, by its very name, a service of praise. The embodiment of the entire Psalter in our Prayer-book is a strong evidence of the importance which our Church assigns to praise.
IV PRAISE IS, IN ITS NATURE, A HIGHER RELIGIOUS EXERCISE THAN PRAYER. In prayer we approach God for our own sakes, desiring something of him. In praise we have no selfish object, but desire simply to honor God by setting forth his admirable qualities and declaring the reasons that we have for loving and adoring him. Praise is the enduring attitude of angels, who have (comparatively speaking) no occasion for prayer. Prayer implies imperfection, want, need, defect of nature. Praise is appropriate when all wants are satisfied, when the nature is no longer defective, when no need is felt. Thus prayer belongs to the probation period of man"s existence; but praise will ring on through the vaults of heaven for all eternity. The cry in the heavenly Jerusalem will ever be, "Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy Name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest". (Rev_15:3, Rev_15:4)
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON Vers. 1-8. Hymn of praise to Jehovah.
I THE PERSONAL APPROPRIATION OF GOD. This is one of the great marks of personal, spiritual religion. Other nations have known their gods as leaders in war, protectors of hearth and home; it was reserved for Israel and for Christianity to think of the High and Holy One as tenanting the heart and soul of the believer. Jehovah is not only "my father"s God, this would be merely traditional religion; but "my God," "my Salvation, this is personal religion. (Exo_15:2) The language of Psa_18:28 and Ps 145. It seems echoed here. The prophet becomes choral leader of the Church of the future, of the Church in all ages. The echoes of all past ages gather up into one volume, and become a mighty prophecy of the future. The thought of the faithfulness of the Eternal enters into the appropriation of his Name. He is a covenant-keeping God. What he has been in the past is a pledge of what he will be in the future. "There shall never be one lost good; what was shall be as before
II THE INCOMPARABLE WISDOM AND TRUTH OF GOD. This, too, is a thought deeply impressed from the olden time. "Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" (Exo_15:11; of Psa_77:15 Psa_78:12) This is seen in his counsels and in the execution of them.
1. His far-reaching counsels. God"s thoughts are not extempore inspirations, accidental as we say, springing up in no fixed order or method; they originated "long ago". (Isa_22:11 Isa_37:26) To God nothing is sudden or unforeseen; though to us it may seem" the unexpected always happens." All things were ordained by him before the foundation of the world. (Act_15:18) "All the wonders which happen contrary to the expectation of men are the result of that regular order which God maintains in governing the world, arranging all things from the beginning to the end. Now, since we do not understand these secret decrees, and our powers of understanding cannot rise so high, our attention must therefore be directed to the manifestation of them; for they are concealed from us, and exceed our comprehension, till the Lord reveal them by his Word, in which he accommodates himself to our weakness; for his decree is unsearchable" (Calvin).
2. The faithful realization of them in history. The imperial city, the city of Israel"s oppressors, (Isa_24:10) is destroyed. It has become a ruinous heap of stones; and the palace of the barbarians will never again rise out of those ruins. It is symbolic in its fate of heathen pride and power and superstition, and all that exalts itself against the true God and the true religion.
III THE EFFECT OF HIS JUDGMENTS ON THE HEATHEN. They will honor the mighty God of Israel. They will be converted from rudeness and wildness to meekness and lowly reverence. The former oppressors will bow in fear before him. "They are affrighted, and give glory to the God of heaven". (Rev_11:13) For in great crises, in days of judgment, the nature of Jehovah and his rule is made manifest to men. The calm, unbroken smile of the summer day does not so reveal God to us in his power and beneficence as the thunder and the lightning, followed by the refreshing rain. Revolutions awaken the slumbering consciences of the nation; and God is revealed, not only by the objects and institutions he overthrows, but by those which are protected and fostered in the midst of and by the very means of change. He is seen to have been, in the magnificent imagery of the prophet, "a fortress to the weak, a fortress to the poor in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat". (Isa_30:3 Isa_4:6 Isa_32:2 Isa_16:3) As he can quell the fiery heat by bringing up a shady thicket of clouds, (Jer_4:29,ex Jer_19:9 Psa_18:12) or say to the proud waves of the sea, "Thus far, and no further!" so did he dispel the thundering hordes of the assailants of his people. So in later times did he meet the "blast of threats and slaughter" (Act_9:1) from the mouth of an arch-persecutor, and turn, by his mighty and merciful self-manifestation, that arch-persecutor into an arch-apostle. And to the infant Church he became what is described in ver. 4. Behind the providence which "frowns," the "smiling face" is ever hidden.
IV THE ULTIMATE CONSUMMATION. In this mountain of Zion, where the prophet dwells, the seat of the Divine presence, a feast of fat things, with wines on the lees well strained, will be made for all peoples. They will be incorporated into the kingdom of Jehovah; many having come from east and west, and north and south, to sit down in the kingdom of God. The feast is symbolic of all spiritual and temporal blessings, as it is in the parables of our Savior. It is symbolic of satisfaction: "The meek shall eat and be satisfied". (Psa_22:26) The allusion may be to the thank or peace offering: "I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness". (Jer_31:14; cf. Lev_7:31) The meal which followed the sacrifice was a joyous and festive occasion. It was expected by the Jews that the glorious Messianic time would be ushered in by a great feast; and of this, doubtless, the guest at the dinner-table of the Pharisee was thinking when he exclaimed, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!" As the feast, so the age, of the Messiah is to be unending. And in one great burst of universal joy, death and sorrow are to be swallowed up. Death is signified by the covering or veil cast over all nations, or web woven over them. The covered head is a sign of mourning in antiquity in general; it will be withdrawn. (Psa_21:10 Psa_55:10) Darkness and oblivion are associated with death; this will greatly give way before the light of Jehovah. The bondage to the fear of death will be broken, death itself will be abolished, and life and immortality be brought to light. (1Co_15:54) The promise belongs to the Jewish nation, (Hos_13:14) and to all its believing members. All sorrow is more or less rooted in the associations of death; this too shall cease, and Jehovah shall wipe away all tears from off all faces. The reproaches so long leveled at the people in their worldwide dispersion shall be taken away. No more will the taunt be leveled at them, "Where is now your God?". (Psa_79:10) Sin will be eradicated, which has had its fruit in tears, in shame, and in death. "The new Jerusalem is Jehovah"s throne, but the whole earth is Jehovah"s glorious kingdom. The prophet is here looking from just the same point of view as Paul in 1Co_15:18, and John in the last page of the Apocalypse" (Delitzsch). The last point in the distant perspective on which the eye rests is the epoch known as" the day of redemption," the restoration of all things, when the old and corrupt order shall finally give place to the new, the confusions of time cease in the harmonies of the eternal world. (see Luk_21:28 Act_3:21 Rom_8:23 Eph_4:30) A great poet, Burns, said that he could never read this passage without tears. It does, indeed, touch the depth of the heart, as it strikes the full tones of the eternal evangel. For here we have the gospel in the universality of its message ("good tidings of great joy to all people") the fullness of its power to satisfy and to comfort, in the all-hopeful perspective of the future it opens up. "Let us, then, direct all our hope and expectation to this point, and let us not doubt that the Lord will fulfill all these things in us when we have finished our course. If we now sow in tears, we shall reap in joy. The reproaches of men will procure for us one day the highest glory. Having obtained here the beginning of this happiness and glory, by being adopted by God and beginning to bear the image of Christ, let us firmly and resolutely await the completion of it at the last day" (Calvin). J.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Vers. 1-5. Rejoicing in God.
