16For I will not contend forever, neither will I always be angry; for the spirit would faint before me, and the souls whom I have made.
17I was angry because of the iniquity of his covetousness and struck him. I hid myself and was angry; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.
18I have seen his ways, and will heal him. I will lead him also, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners.
16 For I will not contend forever, neither will I always be angry; for the spirit would faint before me, and the souls whom I have made.
17 I was angry because of the iniquity of his covetousness and struck him. I hid myself and was angry; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.
18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him. I will lead him also, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners.
KJVKing James Version
16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.
17 For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.
18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.
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JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth; for the spirit that enwrappeth itself is from Me, and the souls which I have made.
17 For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth and smote him, I hid Me and was wroth; and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.
18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him; I will lead him also, and requite with comforts him and his mourners.
Jeremiah 33:6(v18)‘Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them; and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth.
Revelation 7:17(v18)for the Lamb who is in the middle of the throne shepherds them and leads them to springs of life-giving waters. And God will wipe away…
Micah 7:18(v16)Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity, and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? He doesn’t retain his anger…
Jeremiah 3:22(v18)Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backsliding. “Behold, we have come to you; for you are Yahweh our God.
Jeremiah 10:24(v16)Yahweh, correct me, but gently; not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing.
Show all 57 cross-references
Psalms 85:5(v16)Will you be angry with us forever? Will you draw out your anger to all generations?
Psalms 103:9-16(v16)He will not always accuse; neither will he stay angry forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our…
Isaiah 56:11(v17)Yes, the dogs are greedy. They can never have enough. They are shepherds who can’t understand. They have all turned to their own way, each…
Hosea 14:4-8(v18)“I will heal their waywardness. I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from him. I will be like the dew to Israel. He will…
Hebrews 12:9(v16)Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the…
Psalms 78:38-39(v16)But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn’t destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, and didn’t stir up all his…
Jeremiah 31:3(v18)Yahweh appeared of old to me, saying, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.
Genesis 6:3(v16)Yahweh said, “My Spirit will not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; so his days will be one hundred twenty years.”
Numbers 16:22(v16)They fell on their faces, and said, “God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the…
Job 34:14-15(v16)If he set his heart on himself, if he gathered to himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would turn…
Isaiah 42:5(v16)God Yahweh, he who created the heavens and stretched them out, he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it, he who gives…
Isaiah 61:1-3(v18)The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me, because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken…
Jeremiah 6:13(v17)“For from their least even to their greatest, everyone is given to covetousness. From the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals…
Jeremiah 13:17(v18)But if you will not hear it, my soul will weep in secret for your pride. My eye will weep bitterly, and run down with tears, because…
Jeremiah 31:18-20(v18)“I have surely heard Ephraim grieving thus, ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as an untrained calf. Turn me, and I will be…
Jeremiah 38:16(v16)So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As Yahweh lives, who made us this soul, I will not put you to death, neither will…
Ezekiel 16:60-63(v18)Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish to you an everlasting covenant. Then you…
Colossians 3:5(v17)Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and…
Psalms 23:2(v18)He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
Psalms 51:12(v18)Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.
Ecclesiastes 9:4(v18)For to him who is joined with all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
Isaiah 1:18(v18)“Come now, and let’s reason together,” says Yahweh: “Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red…
Isaiah 12:1(v18)In that day you will say, “I will give thanks to you, Yahweh; for though you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you comfort…
Isaiah 30:26(v18)Moreover the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of…
Isaiah 49:10(v18)They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun strike them: for he who has mercy on them will lead them. He will guide…
Isaiah 57:15(v18)For the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy, says: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a…
Isaiah 66:10-13(v18)“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her. Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn over her; that you may…
Ephesians 5:3-5(v17)But sexual immorality, and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be mentioned among you, as becomes saints; nor filthiness, nor…
2 Peter 2:14(v17)having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing;
Ecclesiastes 6:9(v17)Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
Ecclesiastes 12:7(v16)and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Isaiah 1:4(v17)Ah sinful nation, a people loaded with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken Yahweh. They have…
Isaiah 5:8-9(v17)Woe to those who join house to house, who lay field to field, until there is no room, and you are made to dwell alone in the middle of the…
Isaiah 8:17(v17)I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
Isaiah 9:13(v17)Yet the people have not turned to him who struck them, neither have they sought Yahweh of Armies.
Isaiah 43:24-25(v18)You have bought me no sweet cane with money, nor have you filled me with the fat of your sacrifices, but you have burdened me with your…
Isaiah 45:15(v17)Most certainly you are a God who has hidden yourself, God of Israel, the Savior.’ ”
Isaiah 48:8-11(v18)Yes, you didn’t hear. Yes, you didn’t know. Yes, from of old your ear was not opened, for I knew that you dealt very treacherously, and…
Jeremiah 2:30(v17)“I have struck your children in vain. They received no correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
Jeremiah 5:3(v17)O Yahweh, don’t your eyes look on truth? You have stricken them, but they were not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused…
Jeremiah 8:10(v17)Therefore I will give their wives to others and their fields to those who will possess them. For everyone from the least even to the…
Jeremiah 22:17(v17)But your eyes and your heart are only for your covetousness, for shedding innocent blood, for oppression, and for doing violence.”
Ezekiel 33:31(v17)They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don’t do them; for with their…
Ezekiel 36:22-38(v18)“Therefore tell the house of Israel, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “I don’t do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which…
Micah 2:2-3(v17)They covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.…
Zechariah 12:1(v16)A revelation, Yahweh’s word concerning Israel. Yahweh, who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the…
Luke 12:15(v17)He said to them, “Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man’s life doesn’t consist of the abundance of the things which he…
Luke 15:20(v18)“He arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on…
Romans 5:20(v18)The law came in that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly;
1 Timothy 6:9(v17)But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation, a snare, and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and…
Luke 15:14-16(v17)When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need. He went and joined himself to one of…
2 Peter 2:3(v17)In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (19 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv16–18I will not use my power against frail man,…
I will not use my power against frail man, whose life is but a blast.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv16–18Isa 57:16 For I will not contend for ever,…
Isa 57:16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls [which] I have made.
Ver. 16. For I will not contend for ever.] It soon repenteth the Lord concerning his servants. Et pro magno peccato parum supplicii satis est patti. {a} See Psa 103:9.
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For the spirit would fail before me.] Heb., Would be overcovered - sc., tenebris ac terroribus, it would even sink and faint away. When the child swoons in the whipping, God lets fall the rod, and falls akissing it, to fetch life into it again. {Jer 31:20} As the rule in medicine is still to maintain nature, so doth he their spirits by cordials.
{a} Terent.
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 Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv16–18I will not contend for ever; I will not…
I will not contend for ever; I will not constantly proceed to the utmost severity with sinful men in this life, and therefore I will put an end to the miseries of the Jews, and turn their captivity.
For the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made; for then their spirits would sink and die under my stroke, and I should do nothing else but destroy the works of mine own hands. Therefore I consider their infirmity, and spare them. Compare Psa 78:38,39; 103:13,14.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry1710 · Public DomainOn v17The body of the people of Israel, in this…
The body of the people of Israel, in this account of God's dealings with them, is spoken of as a particular person (Isa 57:17, Isa 57:18), but divided into two sorts, differently dealt with - some who were sons of peace, to whom peace is spoken (Isa 57:19), and others who were not, who have nothing to do with peace, Isa 57:20, Isa 57:21. Observe here,
I. The just rebukes which that people were brought under for their sin: For the iniquity of his covetousness I was wroth, and smote him. Covetousness was a sin that abounded very much among that people. Jer 6:13, From the least to the greatest of them, every one is given to covetousness. Those that did not worship images were yet carried away by this spiritual idolatry: for such is covetousness; it is making money the god, Col 3:5. No marvel that the people were covetous when their watchmen themselves were notoriously so, Isa 56:11, Yet, covetous as they were, in the service of their idols they were prodigal, Isa 57:6. And it is hard to say whether their profuseness in that or their covetousness in every thing else was more provoking. But for this iniquity, among others, God was angry with them, and brought one judgment after another upon them, and their destruction at last by the Chaldeans. 1. God was wroth. He resented it, took it very ill that a people who were devoted to himself, and portioned in himself, should be so entirely given up to the world and choose that for their portion. Note, Covetousness is an iniquity that is very displeasing to the God of heaven. It is a heart-sin, but he sees it, and therefore hates it, and looks upon it with jealousy, because it sets up a rival with him in the soul. It is a sin which men bless themselves in (Psa 49:18) and in which their neighbours bless them (Psa 10:3); but God abhors it. 2. He motes him, reproved him for it by his prophets, corrected him by his providence, punished him in those very things he so doted upon and was covetous of. Note, Sinners shall be made to feel from the anger of God. Those whom he is wroth with he smites; and covetousness particularly lays men under the tokens of God's displeasure. Those that set their hearts upon the wealth of this world are disappointed of it or it is embittered to them; it is either clogged with a cross or turned into a curse. 3. God hid himself from him when he was under these rebukes, and continued wroth with him. When we are under the rod, if God manifest himself to us, we may bear it the better; but if he both smite us and hide himself from us, send us no prophets, speak to us no comfortable word, show us no token for good, if he tear and go away (Hos 5:14), we are very miserable.
