Yes, in the way of your judgments, Yahweh, we have waited for you. Your name and your renown are the desire of our soul.
Parallel Translations
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Yes, in the way of your judgments, Yahweh, we have waited for you. Your name and your renown are the desire of our soul.
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Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
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Yea, in the way of Thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for Thee; to Thy name and to Thy memorial is the desire of our soul.
Cross-references (31)
Passages linked to Isaiah 26:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 37:3-7 Trust in Yahweh, and do good. Dwell in the land, and enjoy safe pasture. Also delight yourself in Yahweh, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to Yahweh. Trust also in him, and he will do this: he will make your righteousness shine out like light, and your justice as the noon day sun. Rest in Yahweh, and wait patiently for him. Don’t fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who makes wicked plots happen.
- James 5:7-11 Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receives the early and late rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Don’t grumble, brothers, against one another, so that you won’t be judged. Behold, the judge stands at the door. Take, brothers, for an example of suffering and of perseverance, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we call them blessed who endured. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and have seen the Lord in the outcome, and how the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
- Isaiah 33:2 Yahweh, be gracious to us. We have waited for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.
- Exodus 3:15 God said moreover to Moses, “You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations.
- Psalms 65:6 By your power, you form the mountains, having armed yourself with strength.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love, and into the perseverance of Christ.
- Acts 1:4 Being assembled together with them, he commanded them, “Don’t depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me.
- Romans 8:25 But if we hope for that which we don’t see, we wait for it with patience.
- Numbers 36:13 These are the commandments and the ordinances which Yahweh commanded by Moses to the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
- 2 Samuel 23:5 Isn’t my house so with God? Yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, for it is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he doesn’t make it grow.
- Job 23:10-12 But he knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, I will come out like gold. My foot has held fast to his steps. I have kept his way, and not turned away. I haven’t gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
- Psalms 18:23 I was also blameless with him. I kept myself from my iniquity.
- Psalms 44:17-18 All this has come on us, yet we haven’t forgotten you. We haven’t been false to your covenant. Our heart has not turned back, neither have our steps strayed from your path,
- Psalms 63:1-3 God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water. So I have seen you in the sanctuary, watching your power and your glory. Because your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you.
- Psalms 73:25 Whom do I have in heaven? There is no one on earth whom I desire besides you.
- Psalms 77:10-12 Then I thought, “I will appeal to this: the years of the right hand of the Most High.” I will remember Yah’s deeds; for I will remember your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all your work, and consider your doings.
- Psalms 84:2 My soul longs, and even faints for the courts of Yahweh. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
- Psalms 106:3 Blessed are those who keep justice. Blessed is one who does what is right at all times.
- Psalms 143:5-6 I remember the days of old. I meditate on all your doings. I contemplate the work of your hands. I spread out my hands to you. My soul thirsts for you, like a parched land.
- Song of Solomon 1:2-4 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; for your love is better than wine. Your oils have a pleasing fragrance. Your name is oil poured out, therefore the virgins love you. Take me away with you. Let’s hurry. The king has brought me into his rooms. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will praise your love more than wine! They are right to love you.
- Song of Solomon 2:3-5 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banquet hall. His banner over me is love. Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples; for I am faint with love.
- Song of Solomon 5:8 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, that you tell him that I am faint with love.
- Isaiah 12:4 In that day you will say, “Give thanks to Yahweh! Call on his name. Declare his doings among the peoples. Proclaim that his name is exalted!
- Isaiah 25:9 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!”
- Isaiah 56:1 Yahweh says, “Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is near and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
- Isaiah 64:4-5 For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides you, who works for him who waits for him. You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned. We have been in sin for a long time. Shall we be saved?
- Psalms 13:1-2 How long, Yahweh? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart every day? How long shall my enemy triumph over me?
- Isaiah 30:18 Therefore Yahweh will wait, that he may be gracious to you; and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you, for Yahweh is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him.
- Micah 7:7 But as for me, I will look to Yahweh. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.
- Malachi 4:4 “Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded to him in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and ordinances.