Such words as these could only come from an enlightened mind. They would have been impossible to a heathen sage. The gods of the nations were beings in whom no right-minded man could rejoice at all, and their character could not have been painted in these colors. But the God of Isaiah, our God, is One for whom "praise may be continually on the lips" of the wise and pure. Our souls can delight themselves in God;" for
I HIS ABIDING FAITHFULNESS. "His counsels of old are faithfulness and truth" (ver. 1). "The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations." What he has purposed and promised is sure of fulfillment. The lapse of time, the passing of centuries, makes not the faintest difference in the certainty. Heaven and earth may pass, but his promise never. (Jam_1:17 Heb_13:8) We may lean all the weight of our hope on his Divine Word, and we shall find that we are resting on the immovable rock.
II HIS PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Vers. 2, 5.) The powerful empire-city might boast of its antiquity, its defenses, its soldiery, but its iniquity should receive its desert it should be humbled to the very dust; it should be a heap, a ruin, a desert. The righteousness of God will assuredly be vindicated in time. God must not be judged as if a few decades were much in his measurement. Only wait his time, and when the cup of human guilt is full, the arm of Divine retribution will deal its stroke. Then shall the shoutings of impious arrogancy be silenced; it shall be dumb with shame (ver. 5).
III HIS DIVINE COMPASSION. (Ver. 4.) When the raging tempest of human persecution threatens to overtake and destroy the humble and the helpless, then the pitiful One will appear on their behalf. A Strength to the poor and the needy, a Shadow from the heat, will he prove to be; as the saving cloud shelters from the scorching heat (ver. 5), so will Divine interposition deliver from the consuming fires of human wrath. And this gracious pity is not an unusual or occasional feeling in his heart it is his constant attitude, it is his abiding spirit. In every age and in every land he regards the poor and the needy, the suffering and the down-trodden, with a peculiar kindness; he is always ready to shelter them in the pavilion of his power. Therefore:
1. Let the guilty fear. (Ver. 3.) What God has done in holy retribution he is prepared to do again, and will do again if heedlessness lead to impenitence, and impenitence to greater and more arrogant rebellion.
2. Let the oppressed hope. The destruction of the strong city of sin is the relief and the rescue of the holy. Not only the "strong people," but the obedient and humble people the people of God will "glorify" his Name (ver. 3).
3. Let the redeemed praise God for his righteous judgment and his merciful deliverances. "I will praise thee." Not only those delivered from power and bondage of the human enemy, but those who have been ransomed and redeemed from the tyranny and the slavery of sin.
4. Let every man claim a direct personal interest in God. By approaching to him, by communion with him, by reconciliation to him, by joyful engagement in his service, let each one of us claim the right to say with holy exultation, "O Lord, thou art my God. C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 1. Personal rights in God.
"O Lord, thou art my God." The difference between the "man" and the "godly man" may be seen in this. The man says, "O Lord, thou art God;" but the godly man says, "O Lord, thou art my God." The difference is the matter of conscious personal relation; it is a question of "appropriation." At first sight it might seem to detract from the august majesty of the Divine Being that any single individual should call him "mine." But, whatever we may make of it, the fact must be admitted that, while God"s revelation to man in nature is to man as a whole to man as a race the revelation of God to man in a book, and in a person, is a constant encouragement to him to recognize and come into the joy of personal relations. This point may be variously illustrated.
I THE EARLIEST REVELATION OF GOD TO THE RACE AS MORAL BEINGS PERMITTED PERSON RELATIONS. This is shown in God"s trusting Adam and Eve; also in his holding the communion of friendship with them, walking in the garden;" and much may be made of the assertion in Luke"s genealogy, "the son of Adam, which was the son of. (Luk_3:38)
II THE PATRIARCHS LIVED IN THE JOY OF PERSONAL RELATIONS WITH GOD. Illustrated in Abraham"s familiarity in intercession for Sodom; indicated in the fact of covenant; and proved in the distinctness with which God is spoken of as the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
III THE DELIVERANCES AND REDEMPTIONS OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL SHOW AN IMMEDIATE AND PERSONAL INTEREST IN THEM ON THE PART OF GOD. One instance is suggestive of many. On the further shores of the Red Sea Moses lint a song of thanksgiving into the mouths of the people, and this is its opening verse: "The Lord is my Strength and Song, and he is become my Salvation: he is my God.
IV WHEN PERSONAL GODLINESS FINDS EXPRESSION WE SEE THE SIGNS OF THE PERSONAL APPROPRIATION. (See Psa_118:28 Psa_145:1)
V THE FULL REVELATION OF GOD TO MAN IN CHRIST JESUS IS PERMISSION AND INVITATION TO COME INTO PERSONAL RELATIONS. That is the revelation of God as a Father, a word which involves our individual rights in him as his sons. That is the revelation of a salvation which restores broken relations and renews our rights in God. But it is precisely in this appropriation of God that men are so often hindered. Many can admit that "Jesus died for the sins of the world," and "God loved the world;" but there is no life, no joy, no right sense of relation, until we can say, "God loves me, even me; and Jesus died for me, even me. R.T.
The true reading of the Divine dealings.
"Thou has, done wonderful things, even counsels of old, in faithfulness and truth" (Revised Version). When we can read aright, the Divine plan and workings in the olden times are not merely wonderful, causing surprise at the Divine wisdom and power; the great thing about them is seen to be their goodness, adaptation, mercifulness, and truth to promise and pledge. This is the result of a true reading of history, and ninny of us have found this to follow our right and worthy reading of our own lives, and of God"s ways with us. Now we can say, "Not one good thing hath failed us of all that the Lord our God hath promised." "All the operations of providence are according to God"s eternal counsels (and those faithfulness and truth itself), all consonant to his attributes, consistent with one another, and sure to be accomplished in their season.