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II. Their obstinacy and incorrigibleness under these rebukes: He went on frowardly in the way of his heart, in his evil way. He was not sensible of the displeasure of God that he was under. He felt the smart of the rod, but had no regard at all to the hand; the more he was crossed in his worldly pursuits the more eager he was in them. He either would not see his error or if he saw it would not amend it. Covetousness was the way of his heart; it was what he was inclined to and intent upon, and he would not be reclaimed, but in his distress he trespassed yet more, Ch2 28:22. See the strength of the corruption of men's hearts, and the sinfulness of sin, which will take its course in despite of God himself and all the flames of his wrath. See also how insufficient afflictions of themselves are to reform men, unless God's grace work with them.
III. God's wonderful return in mercy to them, notwithstanding the obstinacy of the generality of them.
1. The greater part of them went on frowardly, but there were some among them that were mourners for the obstinacy of the rest; and with an eye to them, or rather for his own name's sake, God determines not to contend for ever with them. With the froward God may justly show himself froward (Psa 18:26), and walk contrary to those that walk contrary to him, Lev 26:24. When this sinner here went on frowardly in the way of his heart, one would think it should have followed, "I have seen his ways and will destroy him, will abandon him, will never have any thing more to do with him." But such are the riches of divine mercy and grace, and so do they rejoice against judgment, that it follows, I have seen his ways and will heal him. See how God's goodness takes occasion from man's badness to appear so much the more illustrious; and where sin has abounded grace much more abounds. God's reasons of mercy are fetched from within himself, for in us there appears nothing but what is provoking: "I have seen his ways, and yet I will heal him for my own name's sake." God knew how bad the people were, and yet would not cast them off. But observe the method. God will first give him grace, and then, and not till then, give him peace: "I have seen his way, that he will never turn to me of himself, and therefore I will turn him." Those whom God has mercy in store for he has grace in readiness for, to prepare and qualify them for that mercy which they were running from as fast as they could. (1.) God will heal him of his corrupt and vicious disposition, will cure him of his covetousness, though it be ever so deeply rooted in him and his heart have been long exercised to covetous practices. There is no spiritual disease so inveterate, but almighty grace can conquer it. (2.) God will lead him also; not only amend what was amiss in him, that he may cease to do evil, but direct him into the way of duty, that he may learn to do well. He goes on frowardly, as Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter, but God will lead him into a better mind, a better path. And them, (3.) He will restore those comforts to him which he had forfeited and lost, and for the return of which he had thus prepared him. There was a wonderful reformation wrought upon captives in Babylon, and then a wonderful redemption wrought for them, which brought comfort to them, to their mourners, to those among them that mourned for their own sins, the sins of their people, and the desolations of the sanctuary. To those mourners the mercy would be most comfortable, and to them God had an eye in working it out. Blessed are those that mourn, for to them comfort belongs, and they shall have it.
2. Now, as when that people went into captivity some of them were good figs, very good, others of them bad figs, very bad, and accordingly their captivity was to them for their good or for their hurt (Jer 24:8, Jer 24:9), so, when they came out of captivity, still some of them were good, others bad, and the deliverance was to them accordingly.
(1.) To those among them that were good their return out of captivity was peace, such peace as was a type and earnest of the peace which should be preached by Jesus Christ (Isa 57:19): I create the fruit of the lips, peace. [1.] God designed to give them matter for praise and thanksgiving, for that is the fruit of the lips (Heb 13:15), the calves of the lips, Hos 14:2. I create this. Creation is out of nothing, and this is surely out of worse than nothing, when God creates matter of praise for those that went on frowardly in the way of their heart. [2.] In order to this, peace shall be published: Peace, peace (perfect peace, all kinds of peace) to him that is afar off from the general rendezvous, or from the head-quarters, as well as to him that is near. Peace with God; though he has contended with them, he will be reconciled and will let fall his controversy. Peace of conscience, a holy security and serenity of mind, after the many reproaches of conscience and agitations of spirit they had been under their captivity. Thus God creates the fruit of the lips, fresh matter for thanksgiving; for, when he speaks peace to us, we must speak praises to him. This peace is itself of God's creating. He, and he only, can work it; it is the fruit of the lips, of his lips - he commands it, of the minister's lips - he speaks it by them, Isa 40:1. It is the fruit of preaching lips and praying lips; it is the fruit of Christ's lips, whose lips drop as a honeycomb; for to him this is applied, Eph 2:17 : He came and preached peace to you who were afar off, you Gentiles as well as to the Jews, who were nigh-to after-ages, who were afar off in time, as well as to those of the present age.
(2.) To those among them that were wicked, though they might return with the rest, their return was no peace, Isa 57:20. The wicked, wherever he is, in Babylon or in Jerusalem, carries about with him the principle of his own uneasiness, and is like the troubled sea. God healed those to whom he spoke peace (Isa 57:19): I will heal them; all shall be well again and set to rights; but the wicked would not be healed by the grace of God and therefore shall not be healed by his comforts. They are always like the sea in a storm, for they carry about with them, [1.] Unmortified corruptions. They are not cured and conquered, and their ungoverned lusts and passions make them like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, vexatious to all about them and therefore uneasy to themselves, noisy and dangerous. When the intemperate heats of the spirit break out in scurrilous and abusive language, then the troubled sea casts forth mire and dirt. [2.] Unpacified consciences. They are under a frightful apprehension of guilt and wrath, that they cannot enjoy themselves; when they seem settled they are in disquietude, when they seem merry they are in heaviness; like Cain, who always dwelt in the land of shaking. The terrors of conscience disturb all their enjoyments, and cast forth such mire and dirt as make them a burden to themselves. Though this does not appear (it may be) at present, yet it is a certain truth, what this prophet had said before (Isa 48:22), and here repeats (Isa 57:21), There is no peace to the wicked, no reconciliation to God (nor can they be upon good terms with him, while they go on still in their trespasses), no quietness or satisfaction in their own mind, no real good, no peace in death, because no hope. My God hath said it, and all the world cannot unsay it, That there is no peace to those that allow themselves in any sin. What have they to do with peace?
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv16–18For I will not contend for ever,.... By afflictive…
For I will not contend for ever,.... By afflictive providences; with the humble and contrite, the end being in a great measure answered by their humiliation and contrition; when God afflicts his people, it shows that he has a controversy with them, for their good, and his own glory; and when these ends are obtained, he will carry it on no longer:
neither will I be always wroth; as he seems to be in the apprehensions of his people, when he either hides his face from them, or chastises them with a rod of affliction:
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for the spirit should fail before me; the spirit of the afflicted, which not being able to bear up any longer under the affliction, would sink and faint, or be "overwhelmed", as the word (c) signifies:
and the souls which I have made; which are of God's immediate creation, and which are also renewed by his grace, and made new creatures. The proselytes Abraham made are called the souls he made in Haran, Gen 12:5, much more may this be said of the Father of spirits, the author both of the old and new creation. The Lord knowing the weakness of the human frame, therefore restrains his hand, or moderates or removes the affliction; see a like reason in Psa 78:38, the last days of trouble to God's people, which will be the time of the slaying of the witnesses, will be such that if they are not shortened, no flesh can be saved, but for the elect's sake they will be shortened, Mat 24:22.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv16–18For - I will not proceed to the utmost…
For - I will not proceed to the utmost severity with sinful men.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv16–18Verse 16. For I will not contend for ever]…
Verse 16. For I will not contend for ever] The learned have taken a great deal of pains to little purpose on the latter part of this verses which they suppose to be very obscure. After all their labours upon it, I think the best and easiest explication of it is given in the two following elegant passages of the Psalms, which I presume are exactly parallel to it, and very clearly express the same sentiment.
"But he in his tender mercy will forgive their sin
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And will not destroy them;
Yea, oftentimes will he turn away his wrath,
And will not rouse up his indignation:
For he remembereth that they are but flesh,
A breath that passeth, and returneth not."
Ps 78:38-39.
"He will not always contend
Neither will he for ever hold his wrath:
As a father yearneth towards his children,
So is JEHOVAH tenderly compassionate towards them
that fear him:
For he knoweth our frame;
He remembereth that we are but dust."
Ps 103:9; Ps 103:13-14.
In the former of these two passages the second line seems to be defective both in measure and sense. I suppose the word אותם otham, them, is lost at the end; which seems to be acknowledged by the Chaldee and Vulgate, who render as if they had read ולא ישחית אותם velo yaschith otham. - L.
For the spirit] רוח ruach, the animal life.