- Luke 1:6 They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain We have constantly aboade in the adversities wherewith thou…
We have constantly aboade in the adversities wherewith thou had afflicted us.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 26:8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments,…
Isa 26:8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of [our] soul [is] to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Ver. 8. Yea, in the way of thy judgments.] Rough though it be and rugged; even when thou hast wrought against us in the rigour of thy punishments, as one paraphraseth it; in the discipline of thy chastisements, as another. There are those who by this phrase understand the doctrine of the gospel, which teacheth another way of judging of a righteous man than the law doth, and such as the Church trusteth to alone, and to none other, scil., justification by faith in Christ Jesus.
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And to the remembrance of thee,] i.e., to all the signs, gauges, and tesitimonials which thou hast given us of thy grace by thy word, sacraments, and work. {a}
{a} Diod.
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 Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord,…
Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee: and as we thy people have loved and served thee when thou hast made our way plain and easy for us; so we have not forsaken thee, but waited upon thee, when thou hast made it rugged and troublesome by thy judgments. He speaks of the same just men Isa 26:7-9, though it be with a change of the numbers and persons, which is usual in prophetical writings, the just, Isa 26:7, we, Isa 26:1; 26:9.
To thy name, and to the remembrance of thee, Heb. to thy name and thy memory; which by a known figure called hendinduo may be put for the remembrance of thy name. And the name of God is here, as it is in many other places, put for God himself, as he hath made himself known by his word and works. And so the sense of this clause is, Our affections are not alienated from thee by thy judgments, but we still continue to desire thy presence and favour, and we support and comfort ourselves with the remembrance of what thou art, and what thou hast done, and what thou hast promised to be and do to thy people.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord,…
Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee,.... Meaning by "judgments" either the ministration of the word and ordinances, called statutes and judgments, Psa 147:19 an attendance on which is the right way of waiting upon God, and where it may be expected he will be found and manifest himself, and favour with his gracious presence; or else the corrections and chastisements, which are done in wisdom and with judgment, in measure and in mercy, and in a fatherly way, and for good; and so the sense is, that they had not only followed the Lord in a plain and even way, but even in the more rugged paths of afflictive dispensations; nor did these things at all move them from their duty to him, and worship of him:
the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee; to God himself, and to a remembrance of his nature, perfections, and works; to Christ, whose name is as ointment poured forth, and whose person is desirable, because of his glory, beauty, and fulness, because of his offices, and blessings of grace; and to his Gospel, which publishes and proclaims him, his grace, and salvation; and to his ordinances, which refresh the memory of his people concerning him, and his love to them shown in what he has done and suffered for them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. Have we waited for thee - "We…
Verse 8. Have we waited for thee - "We have placed our confidence in thy name"] The Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee read קוינו kavinu, without the pronoun annexed.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 26:8-9. Yea, in the way of thy judgments,…
Isa 26:8-9. Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord — That is, as some understand it, of thine ordinances and commandments, in which we carefully and conscientiously walk; or, in the way of thy chastisements. As we, thy people, have loved and served thee, when thou didst make our way smooth and pleasant before us, so we have not forsaken thee, but waited upon thee, when thou didst see fit, for our trial, to make it difficult and troublesome. We have possessed our souls in patience under thy chastisements, and have waited thy time for our deliverance. The desire of our soul is to thy name — Hebrew, to thy name and thy memory; that is, to the remembrance of thy nature and attributes, according as thou hast made thyself known by thy word and works. And so the sense of this clause is, our affections are not alienated from thee by thy judgments, but we still continue to desire thy presence and favour, and we support and comfort ourselves with the remembrance of what thou art, and what thou hast done, and what thou hast promised to be to, and do for, thy people. With my soul — Sincerely and most affectionately; have I desired thee — The prophet speaks this in the name of all God’s people; in the night — In the time of affliction, often termed night, or darkness; or, rather, in the night, properly so called, as appears from the next clause, wherein early, or in the morning, is opposed to it. When others are sleeping, my thoughts and desires are working toward thee. Yea, with my spirit within me — By fervent and importunate prayer for thy loving-kindness; will I seek thee early — Betimes in the morning. For when thy judgments are in the earth — And good reason it is that we should thus desire and seek thee in the way of thy judgments, because this is the very design of thy judgments, that men should thereby be awakened to learn and return to their duty; and this is a common effect of them, that those who have been careless in prosperity are made wiser and better by afflictions.