I WE OFTEN. MISTAKE GOD"S PURPOSE WHILE IT IS BEING WROUGHT OUT. As we might mistake any work in progress. Because we do not know the mind of the Worker; because his ways are other than our ways; because he uses strange agents and agencies; and because he purposely holds from our view his meaning, so that he may encourage patience, waiting, and trust. "Blind unbelief is sure to err, And scan his work in vain.
Illustrate by the apparent confusion in the ground where a cathedral is being erected; and show how great a mistake we should make about God"s purpose in Joseph or David, if we took only isolated parts and incidents of their lives for study. We often mistake God"s meaning when we try to read only parts of our own lives.
II WE SHALL NOT MISTAKE GOD"S PURPOSE WHEN WE SEE IT IN ITS ISSUES. That is true. God"s end always explains and justifies his means. But then the end is not yet; it is often away in the future, out of our vision. And we want some indication of God now. All we can have is the vindication, given over and over again, in history. We have "seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy." And we have good argument and well-grounded faith that God"s counsels are always "faithfulness and truth.
III WE NEED NEVER MISTAKE GOD"S DEALINGS OR GOD"S PURPOSE IF WE WILL READ THEM IN THE LIGHT OF WHAT WE KNOW OF GOD HIMSELF. Life for us all may be full of puzzling firings, but we can always say, "We know God." It must be right, it must be wise, it must be good, it must be for the absolute best, since he has done it, who, being love, must be "making all things work together for good." True reading is reading in the light of what we know God to be. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 O Lord, Thou art my God.
Isa_25:1
O Lord, Thou art my God.
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--This chapter looks as pleasantly upon the Church as the former looked dreadfully upon the world. (M. Henry.)
Calm after storm
We can only understand the highest, sweetest meaning of this chapter in proportion as we enter into the spirit of the chapter which precedes it. That chapter is full of clouds, and darkness, and judgment. The very terribleness of God is a reason for putting trust in Him. Probably this view of the Divine attributes has not always been sufficiently vivid to our spiritual consciousness. We have thought of God, and have become afraid; whereas when we hear Him thundering, and see Him scattering His arrows of lightning round about Him, and behold Him pouring contempt upon the mighty who have defied Him, we should say, See! God is love. What does He strike? No little child, no patient woman, no broken heart, no face that is steeped in tears of contrition. On what does His fist fall?--on arrogance, on haughtiness, on self-conceit, on self-completeness. He turns the proud away with an answer of scorn to their prayer of patronage. God is only terrible to evil. That is the reason why His terribleness should be an encouragement and an allurement to souls that know their sin and plead for pardon at the Cross. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Song of assurance
I. THE AFFINITY THAT IS CLAIMED. O Jehovah, Thou art my God. This affinity was predetermined by God the Father; it is exhibited in the most conspicuous manner in the person of God the Son; it is revealed, beyond the possibility of doubt, to the heart of Gods elect by God the Holy Ghost
II. THE WONDERS ACKNOWLEDGED. Thou hast done wonderful things. will only select three out of myriads: His vicarious work, the extension of the Redeemers kingdom, and the deliverance of precious souls individually by con version to God.
III. THE ETERNAL FIRST CAUSE AVOWED. Thy counsels of old. (J. Irons.)
The faithfulness of God
That Divine perfection which the prophet celebrates is a fountain of consolation to everyone that thirsts after righteousness.
I. ENUMERATE SEVERAL PAST INSTANCES OF THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.
1. Connected with the history of the deluge.
2. His conduct towards the people of Israel.
3. His promise to the father of the faithful, that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed,--a promise afterwards repeatedly confirmed by prophets.
4. In the fulness of time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, etc. Gal_4:4-5). Having thus produced an instance of the faithfulness of God from each of the several kingdoms of nature, providence, and grace, I proceed to--
II. DEDUCE SUCH INFERENCES AS THE SUBJECT APPEARS TO SUGGEST.
1. We should cherish gratitude.
2. It is the privilege of devout Christians to maintain unshaken confidence in God--with reference both to the Church of Christ and the circumstances of individual believers.
(1) Of the perpetuity and future prosperity of the Church we are not permitted to doubt.
(2) Since the Lord is faithful, let the Christian who is in a state of poverty, re member that his Saviour hath said, Take no thought saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed . . . Your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things, etc.
(3) Since God is faithful, let those who feel the strength of indwelling sin in their hearts, remember that it is promised, sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
(4) To fearful Christians the subject is also calculated to administer great relief. It should inspire a cheerful and affectionate confidence.
(5) In short, this illustrious attribute presents an asylum, whatever storms you are called upon in the path of duty to endure.
3. The subject should awaken salutary fear. For the faithfulness of God to His word and purpose is an attribute no less to be dreaded by the impenitent than valued by believers. (T. Sims, M. A.)
My God
Thou art my God, who hast invited me to sacred intercourse with Thee: who hast inclined me to surrender myself and all my concerns into Thy hands, and to choose Thee for my God. Thou art my Father, who hast nourished and brought me up among Thy children. Thou art my Friend, who hast loaded me with a rich profusion of favours. Thou art the Portion that I have chosen, in the possession of which I shall enjoy the most permanent felicity. Thou art my God, and therefore my happiness shall be complete. I humbly claim from Thy all-sufficiency the supply of all my wants; from Thy wisdom, direction and conduct; from Thy power, assistance and protection; from Thy love, refreshment and consolation; from Thy mercy, forgiveness and blessing; from Thy faithfulness, stability and support; and from Thy patience, forbearance and long suffering. I cheerfully resign myself and all my interests to Thy direction and disposal; and, with dutiful affection, I consecrate all my powers and faculties to Thy honour, whose I am, and whom I serve, that they may be employed in promoting Thy glory. (R. Macculloch.)