And the souls] נשמות neshamoth, the immortal spirits. The Targum understands this of the resurrection. I will restore the souls of the dead, i.e., to their bodies.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv17–18Isa 57:17. For the iniquity of his covetousness —…
Isa 57:17. For the iniquity of his covetousness — The covetousness of the Jewish people, (here addressed as one man,) who were eminently guilty of this sin before the Babylonish captivity, as is expressly affirmed, Jer 6:13; and Jer 8:10; and they were still more addicted to it in the time of Christ, and previous to the destruction of their city by the Romans; Christ himself testifying, that the greatest professors of sanctity among them devoured widows’ houses, and, for a pretence, made long prayers. But this sin is not mentioned exclusively of others, but so as to comprehend all those sins for which God was wroth, and smote them: covetousness, however, joined with a froward going on in the way of their own hearts, has been the characteristic sin of that people, in all ages, since the overturning of their commonwealth by the Romans. If Vitringa’s exposition of this chapter be adopted, this verse must be understood of the avarice of the Church of Rome, manifested by her enormous exactions, and her infamous traffic in indulgences, dispensations, and a variety of equally abominable practices, which, for many ages, have disgraced that church in the view of all intelligent and pious Christians. I hid me, and was wroth —
I withdrew my favour and help from him, and left him in great calamities. And he went on frowardly — Yet he was not reformed by corrections, but in his distresses trespassed more and more, and obstinately persisted in those sinful courses which were most pleasing to the lusts of his own corrupt heart.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv16–18For I will not contend for ever - I…
For I will not contend for ever - I will not be angry with my people forever, nor always refuse to pardon and comfort them (see Psa 103:9). This is to be regarded as having been primarily addressed to the Jews in their long and painful exile in Babylon. It is, however, couched in general language; and the idea is, that although God would punish his people for their sins, yet his wrath would not be perpetual. If they were his children, he would visit them again in mercy, and would restore to them his favor.
For the spirit should fail before me - Critics have taken a great deal of pains on this part of the verse, which they suppose to be very obscure. The simple meaning seems to be, that if God should continue in anger against people they would be consumed. The human soul could not endure a long-continued controversy with God. Its powers would fail; its strength decay; it must sink to destruction. As God did not intend this in regard to his own people; as he meant that his chastisements should not be for their destruction, but for their salvation; and as he knew how much they could bear, and how much they needed, he would lighten the burden, and restore them to his favor. And the truth taught here is, that if we are his children, we are safe. We may suffer much and long. We may suffer so much that it seems scarcely possible that we should endure more. But he knows how much we can bear; and he will remove the lead, so that we shall not be utterly crushed. A similar sentiment is found in the two following elegant passages of the Psalms, which are evidently parallel to this, and express the same idea:
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But he being full of compassion,
Forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not;
Yea many a time burned he his anger away,
And did not stir up all his wrath.
For he remembered that they were but flesh;
A wind that passeth away and returneth not again.
Psa 78:38-39
He will not always chide;
Neither will he keep his anger forever.
Like as a father pitieth his children,
So the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
For he knoweth our frame;
He remembereth that we are dust.
Psa 103:9, Psa 103:13-14
The Hebrew word which is rendered here ‘should fail’ (עטף ‛âṭaph), means properly to cover, as with a garment; or to envelope with anything, as darkness. Then it is used in the sense of having the mind covered or muffled up with sorrow; and means to languish, to be faint or feeble, to fail. Thus it is used in Psa 61:2; Psa 107:5; Psa 142:3; Lam 2:11-12, Lam 2:19; Jon 2:7. Other interpretations of this verse may be seen in Rosenmuller; but the above seems to be the true sense. According to this, it furnishes ground of encouragement and comfort to all the children of God who are afflicted. No sorrow will be sent which they will not be able to endure, no calamity which will not be finally for their own good. At the same time, it is a passage full of alarm to the sinner. How can he contend forever with God? How can he struggle always with the Almighty? And what must be the state in that dreadful world, where God shall contend for ever with the soul, and where all its powers shall be crushed beneath the vengeance of his eternal arm!
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv16–17End. I will not always threaten or be angry,…
End. I will not always threaten or be angry, Genesis vi. 3. (Calmet) --- Spirit. Holy Ghost. (St. Irenæus v. 12.) (St. Augustine) --- God spares the humble penitent, and grants what they desire with as much eagerness as a sailor does a fair wind. (Worthington) --- He does not regard the indifferent. (Haydock)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv16–18For--referring to the promise in Isa 57:14-15, of restoring…
For--referring to the promise in Isa 57:14-15, of restoring Israel when "contrite" (Gen 6:3; Gen 8:21; Psa 78:38-39; Psa 85:5; Psa 103:9, Psa 103:13-14; Mic 7:18). God "will not contend for ever" with His people, for their human spirit would thereby be utterly crushed, whereas God's object is to chasten, not to destroy them (Lam 3:33-34; Mic 7:8-9). With the ungodly He is "angry every day" (Psa 7:11; Rev 14:11).
spirit . . . before me--that is, the human spirit which went forth from Me (Num 16:22), answering to "which I have made" in the parallel clause.
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. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv16–1816. I will not contend for ever — The…
16. I will not contend for ever — The prophet speaks for Jehovah in anthropopathic terms; that is, in terms as if He, the Infinite One, does actually think and feel human thoughts and emotions, and so does sympathize, as no being else can, with man’s spiritual needs, woes, and joys. He is able, in truth, so to represent the deity; but in doing so, the prophet’s object is to make divine relations to human wants the more vividly felt. God deals trial to his people for necessary discipline. “But he will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger for ever, for he knoweth our frame.”
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 Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv16–1816. Hardly less remarkable is the motive here assigned…
16. Hardly less remarkable is the motive here assigned for the Divine clemency,—Jehovah’s compassion for the frailty of His creatures (Psa_103:9; Psa_103:13 f., Psa_78:39). The argument somewhat resembles that of ch. Isa_45:18 ff.: it cannot be Jehovah’s purpose to undo His own creation. The continuance of His anger would annihilate the souls which He Himself has made; therefore when chastisement has produced the contrite and humble spirit, He relents and shews mercy.
The word for souls is that which in Gen_2:7 means “breath (of life),” the principle of life in virtue of which man becomes “a living person” (cf. ch. Isa_42:5). The parallel spirit has the same sense; it is the Divine power by which human life is sustained.
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 Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv16–18(16) I will not contend for ever . .…
(16) I will not contend for ever . . .—The words come as a message of comfort to the penitent who is still bearing the chastisement of his sins. The time during which God “contends” with him as an accuser and a judge has its limits. Were it not so. the souls which he had made would be utterly consumed, and His purpose in creation would be frustrated. The words seem like an echo of Gen_6:3; Gen_8:21. (Comp. Psa_103:9-10).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv16–18I will not contend for ever. God "will not…
I will not contend for ever. God "will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger for ever". (Psa_103:9) If he were "extreme to mark what is done amiss," none could abide it. (Psa_130:3) He remits somewhat, therefore, from the claims of strict justice, and is content to take lower ground. Were it otherwise, man"s spirit should fail before him. Man, i.e. , would be utterly unable to justify himself, and would faint and fade away before the Divine fury. The souls which God has made would, one and all, perish. He, however, has not made them for this purpose, but that they should live; (Deu_30:19 Eze_18:31) and has therefore devised for them a way of salvation. (see Isa_53:5-10)
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 Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv16–18For I will not contend for ever
Isa_57:16-18
For I will not contend for ever
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Gods contendings with man
I.
LET US ADVERT TO THE CONTROVERSY ITSELF--WHAT IT IS, WHY IT IS, AND HOW IT IS CARRIED ON. What this quarrel is we know. It is a part of that ancient strife for mastery, which has been going on ever since the fall, between truth and error, light and darkness, holiness and sin. The carnal mind is enmity against God. Unconverted men may demur to these representations; they tell us that they merely withhold from the Divine Being the homage which He expects and claims; but repugnance, hatred, enmity towards Him, they have none. But do they not hate the law of God? Would they not, if it were in their power, have Him alter the scheme of His entire moral government, His permissions, His requirements? This, speaking after the manner of men, makes God angry--sometimes the contendings of God with man take a judicial form. They are to condemn the sinner out of his own mouth, in that he did not see, in the bitter experiences of a life of evil, how the goodness of God was leading him to repentance. See a form of this contending with us, in that fixed and universal law of our being, which always makes us unhappy, when we are striving with God, when we reject His counsels, or resist His will, or try to get from under His yoke, or wrestle with all the obstructions of His providence, in order to have our own way. But, further, and more directly, God contends with us by His Word, and Spirit, and outward providences--by powerful awakenings at the heart when we look not for them, or byinterposed checks and barriers when we are bent on the way of sin. There are restraints upon us often from without. And there are restraints upon us from within from the suggestions, and the admonitions, and remonstrances of the Divine Spirit in our hearts. But a more comforting view of our text, and one more in harmony with its general spirit, is that which supposes God to be contending with us, avowedly for the purposes of His own Fatherly correction, and only for the fulfilment of those ends; waiting to remove from us His heavy hand. These contendings of God with His own children take many forms. Chastening is a universal discipline. Very hard to bear is this contending of God with us; there is only one thing harder, and that is, the state in which He should not contend with us at all, but should leave us to ourselves.