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 Yea, in the way of thy judgements - The…
Yea, in the way of thy judgements - The word ‘judgments’ often refers to the statutes or laws of God. But it may also refer to the afflictions and trials with which he visits or judges people; the punishments which they endure for their sins. In which sense the word is used here it is not easy to determine. Lowth understands it of the ‘laws’ of Yahweh. So Kimchi, who says that the sense is, that during their captivity and trials, they had not remitted anything of their love and piety toward God. I am inclined to the belief that this is the true interpretation, because in the corresponding member of the parallelism they are represented as saying that the desire of their soul was to God, and to the remembrance of him, implying that they sought by an observance of his laws to please him, and to secure his favor.
The desire of our soul is to thy name - The word ‘name’ is used here, as it is often, to denote God himself. They desired that he would come and deliver them; they earnestly wished that he would manifest himself to them as their friend.
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And to the remembrance of thee - The word ‘remembrance’ (זכר zēker) is often equivalent to name, appellation, or that by which anyone is remembered, or known. Thus Exo 3:15 :
This is my name for ever;
And this is my memorial זכרי zikeriy unto all generations.
So Psa 30:4 :
Sing unto Yahweh, O ye saints of his;
And give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness;
That is, at his holy memorial (Margin,) or name. In the place before us it seems to be used in the sense of name or appellation; that is, that by which God would be remembered or known.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain way of thy judgments--We have waited for Thy proceeding…
way of thy judgments--We have waited for Thy proceeding to punish the enemy (Isa 26:9-10) [MAURER]. HORSLEY translates Isa 26:7-8, "The path of the Just One is perfectly even; an even road Thou wilt level for the Just One, even the path of Thy laws, O Jehovah. We have expected Thee."
name . . . remembrance--the manifested character of God by which He would be remembered (Isa 64:5; Exo 3:15).
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 8, 9. In the way of thy judgments —…
8, 9. In the way of thy judgments — In the song allusion is here made to the long discipline of the Judahites in Babylon, perhaps also elsewhere.
Waited — We waited in patient, trustful hope.
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Thy name — Our desire was to thee, for the word “name” means all that belongs to the divine personality.
In the night… early — From night till morn, was our desire intense toward thee.
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 8. Yea, in the way … for thee] i.e.…
8. Yea, in the way … for thee] i.e. have stood by the way along which we expected and desired Jehovah to appear—in judgment. The rest of the verse should be translated as in R.V., to thy name and to thy memorial is the desire of [our] soul (or, as Cheyne, “heartfelt desire”). “Name” and “memorial” are synonymous, as in Exo_3:15; Psa_135:13; Jehovah’s memorial is that by which He makes Himself to be remembered (see Isa_26:13).
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 (8) To thy name, and to the remembrance of…
(8) To thy name, and to the remembrance of thee . . .—The “name” of God is, as always, that which reveals His character and will. Those who have waited for Him in the path of His judgments long for a fuller manifestation of that character. Comp. the prayer, “Father, glorify thy Name,” in Joh_12:28. In the next verse the prophet identifies himself in spirit with the longing expectation of the time that precedes the final manifestation.
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 Yea, in the way of thy judgments... have we…
Yea, in the way of thy judgments... have we waited for thee; rather, we waited. During the long years of our affliction and persecution in the world, we waited in the constant expectation that "thy judgments" would fall upon our persecutors. We were not impatient. We knew that thou wouldst visit us at the tilting time. The desire of our soul is to thy Name; rather, the desire of our soul was to thy Name. During all the weary time of waiting, we longed for thee, and thy Name, or rather what thy Name indicates, thy own true self. In default of thy actual presence, we desired to have thee ever in remembrance.
Vers. 8, 9. A thirst for God.