Exalting the Lord
To exalt the Lord our God is--
1. To proclaim the glorious honour of His majesty.
2. To extol the exceeding riches of His grace.
3. To magnify His transcendent excellences.
4. To celebrate, with affectionate gratitude, His wonderful loving kindness. (R. Macculloch.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1
CHAPTER XXIX
GODS POOR
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DATE UNCERTAIN
Isaiah 25-27
WE have seen that no more than the faintest gleam of historical reflection brightens the obscurity of chapter 24, and that the disaster which lowers there is upon too world-wide a scale to be forced within the conditions of any single period in the fortunes of Israel. In chapters 25-27, which may naturally be held to be a continuation of chapter 24, the historical allusions are more numerous. Indeed, it might be said they are too numerous, for they contradict one another to the perplexity of the most acute critics. They imply historical circumstances for the prophecy both before and after the exile. On the one hand, the blame of idolatry in Judah, {Isa_27:9} the mention of Assyria and Egypt, {Isa_27:12-13} and the absence of the name of Babylon are indicative of a pre-exilic date. Arguments from style are always precarious: but it is striking that some critics, who deny that chapters 24-27 can have come as a whole from Isaiahs time, profess to see his hand in certain passages. Then, secondly, through these verses which point to a pre-exilic date there are woven, almost inextricably, phrases of actual exile: expressions of the sense of living on a level and in contact with the heathen; {Isa_26:9-10} a request to Gods people towithdraw from the midst of a heathen public to the privacy of their chambers (chapters 20, 21); prayers and promises of deliverance from the oppressor (passim); hopes of the establishment of Zion, and of the repopulation of the Holy Land. And, thirdly, some verses imply that the speaker has already returned to Zion itself: he says more than once, "in this mountain"; there are hymns celebating a deliverance actually achieved, as God "has done a marvel. For Thou hast made a citadel into a heap, a fortified city into a ruin, a castle of strangers to be no city, not to be built again." Such phrases do not read as if the prophet were creating for the lips of his people a psalm of triumph against a far future deliverance; they have in them the ring of what has already happened.
This bare statement of the allusions of the prophecy will give the ordinary reader some idea of the difficulties of Biblical criticism. What is to be made of a prophecy uttering the catchwords and breathing the experience of three distinct periods? One solution of the difficulty may be that we have here the composition of a Jew already returned from exile to a desecrated sanctuary and depopulated land, who has woven through his original utterances of complaint and hope the experience of earlier oppressions and deliverances, using even the names of earlier tyrants. In his immediate past a great city that oppressed the Jews has fallen, though, if this is Babylon, it is strange that he nowhere names it. But his intention is rather religious than historical; he seeks to give a general representation of the attitude of the world to the people of God, and of the judgment which God brings on the world. This view of the composition is supported by either of two possible interpretations of that difficult verse, Isa_27:10 : "In that day Jehovah with His sword, the hard and the great and the strong, shall perform visitation upon Leviathan, Serpent Elusive, and upon Leviathan, Serpent Tortuous; and He shall slay the Dragon that is in the sea." Cheyne treats these monsters as mythic personifications of the clouds, the darkness, and the powers of the air, so that the verse means that, just as Jehovah is supreme in the physical world, He shall be in the moral. But it is more probable that the two Leviathans mean Assyria and Babylon-the "Elusive" one, Assyria on the swift-shooting Tigris: the "Tortuous" one, Babylon on the winding Euphrates-while "the Dragon that is in the sea" or "the west" is Egypt. But if the prophet speaks of a victory over Israels three great enemies all at once, that means that he is talking universally or ideally: and this impression is further heightened by the mythic names he gives them. Such arguments, along with the undoubted post-exilic fragments in the prophecy, point to a late date, so that even a very conservative critic, who is satisfied that Isaiah is the author, admits that "the possibility of exilic authorship does not allow itself to be denied."
If this character which we attribute to the prophecy be correct-viz., that it is a summary or ideal account of the attitude of the alien world to Israel, and of the judgment God has ready for the world-then, though itself be exilic, its place in the Book of Isaiah is intelligible. Chapters 24-27 fitly crown the long list of Isaiahs oracles upon the foreign nations: they finally formulate the purposes of God towards the nations and towards Israel, whom the nations have oppressed. Our opinions must not be final or dogmatic about this matter of authorship; the obscurities are not nearly cleared up. But if it be ultimately found certain that this prophecy, which lies in the heart of the Book of Isaiah, is not by Isaiah himself, that need neither startle nor unsettle us. No doctrinal question is stirred by such a discovery, not even that of the accuracy of the Scriptures. For that a book is entitled by Isaiahs name does not necessarily mean that it is all by Isaiah: and we shall feel still less compelled to believe that these chapters are his when we find other chapters called by his name while these are not said to be by him. In truth there is a difficulty here, only because it is supposed that a book entitled by Isaiahs name must necessarily contain nothing but what is Isaiahs own. Tradition may have come to say so; but the Scripture itself, bearing as it does unmistakable marks of another age than Isaiahs, tells us that tradition is wrong: and the testimony of Scripture is surely to be preferred, especially when it betrays, as we have seen, sufficient reasons why a prophecy, though not Isaiahs, was attached to his genuine and undoubted oracles. In any case, however, as even the conservative critic whom we have quoted admits, "for the religious value" of the prophecy "the question" of the authorship "is thoroughly irrelevant."
We shall perceive this at once as we now turn to see what is the religious value of our prophecy. Chapters 25-27 stand in the front rank of evangelical prophecy. In their experience of religion, their characterisations of Gods people, their expressions of faith, their missionary hopes and hopes of immortality, they are very rich and edifying. Perhaps their most signal feature is their designation of the people of God. In this collection of prayers and hymns the people of God are not regarded as a political body. They are only once called the nation and spoken of in connection with a territory. Only twice are they named with the national names of Israel and Jacob. {Isa_27:6; Isa_27:9; Isa_27:12} We miss Isaiahs promised king, his pictures of righteous government, his emphasis upon social justice and purity, his interest in the foreign politics of his State, his hopes of national grandeur and agricultural felicity. In these chapters Gods people are described by adjectives signifying spiritual qualities. Their nationality is no more pleaded, only their suffering estate and their hunger and thirst after God. The ideals that are presented for the future are neither political nor social, but ecclesiastical. We saw how closely Isaiahs prophesying was connected with the history of his time. The people of this prophecy seem to have done with history, and to be interested only in worship. And along with the assurance of the continued establishment of Zion as the centre for a secure and holy people, filling a secure and fertile land, -with which, as we have seen, the undoubted visions of Isaiah content themselves, while silent as to the fate of the individuals who drop from this future through death, -we have the most abrupt and thrilling hopes expressed for the resurrection of these latter to share in the glory of the redeemed and restored community.