II. THE LIMITS WHICH GOD HAS HIMSELF ASSIGNED TO THIS CONTROVERSY WITH THE SOULS OF MEN, AND THE REASONS MOVING HIM THERETO,
Contend with us He must, and be wroth with us He must. It is a necessity forced upon Him by the circumstances of our fallen nature; but He will not contend for ever. Wisdom and goodness have decreed the bounds of this flooding wave and it shall go no farther. Now, in the case of the obstinately wicked and impenitent, we have seen why God will not contend for ever. They have their day of visitation and they outlive it; their accepted time and they sin on. The Judge wastes not scourges up, on them; they will make scourges enough for themselves. Hell itself is but Heavens assisting grace withdrawn, and man left to the evil of his own heart. But in His own children, the limits of Gods chastening are merciful limits. He for our profit--here is the universal law of the scourge; it will cease whenever our souls profit ceases. I will not contend for ever; nor longer than may be necessary to try our faith, to prove our repentance, to see what there is in our hearts, whether we will keep the Divine commandments or not. These seasons of sadness are sometimes permitted to take us off from a false theology and a false rest. For the spirit should fail before Me. Very instructive are those Scriptures, and very comforting, which tell us how largely the thought of our mortal frailness enters into the considerate care of Heaven. The uppermost thought which our subject should leave upon the mind, and which the heart should cleave to with all the energies of a loving faith is, that it goes very hard with God to afflict man at all; and that He has in some mysterious sense to wrestle with the conflicting powers of the Godhead before He can give up a soul altogether. It seems as if God could take every step towards the sinners condemnation but the last. He can admonish, rebuke, threaten; but when it comes to smiting, then comes the hesitation, then begins Gods strange work. (D. Moore, M. A.)
Contention ended and grace reigning
The Lord is holding high soliloquy. He allows His prophet to stand where he can hear the sacred soliloquy of the great Supreme; and he does hear it, and then under the dictate of the Divine Spirit he records it in the inspired book, where it remains to this day for our instruction.
I. GOD CONTENDS WITH MEN, AND THE DIVINE CONTENTION IS WELL DESERVED ON THEIR PART. He says, I will not contend for ever, in which it is implied that He does contend sometimes. Smiting comes before saving.
1. I would speak of this to the seeking sinner. Anything is better than the horrible calm of the dead sea of spiritual indifference. The Lords design in contending with you is to convince you of your sin. The next reason for the
Lords contending with you will begin to operate when the first purpose has been accomplished. You will, in your self-abasement, be driven to look to the grace of God. It is hard to part a man from his sin, it is still harder to divorce him from his self-righteousness: and this is a part of the Lords contention with awakened souls. Moreover, no one can be surprised that the Lord lets forth a measure of His wrath upon seeking sinners when we see how they behave, even while they are seeking. We have known them red hot one day and icy cold another, and albeit that they long for mercy, you will see them at certain seasons acting as if they despised it.
2. But now I turn to the people of God. Sometimes our Lord hath a contention with us. This is not at all wonderful when we consider how unworthily we often live towards His sacred name; indeed, it is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed. His contention with us will show itself occasionally in adverse providences. Even more severe are His blows when it comes to be a controversy carried on by His Spirit within the mind.
II. THIS DIVINE CONTENTION WILL COME TO AN END WITH THE CONTRITE, I will not contend for ever, etc. The question arises: When may we expect that this promise will be fulfilled? Notice the verse which precedes the text, for that assures us that God hath no controversy with the humble and the contrite. This is self-evident, for He declares Chat with such He will dwell, and the God of grace will not dwell in a house that is full of contention. He contends where He does not abide, but where He abides there is peace. It is wonderful how the pity of God has in some cases been excited, even by a temporary repentance. When wicked Ahab rent his clothes and put sackcloth upon himself, the Lord took note of it and said, Seest thou how Ahab humbled himself before Me? Because he humbled himself before Me I will not bring the evil in his days. When the Ninevites repented, though probably there was very little that was spiritual about their humbling, the Lord turned from His fierce anger and there was a reprieve for the wicked city. He has given a promise of grace which runs thus, Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up. He cannot spurn those who submit themselves before Him, for it is written, Though the Lord be high, yet hath He respect unto the lowly. Condescension to the lowly is His glory, as the blessed Virgin sang of old, and as many fainting ones may sing at this moment if they will: He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree: He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich He hath sent empty away. Lowly roofs attract the Deity. He comes to those who are broken in heart, and when He comes the contention is over. And what else doth the Lord promise to do? He says He will dwell with the humble, and He adds that He will revive them.
III. GOD HIMSELF FINDS REASONS FOR ENDING THE CONTENTION. We could not have found any, for in ourselves there is much cause for the Lords anger, but none for His grace.
1. The first is found in human weakness, and its inability to bear the Divine contention.
2. His second reason is, to my mind, even more extraordinary. It is given in the next verse: For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth and smote him: I hid Me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. This argument is founded on the inoperativeness of the Divine contention upon the heart which is to be won. If wrath will not humble us the Lord may yet in His grace try what love can do. He will love us to a better mind.
IV. God Himself having found a reason why He should cease from contention, nay, two reasons,. HE HIMSELF INVENTS AND PROPOSES ANOTHER METHOD FOR ENDING HIS CONTENTIONS and making us right with Himself.
1. It is an astonishing method. I have seen his ways, and will heal him.
2. It is an effectual method. I will heal him,--not I will smite him again, but I will treat his sin as if it were a disease. It is true that sin is much more than a disease, and God might treat us altogether and only from its criminal side, but still it is a disease, and therefore He resolves to treat it as such.
3. It is a tender way. I will lead him also.
4. Observe, how complete is this method. As if all that went before were not enough, it is added, I will restore comforts unto him and to his mourners. He will take away the sorrow as well as the sin, the killing grief as well as the killing disease. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
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 Commentary1892 · Public DomainOn v17Isa_57:17-19. For the iniquity of his covetousness I was…
ABOUNDING SIN AND ABOUNDING GRACE
Isa_57:17-19. For the iniquity of his covetousness I was wroth, &c.
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The design of the Bible is twofold: first, to reveal man to himself, and, next, to reveal God to him. The Bible contains a revelation of the gracious heart of God, and of the sinful heart of man. Both were necessary, for man is essentially ignorant of himself, and the degree of his distance and separation from God (Pro_30:13; Rev_3:17-19). The text is a case in point. It was necessary that the Jews should be rebuked for their rebellion, and that God’s mercy should be revealed to them. God condescends to argue the case with them, and to justify His procedure in permitting their captivity and desolation, whilst He gives the promise of their future restoration and recovery to His image and favour.
I. THE ABOUNDINGS OF SIN ON THE PART OF ISRAEL.
By the “iniquity of covetousness” we may perhaps understand their reluctance to uphold the service of God, contrasted by their prodigality and profusion in the service of idols (Isa_57:5-6; Isa_57:9; Isa_43:22-24; Hos_2:8-9). But as human nature is always the same, we may trace here the marks of a declining professor.
1. Their obduracy under Divine chastisement (Jer_5:3; Zep_3:2; Zep_3:5; Zep_3:7). It argues a strange boldness not to put away sin, when men are suffering under Divine rebukes. It is to refuse the antidote, and let the poison of sin work on. The bond of iniquity must be exceedingly strong, if when the hand of God is upon us, the heart do not relent (Pro_23:15; 2Ch_28:22). We may well pray: “From all hardness of heart,” &c. Guard not only against sinful acts, but against a sinful and unsubdued temper of mind (Rev_3:19; Psa_32:9).
2. Their apathy under the Divine with-drawments. A good man is anxious to possess the tokens of the Divine favour, &c. The withholding of these is a source of humiliation and sorrow (Psa_51:12; Psa_77:1-9). But Israel was full of apathy. Samson was unconscious of the loss he sustained: “He wist not that the Lord had departed.”
3. Their neglect of the kindest appeals and promises of God’s mercy. God had said (Isa_57:15-16); yet this awakened no response. There are some whom neither judgments awe, nor mercy subdues.
II. THE ABOUNDINGS OF GRACE ON THE PART OF GOD.
1. For obduracy here is mercy. The criminal is arraigned, convicted, condemned, and punishment actually begun; and yet an arrest is placed upon the execution of judgment. When you would expect nothing but actual destruction, you have immediately after the triumph of grace. “Who is a God like Thee?” &c. God hates the sinner’s ways, but He loves the sinner’s soul. His grace is able to subdue the evils that nothing else can. He not only pardons but sanctifies.
2. For desertion here is the promise of guidance. Christ is the Shepherd of the souls He came to redeem.
3. For sorrow here is comfort. When the soul wants peace, it can have none till God speak it.
4. For despondency here is triumph. So great was the despondency that the restoration of peace is a miracle! It must be created! (Isa_65:17-18).
CONCLUSION.—The text is a most instructive and encouraging comment on Rom_5:20. It has been the characteristic of humanity, in all conditions and dispensations, that sin abounded. But the mercy of God has super-abounded. The pardoning mercy of the Gospel greatly triumphs over sin, though so greatly aggravated by the light of Divine revelation. It can erase the deepest stains of guilt, and ennoble the nature which sin has degraded and defiled. This abounding grace is offered for your acceptance.—Samuel Thodey.
Through the cloud of His people’s sins God’s mercy shines most brightly. Here is unspeakable tenderness, to melt, to strengthen, and to console. Verily, “the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him,” &c. (Isa_43:25; Isa_48:9, and others).