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"The desire of our soul is to thy Name... with my soul have I desired thee." The primary reference here is to the hope of troubled hearts for Divine deliverance; but the words of the text are suggestive of the general truths
I THAT MAN IS CONSTITUTED TO CRAVE AFTER GOD. We have many indications of this truth. We find it in the facts that:
1. The noblest spirits among cultivated peoples find their chief joy in communion with him.
2. The worthiest spirits among uncultivated peoples have been athirst for God.
3. Religious truth and Divine worship prove a powerful attraction to the vast majority of mankind.
4. Every human being is found to possess a capacity for religious knowledge and devotion.
5. Human life without God is found to be constantly unsatisfying and restless.
II THAT THIS GODWARD ASPIRATION, DULLED BY SIN, IS OFTEN AWAKENED BY AFFLICTION. "I desired thee in the night." Our interest in God, reduced by the various harmful and despoiling influences of a sinful society, sometimes so reduced as to be practically lost, is often awakened by affliction of some kind. It is not until the soul is brought down very low by sickness, by calamity, by bereavement, by treachery and disappointment, or by earthly failure and disenchantment, that it finds its deep and sore need of a heavenly Father, of an unfailing Friend, of a heavenly treasure. When thus injured and spoiled by sin, it is not until our souls are made to see their sinfulness in a fierce and awful light that we crave and cry out for an almighty and all-sufficient Savior; but then we do.
III THAT, REAWAKENED IN ADVERSITY, IT BECOMES A PERMANENT HABITUDE OF THE SOUL. "With my spirit... will I seek thee early." Whether or not we find this doctrine in the text, we find this truth in the will of God; and God expects to find this fact in human experience. It is bitterly disappointing to the good and is it not a disappointment to the Good One? when they who have been brought to the throne of grace by reflection are found, in after-days of comfort and sunshine, to leave the sanctuary unvisited, and to walk on their way, godless, prayerless, hopeless. Such men
(1) defeat God"s kind purposes;
(2) add iniquity to their iniquity;
(3) most seriously endanger their own future. C. (see Isa_1:5)
Attitude in times of judgment.
"In the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee." The connections of this chapter need sonic careful attention. The prophet, in the twelve preceding chapters, has given visions of the judgments that were ready to fall on the nations surrounding Israel judgments in which Israel itself must share, since Israel had shared in the idolatries and the moral evils which had called those judgments forth. To most of the nations Divine judgments would prove to be desolation and destruction; an irrecoverable doom. To Israel, because, even in its shame and sin, some held fast by righteousness and God, judgment would be but chastisement, by means of which the nation should be purified and established. Tyre should be wiped away; its place would be no longer known; the foundation of her palaces should be for the spreading of the fishermen"s nets. Babylon should be brought low, even to the dust; no shepherd"s hut, no wandering Arab"s tent, should rise on her foundations; the glory of Nebuchadnezzar should be the place of the satyr and the owl and the wild beasts of the desert. But Israel should come out of its time of judgment renewing its youth, purged from its idolatries, and witnessing, with a clearer voice than ever before, to its great truth, "The Lord Jehovah is one Lord." The prophet, in his vision, sees these judgments pass one by one; but, looking on beyond them, he sees the ransomed of Israel redeemed and saved, and he presents us beforehand with the song which they would unite to sing in the raptures of their deliverance. By telling the people the song which their noblest and best would sing when trials had wrought out their blessings, Isaiah teaches them the spirit which they ought to cherish, now, as they anticipated the judgments, or were wearying themselves under their burden. By-and-by they would rejoice that they had held fast by God under the gloom. Then "waiting on him, and waiting for him," is just the attitude they should seek and cherish.
I Viewed in one way, the circumstances through which Israel would be passing would be JUDGMENTS OF GOD; but viewed in another way, they would only be the ORDINARY COMMONPLACE FACTS OF THEIR NATIONAL LIFE. The growth into overwhelming power of some nations, until they swallowed up all the smaller nations around them, became proud, tyrannical, and luxurious; lost national virtue, and fell a prey to the enterprise and energy of fresher and younger nations. This process the Israelites actually saw going on, at different stages, in the kingdoms around them. The laws that ruled it, the final results of it, they could not discern, and they must have been gravely bewildered by it. All the more because they had themselves to suffer from the encroachments of these rising monarchies. In those trying days it could not have been an easy thing for a Jew to hold fast his faith in God. Reasoning could explain so little. Iniquity seemed to be triumphing over good. Jehovah appeared to have loosed his hand, and left the world to riot in its self-will. Those were great men indeed who could rise above the disasters and the helplessness of the times, and stay themselves on God, and hope in him, and wait for him.