Among the names applied to Gods people there are three which were destined to play an enormous part in the history of religion. In the English version these appear as two "poor and needy"; but in the original they are three. In Isa_25:4 : "Thou hast been a stronghold to the poor and a stronghold to the needy," poor renders a Hebrew word, "dal," literally wavering, tottering, infirm, then slender or lean, then poor in fortune and estate; needy literally renders the Hebrew "ebhyon," Latin egenus. In Isa_26:6 : "the foot of the poor and the steps of the needy," needy, renders "dal," while poor renders "ani," a passive form - forced, afflicted, oppressed, then wretched, whether under persecution, poverty, loneliness, or exile, and so tamed, mild, meek. These three words, in their root ideas of infirmity, need, and positive affliction, cover among them every aspect of physical poverty and distress. Let us see how they came also to be the expression of the highest moral and evangelical virtues.
If there is one thing which distinguishes the people of the revelation from other historical nations, it is the evidence afforded by their dictionaries of the power to transmute the most afflicting experiences of life into virtuous disposition and effectual desire for God. We see this most clearly if we contrast the Hebrews use of their words for poor with that of the first language which was employed to translate these words-the Greek in the Septuagint version of the Old Testament. In the Greek temper there was a noble pity for the unfortunate; the earliest Greeks regarded beggars as the peculiar proteges of Heaven. Greek philosophy developed a capacity for enriching the soul in misfortune; Stoicism gave imperishable proof of how bravely a man could hold poverty and pain to be things indifferent, and how much gain from such indifference he could bring to his soul. But in the vulgar opinion of Greece penury and sickness were always disgraceful; and Greek dictionaries mark the degradation of terms, which at first merely noted physical disadvantage, into epithets of contempt or hopelessness. It is very striking that it was not till they were employed to translate the Old Testament ideas of poverty that the Greek. words for "poor" and "lowly" came to bear an honourable significance. And in the case of the Stoic, who endured poverty or pain with such indifference, was it not just this indifference that prevented him from discovering in his tribulations the rich evangelical experience which, as we shall see, fell to the quick conscience and sensitive nerves of the Hebrew?
Let us see how this conscience was developed. In the East poverty scarcely ever means physical disadvantage alone: in its train there follow higher disabilities. A poor Eastern cannot be certain of fair play in the courts of the land. He is very often a wronged man, with a fire of righteous anger burning in his breast. Again, and more important, misfortune is to the quick religious instinct of the Oriental a sign of Gods estrangement. With us misfortune is so often only the cruelty, sometimes real, sometimes imagined, of the rich; the unemployed vents his wrath at the capitalist, the tramp shakes his fist after the carriage on the highway. In the East they do not forget to curse the rich, but they remember as well to humble themselves beneath the hand of God. With an unfortunate Oriental the conviction is supreme, God is angry with me; I have lost His favour. His soul eagerly longs for God.
A poor man in the East has, therefore, not only a hunger for food: he has the hotter hunger for justice, the deeper hunger for God. Poverty in itself, without extraneous teaching, develops nobler appetites. The physical, becomes the moral, pauper; poor in substance, he grows poor in spirit. It was by developing, with the aid of Gods Spirit, this quick conscience and this deep desire for God, which in the East are the very soul of physical poverty, that the Jews advanced to that sense of evangelical poverty of heart, blessed by Jesus in the first of His Beatitudes as the possession of the kingdom of heaven.
Till the Exile, however, the poor were only a portion of the people. In the Exile the whole nation became poor, and henceforth "Gods poor might become synonymous with Gods people." This was the time when the words received their spiritual baptism. Israel felt the physical curse of poverty to its extreme of famine. The pains, privations, and terrors, which the glib tongues of our comfortable middle classes, as they sing the psalms of Israel, roll off so easily for symbols of their own spiritual experience, were felt by the captive Hebrews in all their concrete physical effects. The noble and the saintly, the gentle and the cultured, priest, soldier and citizen, woman, youth and child, were torn from home and estate, were deprived of civil standing, were imprisoned, fettered, flogged, and starved to death. We learn something of what it must have been from the words which Jeremiah addressed to Baruch, a youth of good family and fine culture: "Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not, for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord; only thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest." Imagine a whole nation plunged into poverty of this degree-not born into it having known no better things, nor stunted into it with sensibility and the power of expression sapped out of them, but plunged into it, with the unimpaired culture, conscience, and memories of the flower of the people. When Gods own hand sent fresh from Himself a poets soul into "the clay biggin" of an Ayrshire ploughman, what a revelation we received of the distress, the discipline, and the graces of poverty! But in the Jewish nation as it passed into exile there were a score of hearts with as unimpaired an appetite for life as Robert Burns; and, worse than he, they went to feel its pangs away from home. Genius, conscience, and pride drank to the dregs in a foreign land the bitter cup of the poor. The Psalms and Lamentations show us how they bore their poison. A Greek Stoic might sneer at the complaint and sobbing, the self-abasement so strangely mixed with fierce cries for vengeance. But the Jew had within him the conscience that will not allow a man to be a Stoic. He never forgot that it was for his sin he suffered, and therefore to him suffering could not be a thing indifferent. With this, his native hunger for justice reached in captivity a famine pitch; his sense, of guilt was equalled by as sincere an indignation at the tyrant who held him in his brutal grasp. The feeling of estrangement from God increased to a degree that only the exile of a Jew could excite: the longing for Gods house and the worship lawful only there; the longing for the relief which only the sacrifices of the Temple could bestow; the longing for Gods own presence and the light of His face. "My soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth after Thee, in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is, as I have looked upon Thee in the sanctuary, to see Thy power and Thy glory. For Thy lovingkindness is better than life!"
"Thy lovingkindness is better than life!"-is the secret of it all. There is that which excites a deeper hunger in the soul than the hunger for life, and for the food and money that give life. This spiritual poverty is most richly bred in physical penury, it is strong enough to displace what feeds it. The physical poverty of Israel which had awakened these other hungers of the soul-hunger for forgiveness, hunger for justice, hunger for God-was absorbed by them; and when Israel came out of exile, "to be poor" meant, not so much to be indigent in this worlds substance as to feel the need of pardon, the absence of righteousness, the want of God.
It is at this time, as we have seen, that Isaiah 24-27 was written; and it is in the temper of this time that the three Hebrew words for "poor" and "needy" are used in chapters 25 and 26. The returned exiles were still politically dependent and abjectly poor. Their discipline therefore continued, and did not allow them to forget their new lessons. In fact, they developed the results of these further, till in this prophecy we find no fewer than five different aspects of spiritual poverty.