God’s tender mercy toward penitent sinners is here presented in several ways—
I. He sees them. This ancient doctrine is at variance with modern popular philosophy, which maintains that God holds Himself too high apart to take cognisance of men on this low earth; that if there is a God at all, He is very distant, and does not condescend to “look upon men” (Job_33:27-28). If this is the God of popular philosophy, it is not the God of the Bible (Psa_113:6; Pro_15:3; Pro_5:21; Heb_4:13). Present everywhere, He sees all that transpires throughout His vast domains, &c. In this chapter, we read of some of the things that God saw in those of whom He here speaks; scoffing at religion; infatuated by sin; given over to the grossest iniquity; hardened in sin (Isa_57:4-9; Isa_57:17). God’s compassionate eye is fixed upon you; He sees your wanderings, sins, repentance, &c., from His Omniscient out look, as though you alone of all His children were penitent. As a compassionate parent looks upon his erring penitent child, so God looks upon broken-hearted penitents. His pitying eye sees the contrite spirit and the aching heart, &c. (Psa_103:13; Luk_15:20; Luk_22:61). Ever look upon God as ever looking upon you. Look well to your “ways,” cherish the spirit of prayerful watchfulness and self-denial. “Thou God seest me.”
II. He heals them. Pardons and restores them. Sin is often represented as a painful, loathsome disease, and pardon and salvation as a healing of the disease (Isa_6:10; Isa_30:26; 2Ch_7:14; Jer_3:22; Jer_8:22; Jer_17:4; Jer_33:6; Psa_41:3-4; Psa_103:3; Psa_147:3).
1. The inimitable character of the Physician.
(1.) His skill is infinite. A physician must understand anatomy, disease, symptoms, causes, &c., and he must be skilful to prescribe suitable directions and remedies, &c. The Divine Physician possesses unbounded knowledge of the cause, the progress, and the precise state of the soul’s disorders and infirmities, of which bodily diseases are analogous. (See pp. 496.)
(2.) His power is almighty. No spiritual disease so inveterate and stubborn but He can conquer and cure it with infinite ease. He never turns any away, saying, “I can do no more for you,” &c.
(3.) His tenderness and compassion is unspeakable (Isa_42:3; Psa_103:13-14).
(4.) His patience and diligence is unwearied. He bears with their ingratitude, &c., pursues His work till He has effected a cure.
2. The remedy by which He heals.
(1.) His pardoning and restoring mercy through the redemption of Christ (Isa_53:5; Zec_13:1; Rom_3:23-26; Rev_5:9, Rev_5:12; Rev. 8:14). Announced in the ministry of the Word. Applied by His Spirit (Eze_36:25-27; Heb_10:16). Received by faith.
(2.) The means of grace (Eph_4:11-13). Designed to promote spiritual health. The Church—the hospital of grace, where the Divine art of healing is carried on, &c.
III. He leads them. Not only amends what is amiss in them, that they may cease to do evil; but directs them into the way of duty, that they may learn to do well (Psa_23:2-3; Psa_73:24; and others. See pp. 296). He leads them to the mercy-seat; to His Word; into paths of righteousness, &c.
IV. He comforts them. He restores the comforts which they had forfeited and lost, for the return of which the grace of God had prepared them, and for which the pious among them had fervently prayed. They had experienced true and satisfying joy, but they sinned it away—they had lost their peace of mind, their souls were sad and cheerless. Sin always produces this effect. In the path of sin neither hope nor comfort can be found. And when lost, it can be recovered only by penitent faith (Psa_51:1-12, and others). God graciously restores the comfort of forfeited mercy, lost joy, vanished hope, &c. (Psa_23:3). He removes all false comforts, and then restores true comforts—the comfort of perfect pardon, daily communion, &c.
CONCLUSION.—Some of you are still impenitent—indifferent about spiritual healing, &c. Remember! God sees you always, in all your sinful “ways,” and therefore sees that which in righteousness He must abhor, and in pity mourn. As a faithful father mourns because of the continued rebellion of a prodigal, so your heavenly Father mourns over you. Take that into your consideration, and surely you will be reluctant to weary out His patience, &c. “Repent and believe the Gospel,” then God shall not see you as sinners He must condemn, but as penitents He must save, and heal, and lead, and comfort (1Jn_1:8-9).—A. Tucker.
ASPECTS OF THE DIVINE CHARACTER.
The proper study of man is God. Nothing so tends to expand the mind, and humble the soul, &c. This description of God is worthy our careful consideration. From it we learn—
I. God is the all-seeing One. The doctrine of the Divine Omniscience one of the most important. Yet practically ignored. It should—
1. Exert a restraining influence. If we realised that God’s eye was upon us we should refrain from sin in all its forms and manifestations; like Joseph we should exclaim, “How can I,” &c.
2. Encourage the penitent.
3. Stimulate the Christian worker.
II. God is the great Physician. Men need healing. Not a hopeless case. Bodily health valuable, spiritual far more precious.
III. God is the Leader of His people. They need leading. God graciously offers to be our Guide—all-wise, powerful, faithful, &c. He is leading us to the heavenly habitation, &c. (see p. 296).
IV. God is the Comforter of His people. In the world they have tribulation, &c. Therefore need super-human comfort.
CONCLUSION.—“Acquaint now thyself with Him and be at peace, thereby good shall come to thee.”—A. Tucker.
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv16, 18General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues speaking to the people of Israel.
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I hid my face
This means God gave up on his people and no longer helped or blessed them. (See: Idiom)
he went backward in the way of his heart
This means the Israelites kept rejecting the true God for false ones. Here "backward" and "way" are location words representing motivations and feelings. (See: Metonymy)
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv16–18 I will not use my power against frail man,…
I will not use my power against frail man, whose life is but a blast.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv16–18 Isa 57:16 For I will not contend for ever,…
Isa 57:16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls [which] I have made.
Ver. 16. For I will not contend for ever.] It soon repenteth the Lord concerning his servants. Et pro magno peccato parum supplicii satis est patti. {a} See Psa 103:9.
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For the spirit would fail before me.] Heb., Would be overcovered - sc., tenebris ac terroribus, it would even sink and faint away. When the child swoons in the whipping, God lets fall the rod, and falls akissing it, to fetch life into it again. {Jer 31:20} As the rule in medicine is still to maintain nature, so doth he their spirits by cordials.
{a} Terent.
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 vv16–18 I will not contend for ever; I will not…
I will not contend for ever; I will not constantly proceed to the utmost severity with sinful men in this life, and therefore I will put an end to the miseries of the Jews, and turn their captivity.
For the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made; for then their spirits would sink and die under my stroke, and I should do nothing else but destroy the works of mine own hands. Therefore I consider their infirmity, and spare them. Compare Psa 78:38,39; 103:13,14.
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 v17 The body of the people of Israel, in this…
The body of the people of Israel, in this account of God's dealings with them, is spoken of as a particular person (Isa 57:17, Isa 57:18), but divided into two sorts, differently dealt with - some who were sons of peace, to whom peace is spoken (Isa 57:19), and others who were not, who have nothing to do with peace, Isa 57:20, Isa 57:21. Observe here,
I. The just rebukes which that people were brought under for their sin: For the iniquity of his covetousness I was wroth, and smote him. Covetousness was a sin that abounded very much among that people. Jer 6:13, From the least to the greatest of them, every one is given to covetousness. Those that did not worship images were yet carried away by this spiritual idolatry: for such is covetousness; it is making money the god, Col 3:5. No marvel that the people were covetous when their watchmen themselves were notoriously so, Isa 56:11, Yet, covetous as they were, in the service of their idols they were prodigal, Isa 57:6. And it is hard to say whether their profuseness in that or their covetousness in every thing else was more provoking. But for this iniquity, among others, God was angry with them, and brought one judgment after another upon them, and their destruction at last by the Chaldeans. 1. God was wroth. He resented it, took it very ill that a people who were devoted to himself, and portioned in himself, should be so entirely given up to the world and choose that for their portion. Note, Covetousness is an iniquity that is very displeasing to the God of heaven. It is a heart-sin, but he sees it, and therefore hates it, and looks upon it with jealousy, because it sets up a rival with him in the soul. It is a sin which men bless themselves in (Psa 49:18) and in which their neighbours bless them (Psa 10:3); but God abhors it. 2. He motes him, reproved him for it by his prophets, corrected him by his providence, punished him in those very things he so doted upon and was covetous of. Note, Sinners shall be made to feel from the anger of God. Those whom he is wroth with he smites; and covetousness particularly lays men under the tokens of God's displeasure. Those that set their hearts upon the wealth of this world are disappointed of it or it is embittered to them; it is either clogged with a cross or turned into a curse. 3. God hid himself from him when he was under these rebukes, and continued wroth with him. When we are under the rod, if God manifest himself to us, we may bear it the better; but if he both smite us and hide himself from us, send us no prophets, speak to us no comfortable word, show us no token for good, if he tear and go away (Hos 5:14), we are very miserable.
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II. Their obstinacy and incorrigibleness under these rebukes: He went on frowardly in the way of his heart, in his evil way. He was not sensible of the displeasure of God that he was under. He felt the smart of the rod, but had no regard at all to the hand; the more he was crossed in his worldly pursuits the more eager he was in them. He either would not see his error or if he saw it would not amend it. Covetousness was the way of his heart; it was what he was inclined to and intent upon, and he would not be reclaimed, but in his distress he trespassed yet more, Ch2 28:22. See the strength of the corruption of men's hearts, and the sinfulness of sin, which will take its course in despite of God himself and all the flames of his wrath. See also how insufficient afflictions of themselves are to reform men, unless God's grace work with them.