II But that was quite A MODEL GENERATION. Each age, though expressing itself in new forms and terms, may find its own perplexities mirrored there. Early times had their chief difficulties in outward things, such as the aggrandizement of world-conquerors, and the debasing effect of idolatrous systems. As the world grows older, the perplexities and the trials of faith come more and more out of intellectual and moral conditions; and we incline to think that it is much harder work to hold on to God, with patient waiting, in times of mental and moral confusion than when the earth is disturbed with sword and spear and shield. Perhaps never were men called to steady themselves on God, and wait on him in the way of his judgments, as we are called. There are two peculiarities of our time which, seen on the one side, are just facts of life, but seen from the other side are judgments of God in the midst of which we are to wait upon him.
1. The disposition to accomplish all things by human effort, apart from God. Man, according to present-day teaching, is to be the Savior and Salvation of man. Let but every man lift up his brother so they say and the world"s golden age shall dawn; but the light that lightens it shall be the brilliancy of human genius, and not the "glory of the Lord.
2. The confusion which advancing knowledge has seemed to introduce into both doctrines and morals. Some of the greatest men of science have been reverent men who, while searching with a free spirit into all that can be known of creation, yet held God fast in the arms of trustful love, and found traces of his handiwork in everything they examined. But not a few are over-ready to discover some-times even ready to manufacture antagonisms between reason and revelation. And even the best of us cannot fail to be influenced by the atmosphere of doubt which has thus been created for us. We know what mental struggle means. We know what it is to search after truth that seems ever to glide beyond our grasp. We, too, are walking in the way of God"s judgments, and blessed are we if we can truly say, In the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee." We gather two lessons from these considerations.
3. The bottom, the foundation, the rest, of all things is God. The first truth which the child learns is the truth of God. The utmost truth towards which human intellects and human hearts can push their devious, struggling way, is God. The simplest word that infant Sips can utter is God;" the largest and awe-fullest word that can burn upon an archangel"s lips is the Name of God. That man knows something who knows a little of God. That man knows nothing all he may seem to know is not within the sphere of true being who does not know God. The steadying, the resting, of a man"s soul is impossible save in God. "Who is a Rock save our God?" Then our supreme work in life must be to know God to know him by waiting upon him;" to know him in the face of Jesus Christ.
4. And we learn that those who would hold by God will have to wait" for him. God tests the trusting ones by his mysterious doings and dealings. He hides, as it were, behind the clouds and the darkness that encircle his throne. He is even to be waited on in the "way of his judgments." And such a spirit of waiting alone can preserve us amid the judgments. It lies at the very basis of noble and regenerate character. And all life is to us according to our character. "To the pure all things are pure; to the impure nothing is pure." To the bad, godless man, the highest mercies become curses; the self-centered character can make poison even out of angels" food. To the bad mart, punishments are ruin, desolation, woe; even as to heathen nations these prophetic burdens were unredeemable calamity. But to the good man, the God-centered man, punishments are but chastisements, out of which are wrought "the peaceable fruits of righteousness." It has been said that the "dealings of God are punishments to the wicked, but chastisements to the righteous." It should rather be said that there is no difference in the Divine dealing judgments come both on the righteous and on the wicked; but the attitude in which we meet the judgments makes all the difference. The ungodly man bruises himself "against the bosses of Jehovah"s buckler." The godly man who "waits on the Lord binds to bear the rod of his heavenly Father"s chastening. To the godless man life is just stern iron and brass; but the Christian man, having learnt of God, is alchemist enough to turn all he touches to finest gold. Then "trust in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength."
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 Yea, in the way of Thy Judgments, O Lord,…
Isa_26:8
Yea, in the way of Thy Judgments, O Lord, have we waited for Thee
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Gods people waiting for Him in the way of His judgments
I.
THE WORDS CONTAIN A SOLEMN PROTESTATION--a protestation, on the part of these faithful people of the Lord, to Himself, in reference to His judgments. Yea, say they, Verily Thou, O Divine Searcher of hearts, knowest that we lie not, when we declare that in the way of Thy judgments we have waited for Thee. What a happy state of mind and heart is this! There may be a multiplication of observances, lastings, solemn assemblies, where, on the part of multitudes, there is nothing but form.