1. We have already seen how strong the sense of sin is in chapter 24. This poverty of peace is not so fully expressed in the following chapters, and indeed seems crowded out by the sense of the "iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth" and the desire for their judgment. {Isa_26:21}
2. The feeling of the poverty of justice is very strong in this prophecy. But it is to be satisfied; in part it has been satisfied. {Isa_25:1-4} "A strong city," probably Babylon, has fallen. "Moab shall be trodden down in his place, even as straw is trodden down in the water of the dunghill." The complete judgment is to come when the Lord shall destroy the two "Leviathans" and the great "Dragon of the west". {Isa_27:1} It is followed by the restoration of Israel to the state in which Isaiah {Isa_5:1} sang so sweetly of her. "A pleasant vineyard, sing ye of her. I, Jehovah, her Keeper, moment by moment do I water her; lest any make a raid upon her, night and day will I keep her." The Hebrew text then reads. "Fury is not in Me"; but probably the Septuagint version has preserved the original meaning: "I have no walls." If this be correct, then Jehovah is describing the present state of Jerusalem, the fulfilment of Isaiahs threat, Isa_5:6 : "Walls I have not; let there but be briers and thorns beforeme! With war will I stride against them; I will burn them together." But then there breaks the softer alternative of the reconciliation of Judahs enemies: "Or else let him seize hold of My strength; let him make peace with Me-peace let him make with Me." In such a peace Israel shall spread, and his fulness become the riches of the Gentiles. "In that by-and-bye Jacob shall take root, Israel blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit."
Perhaps the wildest cries that rose from Israels famine of justice were those which found expression in chapter 34. This chapter is so largely a repetition of feelings we have already met with elsewhere in the Book of Isaiah, that it is necessary now only to mention its original features. The subject is, as in chapter 13, the Lords judgment upon all the nations; and as chapter 13 singled out Babylon for special doom, so chapter 34, singles out Edom. The reason of this distinction will be very plain to the reader of the Old Testament. From the day the twins struggled in their mother Rebekahs womb, Israel and Edom were at either open war or burned towards each other with a hate which was the more intense for wanting opportunities of gratification. It is an Eastern edition of the worst chapters in the history of England and Ireland. No bloodier massacres stained Jewish hands than those which attended their invasions of Edom, and Jewish psalms of vengeance are never more flagrant than when they touch the name of the children of Esau. The only gentle utterance of the Old Testament upon Israels hereditary foe is a comfortless enigma. Isaiahs "Oracle for Dumah," {Isa_22:11 f.} shows that even that large-hearted prophet, in face of his peoples age-long resentment at Edoms total want of appreciation of Israels spiritual superiority, could offer Edom, though for the moment submissive and inquiring, nothing but a sad, ambiguous answer. Edom and Israel, each after his fashion, exulted in the others misfortunes: Israel by bitter satire when Edoms impregnable mountain-range was treacherously seized and overrun by his allies; {Oba_1:4-9} Edom, with the harassing, pillaging habits of a highland tribe, hanging on to the skirts of Judahs great enemies, and cutting off Jewish fugitives, or selling them into slavery, or malignantly completing the ruin of Jerusalems walls after her overthrow by the Chaldeans. {Oba_1:10-14; Eze_35:10-15} In "the quarrel of Zion" with the nations of the world Edom had taken the wrong side, -his profane, earthy nature incapable of understanding his brothers spiritual claims, and therefore envious of him, with the brutal malice of ignorance, and spitefully glad to assist in disappointing such claims. This is what we must remember when we read the indignant verses of chapter 34. Israel, conscious of his spiritual calling in the world, felt bitter resentment that his own brother should be so vulgarly hostile to his attempts to carry it out. It is not our wish to defend the temper of Israel towards Edom. The silence of Christ before the Edomite Herod and his men of war has taught the spiritual servants of God what is their proper attitude towards the malignant and obscene treatment of their claims by vulgar men. But at least let us remember that chapter 34, for all its fierceness, is inspired by Israels conviction of a spiritual destiny and service for God, and by the natural resentment that his own kith and kin should be doing their best to render these futile. That a famine of bread makes its victims delirious does not tempt us to doubt the genuineness of their need and suffering. As little ought we to doubt or to ignore the reality or the purity of those spiritual convictions, the prolonged starvation of which bred in Israel such feverish hate against his twin-brother Esau. Chapter 34, with all its proud prophecy of judgment, is. therefore, also a symptom of that aspect of Israels poverty of heart, which we have called a hunger for the Divine justice.
3. POVERTY OF THE EXILE. But as fair flowers bloom upon rough stalks, so from Israels stern challenges of justice there break sweet prayers for home. Chapter 34, the effusion of vengeance on Edom, is followed by chapter 35, the going forth of hope to the return from exile and the establishment of the ransomed of the Lord in Zion. Chapter 35 opens with a prospect beyond the return, but after the first two verses addresses itself to the people still in a foreign captivity, speaking of their salvation (Isa_35:3-4), of the miracles that will take place in themselves (Isa_35:5-6) and in the desert between them and their home (Isa_35:6-7), of the highway which God shall build, evident and secure (Isa_35:8-9), and of the final arrival in Zion (Isa_35:10). In that march the usual disappointments and illusions of desert life shall disappear. The "mirage shall become a pool"; and the clump of vegetation which afar off the hasty traveller bails for a sign of water, but which on his approach he discovers to be the withered grass of a jackals lair, shall indeed be reeds and rushes, standing green in fresh water. Out of this exuberant fertility there emerges in the prophets thoughts a great highway, on which the poetry of the chapter gathers and reaches its climax. Have we of this nineteenth century, with our more rapid means of passage, not forgotten the poetry of the road? Are we able to appreciate either the intrinsic usefulness or the gracious symbolism of the kings highway? How can we know it as the Bible-writers or our forefathers knew it when they made the road the main line of their allegories and parables of life? Let us listen to these verses as they strike the three great notes in the music of the road: "And a highway shall be there, and a way; yea, the Way of Holiness shall it be called, for the unclean shall not pass over it": that is what is to distinguish this road from all other roads. But here is what it is as being a road. First, it shall be unmistakably plain: "The wayfaring man, yea fools, shall not err therein." Second, it shall be perfectly secure. "No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up thereon; they shall not be met with there." Third, it shall bring to a safe arrival and ensure a complete overtaking: "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall overtake gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."