III. God's wonderful return in mercy to them, notwithstanding the obstinacy of the generality of them.
1. The greater part of them went on frowardly, but there were some among them that were mourners for the obstinacy of the rest; and with an eye to them, or rather for his own name's sake, God determines not to contend for ever with them. With the froward God may justly show himself froward (Psa 18:26), and walk contrary to those that walk contrary to him, Lev 26:24. When this sinner here went on frowardly in the way of his heart, one would think it should have followed, "I have seen his ways and will destroy him, will abandon him, will never have any thing more to do with him." But such are the riches of divine mercy and grace, and so do they rejoice against judgment, that it follows, I have seen his ways and will heal him. See how God's goodness takes occasion from man's badness to appear so much the more illustrious; and where sin has abounded grace much more abounds. God's reasons of mercy are fetched from within himself, for in us there appears nothing but what is provoking: "I have seen his ways, and yet I will heal him for my own name's sake." God knew how bad the people were, and yet would not cast them off. But observe the method. God will first give him grace, and then, and not till then, give him peace: "I have seen his way, that he will never turn to me of himself, and therefore I will turn him." Those whom God has mercy in store for he has grace in readiness for, to prepare and qualify them for that mercy which they were running from as fast as they could. (1.) God will heal him of his corrupt and vicious disposition, will cure him of his covetousness, though it be ever so deeply rooted in him and his heart have been long exercised to covetous practices. There is no spiritual disease so inveterate, but almighty grace can conquer it. (2.) God will lead him also; not only amend what was amiss in him, that he may cease to do evil, but direct him into the way of duty, that he may learn to do well. He goes on frowardly, as Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter, but God will lead him into a better mind, a better path. And them, (3.) He will restore those comforts to him which he had forfeited and lost, and for the return of which he had thus prepared him. There was a wonderful reformation wrought upon captives in Babylon, and then a wonderful redemption wrought for them, which brought comfort to them, to their mourners, to those among them that mourned for their own sins, the sins of their people, and the desolations of the sanctuary. To those mourners the mercy would be most comfortable, and to them God had an eye in working it out. Blessed are those that mourn, for to them comfort belongs, and they shall have it.
2. Now, as when that people went into captivity some of them were good figs, very good, others of them bad figs, very bad, and accordingly their captivity was to them for their good or for their hurt (Jer 24:8, Jer 24:9), so, when they came out of captivity, still some of them were good, others bad, and the deliverance was to them accordingly.
(1.) To those among them that were good their return out of captivity was peace, such peace as was a type and earnest of the peace which should be preached by Jesus Christ (Isa 57:19): I create the fruit of the lips, peace. [1.] God designed to give them matter for praise and thanksgiving, for that is the fruit of the lips (Heb 13:15), the calves of the lips, Hos 14:2. I create this. Creation is out of nothing, and this is surely out of worse than nothing, when God creates matter of praise for those that went on frowardly in the way of their heart. [2.] In order to this, peace shall be published: Peace, peace (perfect peace, all kinds of peace) to him that is afar off from the general rendezvous, or from the head-quarters, as well as to him that is near. Peace with God; though he has contended with them, he will be reconciled and will let fall his controversy. Peace of conscience, a holy security and serenity of mind, after the many reproaches of conscience and agitations of spirit they had been under their captivity. Thus God creates the fruit of the lips, fresh matter for thanksgiving; for, when he speaks peace to us, we must speak praises to him. This peace is itself of God's creating. He, and he only, can work it; it is the fruit of the lips, of his lips - he commands it, of the minister's lips - he speaks it by them, Isa 40:1. It is the fruit of preaching lips and praying lips; it is the fruit of Christ's lips, whose lips drop as a honeycomb; for to him this is applied, Eph 2:17 : He came and preached peace to you who were afar off, you Gentiles as well as to the Jews, who were nigh-to after-ages, who were afar off in time, as well as to those of the present age.
(2.) To those among them that were wicked, though they might return with the rest, their return was no peace, Isa 57:20. The wicked, wherever he is, in Babylon or in Jerusalem, carries about with him the principle of his own uneasiness, and is like the troubled sea. God healed those to whom he spoke peace (Isa 57:19): I will heal them; all shall be well again and set to rights; but the wicked would not be healed by the grace of God and therefore shall not be healed by his comforts. They are always like the sea in a storm, for they carry about with them, [1.] Unmortified corruptions. They are not cured and conquered, and their ungoverned lusts and passions make them like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, vexatious to all about them and therefore uneasy to themselves, noisy and dangerous. When the intemperate heats of the spirit break out in scurrilous and abusive language, then the troubled sea casts forth mire and dirt. [2.] Unpacified consciences. They are under a frightful apprehension of guilt and wrath, that they cannot enjoy themselves; when they seem settled they are in disquietude, when they seem merry they are in heaviness; like Cain, who always dwelt in the land of shaking. The terrors of conscience disturb all their enjoyments, and cast forth such mire and dirt as make them a burden to themselves. Though this does not appear (it may be) at present, yet it is a certain truth, what this prophet had said before (Isa 48:22), and here repeats (Isa 57:21), There is no peace to the wicked, no reconciliation to God (nor can they be upon good terms with him, while they go on still in their trespasses), no quietness or satisfaction in their own mind, no real good, no peace in death, because no hope. My God hath said it, and all the world cannot unsay it, That there is no peace to those that allow themselves in any sin. What have they to do with peace?
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 vv16–18 For I will not contend for ever,.... By afflictive…
For I will not contend for ever,.... By afflictive providences; with the humble and contrite, the end being in a great measure answered by their humiliation and contrition; when God afflicts his people, it shows that he has a controversy with them, for their good, and his own glory; and when these ends are obtained, he will carry it on no longer:
neither will I be always wroth; as he seems to be in the apprehensions of his people, when he either hides his face from them, or chastises them with a rod of affliction:
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for the spirit should fail before me; the spirit of the afflicted, which not being able to bear up any longer under the affliction, would sink and faint, or be "overwhelmed", as the word (c) signifies:
and the souls which I have made; which are of God's immediate creation, and which are also renewed by his grace, and made new creatures. The proselytes Abraham made are called the souls he made in Haran, Gen 12:5, much more may this be said of the Father of spirits, the author both of the old and new creation. The Lord knowing the weakness of the human frame, therefore restrains his hand, or moderates or removes the affliction; see a like reason in Psa 78:38, the last days of trouble to God's people, which will be the time of the slaying of the witnesses, will be such that if they are not shortened, no flesh can be saved, but for the elect's sake they will be shortened, Mat 24:22.
(c) "obrueretur", Junius & Tremellius, Vitriuga; "in deliquium incideret", Piscator, Gataker.
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 vv16–18 For - I will not proceed to the utmost…
For - I will not proceed to the utmost severity with sinful men.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv16–18 Verse 16. For I will not contend for ever]…
Verse 16. For I will not contend for ever] The learned have taken a great deal of pains to little purpose on the latter part of this verses which they suppose to be very obscure. After all their labours upon it, I think the best and easiest explication of it is given in the two following elegant passages of the Psalms, which I presume are exactly parallel to it, and very clearly express the same sentiment.
"But he in his tender mercy will forgive their sin
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And will not destroy them;
Yea, oftentimes will he turn away his wrath,
And will not rouse up his indignation:
For he remembereth that they are but flesh,
A breath that passeth, and returneth not."
Ps 78:38-39.
"He will not always contend
Neither will he for ever hold his wrath:
As a father yearneth towards his children,
So is JEHOVAH tenderly compassionate towards them
that fear him:
For he knoweth our frame;
He remembereth that we are but dust."
Ps 103:9; Ps 103:13-14.
In the former of these two passages the second line seems to be defective both in measure and sense. I suppose the word אותם otham, them, is lost at the end; which seems to be acknowledged by the Chaldee and Vulgate, who render as if they had read ולא ישחית אותם velo yaschith otham. - L.
For the spirit] רוח ruach, the animal life.
And the souls] נשמות neshamoth, the immortal spirits. The Targum understands this of the resurrection. I will restore the souls of the dead, i.e., to their bodies.
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 vv17–18 Isa 57:17. For the iniquity of his covetousness —…
Isa 57:17. For the iniquity of his covetousness — The covetousness of the Jewish people, (here addressed as one man,) who were eminently guilty of this sin before the Babylonish captivity, as is expressly affirmed, Jer 6:13; and Jer 8:10; and they were still more addicted to it in the time of Christ, and previous to the destruction of their city by the Romans; Christ himself testifying, that the greatest professors of sanctity among them devoured widows’ houses, and, for a pretence, made long prayers. But this sin is not mentioned exclusively of others, but so as to comprehend all those sins for which God was wroth, and smote them: covetousness, however, joined with a froward going on in the way of their own hearts, has been the characteristic sin of that people, in all ages, since the overturning of their commonwealth by the Romans. If Vitringa’s exposition of this chapter be adopted, this verse must be understood of the avarice of the Church of Rome, manifested by her enormous exactions, and her infamous traffic in indulgences, dispensations, and a variety of equally abominable practices, which, for many ages, have disgraced that church in the view of all intelligent and pious Christians. I hid me, and was wroth —
I withdrew my favour and help from him, and left him in great calamities. And he went on frowardly — Yet he was not reformed by corrections, but in his distresses trespassed more and more, and obstinately persisted in those sinful courses which were most pleasing to the lusts of his own corrupt heart.