II. THESE GODLY JEWS SPEAK TO THE LORD OF HIS JUDGMENTS. If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without. Thy knowledge and permission, how much more is Thy agency to be traced in those mighty desolations that have moved the earth, and come down with such appalling fury on the land of Thine own people!
III. THESE GODLY PEOPLE, IN THEIR SINNING AND CHASTENED LAND, SPEAK TO GOD OF THE WAY OF HIS JUDGMENTS. We read of Jehovahs
way in a gracious sense--His way of mercy to lost sinners--the wondrous and glorious path along which He has passed, and is still passing, in saving sinners of our fallen race through the atonement of His own beloved incarnate Son (Psa_67:1-2). Blessed, most blessed, are they who are Divinely taught this way of the Lord! A far other way of Judahs God is that to which her mourning children refer in the verse before us. It is His judicial way--the wrathful way in which He is provoked to come out of His place, and move towards highly favoured but deeply sinning and guilty lands.
IV. Let us contemplate and imitate the exercise of this small remnant of the fearers of the Lord in the land of Judah. THEY WAITED FOR HIM IN THE WAY OF HIS JUDGMENTS. What are the elements which should enter into the exercise to which we are this day called?
1. Solemn recognition of God.
2. Solemn adoration of this high and holy Lord God.
3. Justification of God.
4. Humiliation of soul before God.
5. Pouring out the heart in earnest supplication before the Lord. (W. Mackray, M. A.)
The right improvement of public or private calamities
I. IN EVERY AFFLICTIVE DISPENSATION OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE IT BECOMES US TO RECOGNISE THE HAND OF THE LORD. They are Thy judgments. In doing this we imitate the example of the wise and good in every age.
II. EVERY CALAMITY, WHETHER PRIVATE OR PUBLIC, SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS A MANIFESTATION OF THE DIVINE DISPLEASURE AGAINST SIN. They are Thy judgments.
III. IN EVERY CALAMITY THE MIND OF THE BELIEVER SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO GOD. The desire of our soul is to Thy name, and to the remembrance of Thee.
1. This part of the passage expresses the most anxious solicitude that the Divine glory might be promoted by all the dispensations of His providence towards the children of men.
2. This part of our text seems to intimate also to whom the afflicted believer should apply for support. The desire of our soul is to Thy name, and to the remembrance of Thee.
3. This part of our text exhibits the believer finding a source of encouragement under present trouble, or in the anticipation of future difficulties, in a reference to his former experience of the power, the faithfulness and grace of his covenant God. The desire of our soul is to the remembrance of Thee.
IV. IN CIRCUMSTANCES OF AFFLICTION, WHETHER PRIVATE OR PUBLIC, IT IS THE DUTY AND PRIVILEGE OF THE BELIEVER TO BE FOUND WAITING UPON GOD. In the way of Thy judgments have we waited for Thee, O God. The verb to wait, as used in the text, denotes desire, expectation, patience, and perseverance. Learn--
1. That it is an evil thing and bitter to sin against God.
2. The infinite value of that system, which opens the way for the sinful creature to return to God, with the certain hope of being pardoned, adopted, and eternally blessed.
3. Let the sinner he exhorted to seek that Divine blessing which turns the curse into a blessing.
4. Let the believer labour to live in the exercise of the high and glorious privilege--waiting on God. (Essex Congregational Remembrancer.)
Christians, and their communion with God
(with Isa_26:9):--
I. THERE IS, IN THE PEOPLE OF GOD, A PRINCIPLE OF COMMUNION WITH GOD.
1. This is where their spiritual life begins.
2. This is where the life of the real Christian grows.
3. It becomes to the believer the tenor of his life to please God.
4. This principle of communion with God becomes the very flower of our lives.
5. This is the hunger and thirst of the Christian.
6. This proves that there has been a Divine renewal wrought in us.
7. This proves your sonship.
8. This proves your holiness, too, in a measure, for like will to like.
9. This proves your heavenliness, too, for that same desire which draws you to God is drawing you to Heaven.
II. THIS PRINCIPLE DISPLAYS ITSELF AND WORKS IN VARIOUS WAYS. Yea, in the way of Thy judgments, etc. We are longing for God, and it is dark and cloudy. What shall we do then?
1. Why, wait for Him. Sometimes, the way of Gods judgments may mean the appointed way, the regular way. Whenever thou hast a great trouble, expect a great mercy.