4. So Israel was to come home. But to Israel home meant the Temple, and the Temple meant God. The poverty of the exile was, in the essence of it, poverty of God, poverty of love. The prayers which express this are very beautiful, -that trail like wounded animals to the feet of their master, and look up in His face with large eyes of pain. "And they shall say in that day, Lo, this is our God: we have waited for Him, that He should save us; this is the Lord: we have waited for Him; we will rejoice and be glad in His salvation . . . . Yea, in the way of Thy ordinances, O Lord, have we waited for Thee; to Thy name and to Thy Memorial was the desire of our soul. With my soul have I desired Thee in the night; yea, by my spirit within me do I seek Thee with dawn". {Isa_25:9; Isa_26:8}
An Arctic explorer was once asked, whether during eight months of slow starvation which he and his comrades endured they suffered much from the pangs of hunger. No, he answered, we lost them in the sense of abandonment in the feeling that our countrymen had forgotten us and were not coming to the rescue. It was not till we were rescued and looked in human faces that we felt how hungry we were. So is it ever with Gods poor. They forget all other need, as Israel did, in their need of God. Their outward poverty is only the weeds of their hearts widowhood. "But Jehovah of hosts shall make to all the peoples in this mountain a banquet of fat things, a banquet of wines on the lees, fat things bemarrowed, wines on the lees refined." We need only note here-for it will come up for detailed treatment in connection with the second half of Isaiah-that the centre of Israels restored life is to be the Temple, not, as in Isaiahs day, the king; that her dispersed are to gather from all parts of the world at the sound of the Temple trumpet: and that her national life is to consist in worship. {cf. Isa_27:13}
These then were four aspects of Israels poverty of heart: a hunger for pardon, a hunger for justice, a hunger for home, and a hunger for God. For the returning Jews these wants were satisfied only to reveal a deeper poverty still, the complaint and comfort of which we must reserve to another chapter.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv1, 6, 9, 10 Isa_25:1. O Lord, Thou art my God.
THE GRAND APPROPRIATION
Isa_25:1. O Lord, Thou art my God.
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I. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN GOD AND OURSELVES.
1. The Lord is our God in a necessary and absolute sense.
2. He should be our God by choice (H. E. I., 306, 307, 2381, 2385, 4630–4647, 4970).
3. If He is thus to become our God, it must be through the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the exercise of an appropriating faith (H. E. I., 1952).
II. THE ADVANTAGES WE MAY ANTICIPATE FROM THIS CONNECTION.
1. Light in darkness.
2. Guidance in perplexity.
3. Protection in danger.
4. Strength in duty.
5. Consolation in sorrow.
6. Sanctity and glory.
III. THE DUTIES ARISING OUT OF THIS CONNECTION.
1. We should exalt Him.
2. We should be jealous for His honour.
3. We must obey His commands.
4. We should acquiesce in His will.
5. We should seek our pleasure and satisfaction from Him.—John Corbin.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 I. This is a world where storms often gather,…
Isa 25:4
I. This is a world where storms often gather, and tempests on this planet are never out of place. The storm has also its mission and its work as well as the calm. Now, among men, adversity of all kinds is a powerful agent in accomplishing necessary spiritual operations.
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II. This is a time of storms, and tempests here are not out of season. The days of man upon earth are as the winter of his life. Death is the seedtime, and immortality is the spring and summer and harvest. When the spring and summer have come, snow and hail are out of season; but during the winter of our being—the days we spend upon earth—hail and snow and rain are in season.
III. Every storm, however, is raised and guided under the eye and hand of God. The stormy wind does not surprise Him, neither does it master Him; it only fulfils His decree; it simply accomplishes His word.
IV. The object of every storm is good, although the present experience of it is not joyous, but grievous; and hence the need of a refuge, even to the child of God. It is quite true that no storm can ultimately hurt him; but any storm may terribly disquiet him, if he have not a refuge in the storm, and if he make not full and complete use of that refuge. And where is the refuge? "God is a refuge for us."
V. A place to be a refuge must be out of the storm; or if in the midst of the storm, it must be stronger than the storm. God is a refuge from the storm—a refuge required by all, and resorted to by many, but in which there is always room—a refuge stronger than the concentrated force of all the storms which have ever raged—a refuge in which we may stay until all storms are over, and a refuge affording efficient shelter.
S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Pulpit, 4th series, No. 13.
References: Isa 25:6.—G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 139; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiv., No. 846. Isa 25:6-8.—J. M. Neale, Sermons on Passages from the Prophets, vol. i., p. 66. Isa 25:7.—S. Cox, Expositor, 2nd series, vol. iv., p. 331. Isa 25:8, Isa 25:9.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. xiii., p. 279. Isa 25:9.—H. P. Liddon, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xiii., p. 1; Ibid., Old Testament Outlines, p. 185; J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 6th series, p. 140; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. v., p. 69; Bishop Walsham How, Plain Words, 2nd series, p. 10. Isa 26:3.—F. W. Farrar, Penny Pulpit, No. 955 (see also Old Testament Outlines, p. 187); Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxi., No. 1818; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. viii., p. 181; C. White, Literary Churchman Sermons, p. 181. Isa 26:4.—Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 188; Outline Sermons to Children, p. 87.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On vv6–8
Isaiah
‘IN THIS MOUNTAIN’
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THE FEAST ON THE SACRIFICE
Isa 25:6.
There is here a reference to Sinai, where a feast followed the vision of God. It was the sign of covenant, harmony, and relationship, and was furnished by a sacrifice.
I. The General Ideas contained in this Image of a Feast.
We meet it all through Scripture; it culminates in Christ’s parables and in the ‘Marriage Supper of the Lamb.’
In the image are suggested:-
Free familiarity of access, fellowship, and communion with Him.
Abundant Supply of all wants and desires.
Festal Joy.
Family Intercommunion.
II. The Feast follows on Sacrifice. We find that usage of a feast following a sacrifice existing in many races and religions. It seems to witness to a widespread consciousness of sin as disturbing our relations with God. These could be set right only by sacrifice, which therefore must precede all joyful communion with Him.
The New Testament accepts that truth and clears it from the admixture of heathenism.
God provides the Sacrifice.
It is not brought by man. There is no need for our efforts-no atonement to be found by us. The sacrifice is not meant to turn aside God’s wrath.
Communion is possible through Christ.
In Him God is revealed.
Objective hindrances are taken away.
Subjective ones are removed.
Dark fears-indifference-dislike of fellowship-Sin-these make communion with God impossible.
At Sinai the elders ‘saw God, and did eat and drink’ Here the end of the preceding chapter shows the ‘elders’ gazing on the glory of Jehovah’s reign in Zion.
III. The Feast consists of a Sacrifice.
Christ is the food of our souls, He and His work are meant to nourish our whole being. He is the object for all our nature.
The Sacrifice must be incorporated with us. It is not enough that it be offered, it must also be partaken of.
Now the Sacrifice is eaten by faith, and by occupation with it of each part of our being, according to its own proper action. Through love, obedience, hope, desire, we may all feed on Jesus.
The Lord’s Supper presents the same thoughts, under similar symbols, as Isaiah expressed in his prophecy.