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 vv16–18 For I will not contend for ever - I…
For I will not contend for ever - I will not be angry with my people forever, nor always refuse to pardon and comfort them (see Psa 103:9). This is to be regarded as having been primarily addressed to the Jews in their long and painful exile in Babylon. It is, however, couched in general language; and the idea is, that although God would punish his people for their sins, yet his wrath would not be perpetual. If they were his children, he would visit them again in mercy, and would restore to them his favor.
For the spirit should fail before me - Critics have taken a great deal of pains on this part of the verse, which they suppose to be very obscure. The simple meaning seems to be, that if God should continue in anger against people they would be consumed. The human soul could not endure a long-continued controversy with God. Its powers would fail; its strength decay; it must sink to destruction. As God did not intend this in regard to his own people; as he meant that his chastisements should not be for their destruction, but for their salvation; and as he knew how much they could bear, and how much they needed, he would lighten the burden, and restore them to his favor. And the truth taught here is, that if we are his children, we are safe. We may suffer much and long. We may suffer so much that it seems scarcely possible that we should endure more. But he knows how much we can bear; and he will remove the lead, so that we shall not be utterly crushed. A similar sentiment is found in the two following elegant passages of the Psalms, which are evidently parallel to this, and express the same idea:
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But he being full of compassion,
Forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not;
Yea many a time burned he his anger away,
And did not stir up all his wrath.
For he remembered that they were but flesh;
A wind that passeth away and returneth not again.
Psa 78:38-39
He will not always chide;
Neither will he keep his anger forever.
Like as a father pitieth his children,
So the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
For he knoweth our frame;
He remembereth that we are dust.
Psa 103:9, Psa 103:13-14
The Hebrew word which is rendered here ‘should fail’ (עטף ‛âṭaph), means properly to cover, as with a garment; or to envelope with anything, as darkness. Then it is used in the sense of having the mind covered or muffled up with sorrow; and means to languish, to be faint or feeble, to fail. Thus it is used in Psa 61:2; Psa 107:5; Psa 142:3; Lam 2:11-12, Lam 2:19; Jon 2:7. Other interpretations of this verse may be seen in Rosenmuller; but the above seems to be the true sense. According to this, it furnishes ground of encouragement and comfort to all the children of God who are afflicted. No sorrow will be sent which they will not be able to endure, no calamity which will not be finally for their own good. At the same time, it is a passage full of alarm to the sinner. How can he contend forever with God? How can he struggle always with the Almighty? And what must be the state in that dreadful world, where God shall contend for ever with the soul, and where all its powers shall be crushed beneath the vengeance of his eternal arm!
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 vv16–17 End. I will not always threaten or be angry,…
End. I will not always threaten or be angry, Genesis vi. 3. (Calmet) --- Spirit. Holy Ghost. (St. Irenæus v. 12.) (St. Augustine) --- God spares the humble penitent, and grants what they desire with as much eagerness as a sailor does a fair wind. (Worthington) --- He does not regard the indifferent. (Haydock)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv16–18 For--referring to the promise in Isa 57:14-15, of restoring…
For--referring to the promise in Isa 57:14-15, of restoring Israel when "contrite" (Gen 6:3; Gen 8:21; Psa 78:38-39; Psa 85:5; Psa 103:9, Psa 103:13-14; Mic 7:18). God "will not contend for ever" with His people, for their human spirit would thereby be utterly crushed, whereas God's object is to chasten, not to destroy them (Lam 3:33-34; Mic 7:8-9). With the ungodly He is "angry every day" (Psa 7:11; Rev 14:11).
spirit . . . before me--that is, the human spirit which went forth from Me (Num 16:22), answering to "which I have made" in the parallel clause.
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 vv16–18 16. I will not contend for ever — The…
16. I will not contend for ever — The prophet speaks for Jehovah in anthropopathic terms; that is, in terms as if He, the Infinite One, does actually think and feel human thoughts and emotions, and so does sympathize, as no being else can, with man’s spiritual needs, woes, and joys. He is able, in truth, so to represent the deity; but in doing so, the prophet’s object is to make divine relations to human wants the more vividly felt. God deals trial to his people for necessary discipline. “But he will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger for ever, for he knoweth our frame.”
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 vv16–18 16. Hardly less remarkable is the motive here assigned…
16. Hardly less remarkable is the motive here assigned for the Divine clemency,—Jehovah’s compassion for the frailty of His creatures (Psa_103:9; Psa_103:13 f., Psa_78:39). The argument somewhat resembles that of ch. Isa_45:18 ff.: it cannot be Jehovah’s purpose to undo His own creation. The continuance of His anger would annihilate the souls which He Himself has made; therefore when chastisement has produced the contrite and humble spirit, He relents and shews mercy.
The word for souls is that which in Gen_2:7 means “breath (of life),” the principle of life in virtue of which man becomes “a living person” (cf. ch. Isa_42:5). The parallel spirit has the same sense; it is the Divine power by which human life is sustained.
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 vv16–18 (16) I will not contend for ever . .…
(16) I will not contend for ever . . .—The words come as a message of comfort to the penitent who is still bearing the chastisement of his sins. The time during which God “contends” with him as an accuser and a judge has its limits. Were it not so. the souls which he had made would be utterly consumed, and His purpose in creation would be frustrated. The words seem like an echo of Gen_6:3; Gen_8:21. (Comp. Psa_103:9-10).
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 vv16–18 I will not contend for ever. God "will not…
I will not contend for ever. God "will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger for ever". (Psa_103:9) If he were "extreme to mark what is done amiss," none could abide it. (Psa_130:3) He remits somewhat, therefore, from the claims of strict justice, and is content to take lower ground. Were it otherwise, man"s spirit should fail before him. Man, i.e. , would be utterly unable to justify himself, and would faint and fade away before the Divine fury. The souls which God has made would, one and all, perish. He, however, has not made them for this purpose, but that they should live; (Deu_30:19 Eze_18:31) and has therefore devised for them a way of salvation. (see Isa_53:5-10)
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 vv16–18 For I will not contend for ever
Isa_57:16-18
For I will not contend for ever
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Gods contendings with man
I.
LET US ADVERT TO THE CONTROVERSY ITSELF--WHAT IT IS, WHY IT IS, AND HOW IT IS CARRIED ON. What this quarrel is we know. It is a part of that ancient strife for mastery, which has been going on ever since the fall, between truth and error, light and darkness, holiness and sin. The carnal mind is enmity against God. Unconverted men may demur to these representations; they tell us that they merely withhold from the Divine Being the homage which He expects and claims; but repugnance, hatred, enmity towards Him, they have none. But do they not hate the law of God? Would they not, if it were in their power, have Him alter the scheme of His entire moral government, His permissions, His requirements? This, speaking after the manner of men, makes God angry--sometimes the contendings of God with man take a judicial form. They are to condemn the sinner out of his own mouth, in that he did not see, in the bitter experiences of a life of evil, how the goodness of God was leading him to repentance. See a form of this contending with us, in that fixed and universal law of our being, which always makes us unhappy, when we are striving with God, when we reject His counsels, or resist His will, or try to get from under His yoke, or wrestle with all the obstructions of His providence, in order to have our own way. But, further, and more directly, God contends with us by His Word, and Spirit, and outward providences--by powerful awakenings at the heart when we look not for them, or byinterposed checks and barriers when we are bent on the way of sin. There are restraints upon us often from without. And there are restraints upon us from within from the suggestions, and the admonitions, and remonstrances of the Divine Spirit in our hearts. But a more comforting view of our text, and one more in harmony with its general spirit, is that which supposes God to be contending with us, avowedly for the purposes of His own Fatherly correction, and only for the fulfilment of those ends; waiting to remove from us His heavy hand. These contendings of God with His own children take many forms. Chastening is a universal discipline. Very hard to bear is this contending of God with us; there is only one thing harder, and that is, the state in which He should not contend with us at all, but should leave us to ourselves.
II. THE LIMITS WHICH GOD HAS HIMSELF ASSIGNED TO THIS CONTROVERSY WITH THE SOULS OF MEN, AND THE REASONS MOVING HIM THERETO,
Contend with us He must, and be wroth with us He must. It is a necessity forced upon Him by the circumstances of our fallen nature; but He will not contend for ever. Wisdom and goodness have decreed the bounds of this flooding wave and it shall go no farther. Now, in the case of the obstinately wicked and impenitent, we have seen why God will not contend for ever. They have their day of visitation and they outlive it; their accepted time and they sin on. The Judge wastes not scourges up, on them; they will make scourges enough for themselves. Hell itself is but Heavens assisting grace withdrawn, and man left to the evil of his own heart. But in His own children, the limits of Gods chastening are merciful limits. He for our profit--here is the universal law of the scourge; it will cease whenever our souls profit ceases. I will not contend for ever; nor longer than may be necessary to try our faith, to prove our repentance, to see what there is in our hearts, whether we will keep the Divine commandments or not. These seasons of sadness are sometimes permitted to take us off from a false theology and a false rest. For the spirit should fail before Me. Very instructive are those Scriptures, and very comforting, which tell us how largely the thought of our mortal frailness enters into the considerate care of Heaven. The uppermost thought which our subject should leave upon the mind, and which the heart should cleave to with all the energies of a loving faith is, that it goes very hard with God to afflict man at all; and that He has in some mysterious sense to wrestle with the conflicting powers of the Godhead before He can give up a soul altogether. It seems as if God could take every step towards the sinners condemnation but the last. He can admonish, rebuke, threaten; but when it comes to smiting, then comes the hesitation, then begins Gods strange work. (D. Moore, M. A.)