2. This communion leads to desiring. The desire of our soul, etc.
3. Your desire is to remember the Lord. And to the remembrance of Thee. I wish that I had a memory that was so narrow that it could only hold the things of God.
4. This principle of communion shows itself in a personal yearning. The eighth verse is in the plural, the ninth in the singular.
5. This principle of communion takes one other form, that of personal seeking. Yea, with my spirit within me, etc.
III. THE LORD TAKES PLEASURE IN THIS COMMUNION WITH HIS PEOPLE (Isa_26:20). (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The desire of our soul is to Thy name
The desire of the renewed soul
What is personal religion, and what is personal evidence of it? One single word, in my text is a key to all--desire. The sum and substance of a believers longings towards God is to know more of God, to enjoy more of God, to live more upon the fulness of the Son of God, and to become abstracted from all but God Himself. A sound creed is contained in these three things: I am a guilty wretch, deserving hell; Jesus is everything I want, for time and for eternity; I am His, and He is mine. Now, keeping this in view, let us descant upon--
I. THE OBJECT OF THE REGENERATED SOULS DESIRE. Look at this as it relates to the Holy Three in One. The soul may be longing for another sight of his Bible. But why? Because he longs to meet with God there. He may be longing to hear another Gospel sermon. Why? Because it sets forth the perfections of the God he loves, and therefore he expects to meet Him there. He may be longing for another ordinance day. Why? Because Jesus is often made known to him in breaking of bread. And so whatever means and ordinances are used, whatever externals are laid before the child of God and employed by him, it is not these that will satisfy him. It is God in them. I pass on to show--
II. WHAT WEANING WORK IS ESSENTIAL TO THIS. Until there is a great deal of weaning in the Christians experience there will not be a very great deal of spirituality.
III. THE NEGOTIATIONS THAT ARISE OUT OF THIS. If the earnest desire of my soul is after the enjoyment of God, I cannot grow careless about using means (J. Irons.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Isa_26:8. Yea, in the way of Thy judgments, O…
THE WAY OF GOD’S JUDGMENTS
Isa_26:8. Yea, in the way of Thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for Thee.
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I. Observe what God’s judgments are. They are simply the expression of His thoughts. His final judgment is the declaration of His thoughts of a man’s character; His judgments here are also His declaration of what He thinks of our conduct and ways. One special thing for which psalmists and prophets adore Him is that men can see that His judgments are true and righteous (Psa_19:9; Psa_119:75, &c.) Their tendency and aim is to teach men what righteousness is (Isa_26:9).
II. The way of God’s judgments is the way of His laws. The calamities which men call “judgments” are generally the results of infraction by them of the laws by which He governs the universe.
The civil war in America was a judgment of God because it was a natural result of their toleration and defence of slavery; the war, with all its terrors, was a heavy penalty, and was clearly connected with their sin. So the cattle-plague in England was doubtless a natural result of some violation, through carelessness or greed, of God’s laws concerning the breeding and tending of cattle, and was thus one of God’s judgments.
III. The way of God’s judgments prescribes our way of prayer and expectation. We are to pray and expect, not that, while we continue as we were, God will remove the judgment; but that He will help us to understand it, and that He will dispose us to abandon the conduct that has brought it upon us. In thus waiting upon God—with penitence for our transgression, with prayer for light, and with sincere resolve to amend—we may expect God to bless us; but this we may expect only while we wait upon Him thus.—Alexander Mackennal, B.S: Sermon on the Cattle-plague.
Those who wait for God in the way of His judgments are,
1. Those who in prosperous and peaceful times endeavour to serve Him.
2. Those who desire to learn from them the lessons they were designed to teach. 3. Those who honour God by submission and trust in the trying hour.
4. These, even in the midst of judgment, may confidently expect the favour of God. A purpose of benevolence runs through even the stern and “strange work” of justice; and God, even when He chastises, will not utterly smite down the trusting heart.—William, Manning.
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.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 26:8 we show our trust (see 26:3-4; literally we…
26:8 we show our trust (see 26:3-4; literally we wait for you): Waiting involves trust in the Lord and longing for his redemption. • People express their commitment to God by obeying his laws; mere lip service is not sufficient.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.