Symbolically we feast on the sacrifice when we eat the Bread which is the Body broken for us. But the true eating of the true sacrifice is by faith. Crede et manducasti-Believe, and thou hast eaten.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 1. Thy counsels, etc.] RV 'even counsels of old'…
1. Thy counsels, etc.] RV 'even counsels of old' (i.e. formed of old) 'in faithfulness and truth.'
2. A city] viz. the one that oppressed God's people (Isa_24:10). Strangers] aliens from God's covenant people (Isa_1:7).
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3. The hostile power is not utterly destroyed; its remnant acknowledges Jehovah.
4. Strength] RV 'stronghold.'
5. As the heat] i.e. as heat is assuaged by the shadow of a cloud. Branch] RV 'song'; viz. of triumph.
6. The temporal and spiritual blessings which the rule of Jehovah will bring to mankind. This mountain] i.e. Zion (Isa_2:1-2). Fat things] i.e. of flesh, offered in sacrifice. On the lees] left on the lees to heighten the flavour.
7. Covering] Covering the face was a token of mourning for the dead (2Sa_19:4); the taking away of the veil or covering is symbolically put for the destruction of death (Isa_25:8).
8. In victory] so some early Gk. versions and St. Paul in quoting this passage (1Co_15:54). Heb. text has 'for ever' (RV).
Will wipe, etc.] quoted Rev_7:17; Rev_21:4.
Rebuke] RV 'reproach.'
10. Hand] protecting hand. Under him] RV 'in his place,' where he stands. Moab is here mentioned as being a proud (Isaiah 16) and hostile power, a typical enemy. For the dunghill] RV 'in the waters of the dunghill.'
11. He shall spread] i.e. Moab, who vainly endeavours to save himself. He shall bring] i.e. Jehovah. Spoils] RV 'craft.'
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 Israel’s Praise and the Blessings of the Kingdom
CHAPTER 25
Israel’s Praise and the Blessings of the Kingdom
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1. The praise of the delivered nation (Isa 25:1-5) 2. The blessing for all nations during the Kingdom (Isa 25:6-8) 3. Israel rejoicing after waiting (Isa 25:9) 4. Moab and Israel’s enemies judged (Isa 25:10-12)In the foreground of this chapter stands another hymn of praise, which redeemed Israel will sing in “that day.” Jehovah has done wonderful things for His people. Compare with Isa 12:5;Psa 46:8-11, etc.
The blessings for all nations are described in Isa 25:6-8. The mountain is Zion Isa 4:5-6,Psa 132:13-18). From there the streams of blessing will gush forth. Then “all the ends of the earth shall remember, and turn unto the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee” Psa 22:27. Darkness will be removed and all tears wiped away. All this does not relate to the eternal state, but to conditions on the earth.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 9 Thanksgiving for God’s Benefits
Thanksgiving for God’s Benefits
v. 1. Lord, Thou art my God, the God of the covenant, the God of salvation, Cf Psa 31:15; Psa 40:6; Psa 143:10. I will exalt Thee, in songs of thanksgiving, I will praise Thy name, as the revelation of His wonderful essence; for Thou hast done wonderful things, Thy counsels of old, those pertaining to the deliverance of His people, are faithfulness and truth; for the Lord has kept, and is keeping, His promises concerning the redemption of mankind.
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v. 2. For Thou hast made of a city an heap, laid the wicked world city in ruins, of a defensed city a ruin, as described in the preceding chapter. a palace of strangers to be no city, the fortifications, the citadels being used for the entire city; it shall never be built.
v. 3. Therefore shall the strong people glorify Thee, men of various nations being brought to the knowledge of Jehovah, the city of the terrible nations, despots and tyrants, shall fear Thee, Gentiles everywhere coming to the knowledge of the true God.
v. 4. For Thou hast been a strength to the poor, Mat 5:3, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, so that its fury could do no harm, a shadow from the heat, that of various afflictions caused by tile hostility of men, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall, for thus the furious snorting and raging of the violent enemies appears.
v. 5. Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place, even the heat with the shadow of a cloud; the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low, literally, "As the burning of the sun in a dry land Thou didst suppress the raging of tile barbarians, as the burning of the sun by a shadow of a cloud the triumphant song of violent ones must cease"; that is, Just as Jehovah causes the glowing heat of the sun to be cut off by a sheltering bank of clouds, so He is able to quell instantaneously all the raging and the triumph of hosts of enemies.
v. 6. And in this mountain, the spiritual Zion, as the dwelling-place of Jehovah in the midst of His people, shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people, all the inhabitants of the earth being included in His gracious will, a feast of fat things, of the richest foods, a feast of wines on the lees, left on the lees to increase its strength, of fat things full of marrow, rich in strength-building properties, of wines on the lees well refined, properly drawn and filtered. The entire verse, in the Hebrew, is a most poetical and musical song, full of praises for the richness of God’s grace in the spiritual food prepared for His children in the Gospel.
v. 7. And He will destroy in this mountain, the habitation of His holy Church, the face of the covering cast over all people and the veil that is spread over all nations, namely, that of their spiritual blindness, brought upon them by their own natural depravity. Cf 2Co 3:15.
v. 8. He will swallow up death in victory, completely abolish it with all its power, 2Ti 1:10; Rev 20:14; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces, Rev 21:4; and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth, thus removing the cause of all troubles with which men are suffering; for the Lord hath spoken it. In this manner the final victory of the Church is pictured, the happy perfection of all the saints in the glory of heaven. Cf 1Co 15:28-54. After the final victory over death the people of God, delivered from its power, will praise the Lord throughout eternity.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 6, 9, 11 praise your name
praise your name
Here "name" represents Yahweh. AT: "praise you" (See: Metonymy)
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things planned long ago
This can be stated in active form. AT: "things you planned long ago" (See: Active or Passive)
in perfect faithfulness
The abstract noun "faithfulness" can be stated as "faithful." AT: "because you are perfectly faithful" (See: Abstract Nouns)
the city
This is not referring to a certain city. It means cities in general. (See: Generic Noun Phrases)
a fortress of strangers
"a fortress belonging to foreigners"
a city of ruthless nations
Here "city" and "nations" represent the people who live there. (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
Yahweh
God
exalt
praise
name
perfect
faithful
stronghold
ruin
glory
nation
fear
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 25:1-12 The second part of the Little Apocalypse (see…
25:1-12 The second part of the Little Apocalypse (see study note on 24:1–27:13) describes praise for God’s judgment (25:1-5, 11-12) and salvation (25:6-9).
25:1-5 Isaiah here praises God for protecting the needy (see 12:1-6).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.