Contention ended and grace reigning
The Lord is holding high soliloquy. He allows His prophet to stand where he can hear the sacred soliloquy of the great Supreme; and he does hear it, and then under the dictate of the Divine Spirit he records it in the inspired book, where it remains to this day for our instruction.
I. GOD CONTENDS WITH MEN, AND THE DIVINE CONTENTION IS WELL DESERVED ON THEIR PART. He says, I will not contend for ever, in which it is implied that He does contend sometimes. Smiting comes before saving.
1. I would speak of this to the seeking sinner. Anything is better than the horrible calm of the dead sea of spiritual indifference. The Lords design in contending with you is to convince you of your sin. The next reason for the
Lords contending with you will begin to operate when the first purpose has been accomplished. You will, in your self-abasement, be driven to look to the grace of God. It is hard to part a man from his sin, it is still harder to divorce him from his self-righteousness: and this is a part of the Lords contention with awakened souls. Moreover, no one can be surprised that the Lord lets forth a measure of His wrath upon seeking sinners when we see how they behave, even while they are seeking. We have known them red hot one day and icy cold another, and albeit that they long for mercy, you will see them at certain seasons acting as if they despised it.
2. But now I turn to the people of God. Sometimes our Lord hath a contention with us. This is not at all wonderful when we consider how unworthily we often live towards His sacred name; indeed, it is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed. His contention with us will show itself occasionally in adverse providences. Even more severe are His blows when it comes to be a controversy carried on by His Spirit within the mind.
II. THIS DIVINE CONTENTION WILL COME TO AN END WITH THE CONTRITE, I will not contend for ever, etc. The question arises: When may we expect that this promise will be fulfilled? Notice the verse which precedes the text, for that assures us that God hath no controversy with the humble and the contrite. This is self-evident, for He declares Chat with such He will dwell, and the God of grace will not dwell in a house that is full of contention. He contends where He does not abide, but where He abides there is peace. It is wonderful how the pity of God has in some cases been excited, even by a temporary repentance. When wicked Ahab rent his clothes and put sackcloth upon himself, the Lord took note of it and said, Seest thou how Ahab humbled himself before Me? Because he humbled himself before Me I will not bring the evil in his days. When the Ninevites repented, though probably there was very little that was spiritual about their humbling, the Lord turned from His fierce anger and there was a reprieve for the wicked city. He has given a promise of grace which runs thus, Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up. He cannot spurn those who submit themselves before Him, for it is written, Though the Lord be high, yet hath He respect unto the lowly. Condescension to the lowly is His glory, as the blessed Virgin sang of old, and as many fainting ones may sing at this moment if they will: He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree: He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich He hath sent empty away. Lowly roofs attract the Deity. He comes to those who are broken in heart, and when He comes the contention is over. And what else doth the Lord promise to do? He says He will dwell with the humble, and He adds that He will revive them.
III. GOD HIMSELF FINDS REASONS FOR ENDING THE CONTENTION. We could not have found any, for in ourselves there is much cause for the Lords anger, but none for His grace.
1. The first is found in human weakness, and its inability to bear the Divine contention.
2. His second reason is, to my mind, even more extraordinary. It is given in the next verse: For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth and smote him: I hid Me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. This argument is founded on the inoperativeness of the Divine contention upon the heart which is to be won. If wrath will not humble us the Lord may yet in His grace try what love can do. He will love us to a better mind.
IV. God Himself having found a reason why He should cease from contention, nay, two reasons,. HE HIMSELF INVENTS AND PROPOSES ANOTHER METHOD FOR ENDING HIS CONTENTIONS and making us right with Himself.
1. It is an astonishing method. I have seen his ways, and will heal him.
2. It is an effectual method. I will heal him,--not I will smite him again, but I will treat his sin as if it were a disease. It is true that sin is much more than a disease, and God might treat us altogether and only from its criminal side, but still it is a disease, and therefore He resolves to treat it as such.
3. It is a tender way. I will lead him also.
4. Observe, how complete is this method. As if all that went before were not enough, it is added, I will restore comforts unto him and to his mourners. He will take away the sorrow as well as the sin, the killing grief as well as the killing disease. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
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 On v17 Isa_57:17-19. For the iniquity of his covetousness I was…
ABOUNDING SIN AND ABOUNDING GRACE
Isa_57:17-19. For the iniquity of his covetousness I was wroth, &c.
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The design of the Bible is twofold: first, to reveal man to himself, and, next, to reveal God to him. The Bible contains a revelation of the gracious heart of God, and of the sinful heart of man. Both were necessary, for man is essentially ignorant of himself, and the degree of his distance and separation from God (Pro_30:13; Rev_3:17-19). The text is a case in point. It was necessary that the Jews should be rebuked for their rebellion, and that God’s mercy should be revealed to them. God condescends to argue the case with them, and to justify His procedure in permitting their captivity and desolation, whilst He gives the promise of their future restoration and recovery to His image and favour.
I. THE ABOUNDINGS OF SIN ON THE PART OF ISRAEL.
By the “iniquity of covetousness” we may perhaps understand their reluctance to uphold the service of God, contrasted by their prodigality and profusion in the service of idols (Isa_57:5-6; Isa_57:9; Isa_43:22-24; Hos_2:8-9). But as human nature is always the same, we may trace here the marks of a declining professor.
1. Their obduracy under Divine chastisement (Jer_5:3; Zep_3:2; Zep_3:5; Zep_3:7). It argues a strange boldness not to put away sin, when men are suffering under Divine rebukes. It is to refuse the antidote, and let the poison of sin work on. The bond of iniquity must be exceedingly strong, if when the hand of God is upon us, the heart do not relent (Pro_23:15; 2Ch_28:22). We may well pray: “From all hardness of heart,” &c. Guard not only against sinful acts, but against a sinful and unsubdued temper of mind (Rev_3:19; Psa_32:9).
2. Their apathy under the Divine with-drawments. A good man is anxious to possess the tokens of the Divine favour, &c. The withholding of these is a source of humiliation and sorrow (Psa_51:12; Psa_77:1-9). But Israel was full of apathy. Samson was unconscious of the loss he sustained: “He wist not that the Lord had departed.”
3. Their neglect of the kindest appeals and promises of God’s mercy. God had said (Isa_57:15-16); yet this awakened no response. There are some whom neither judgments awe, nor mercy subdues.
II. THE ABOUNDINGS OF GRACE ON THE PART OF GOD.
1. For obduracy here is mercy. The criminal is arraigned, convicted, condemned, and punishment actually begun; and yet an arrest is placed upon the execution of judgment. When you would expect nothing but actual destruction, you have immediately after the triumph of grace. “Who is a God like Thee?” &c. God hates the sinner’s ways, but He loves the sinner’s soul. His grace is able to subdue the evils that nothing else can. He not only pardons but sanctifies.
2. For desertion here is the promise of guidance. Christ is the Shepherd of the souls He came to redeem.
3. For sorrow here is comfort. When the soul wants peace, it can have none till God speak it.
4. For despondency here is triumph. So great was the despondency that the restoration of peace is a miracle! It must be created! (Isa_65:17-18).
CONCLUSION.—The text is a most instructive and encouraging comment on Rom_5:20. It has been the characteristic of humanity, in all conditions and dispensations, that sin abounded. But the mercy of God has super-abounded. The pardoning mercy of the Gospel greatly triumphs over sin, though so greatly aggravated by the light of Divine revelation. It can erase the deepest stains of guilt, and ennoble the nature which sin has degraded and defiled. This abounding grace is offered for your acceptance.—Samuel Thodey.
Isa_57:18. GOD’S TENDER MERCY TOWARD PENITENT SINNERS.
Through the cloud of His people’s sins God’s mercy shines most brightly. Here is unspeakable tenderness, to melt, to strengthen, and to console. Verily, “the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him,” &c. (Isa_43:25; Isa_48:9, and others).
God’s tender mercy toward penitent sinners is here presented in several ways—
I. He sees them. This ancient doctrine is at variance with modern popular philosophy, which maintains that God holds Himself too high apart to take cognisance of men on this low earth; that if there is a God at all, He is very distant, and does not condescend to “look upon men” (Job_33:27-28). If this is the God of popular philosophy, it is not the God of the Bible (Psa_113:6; Pro_15:3; Pro_5:21; Heb_4:13). Present everywhere, He sees all that transpires throughout His vast domains, &c. In this chapter, we read of some of the things that God saw in those of whom He here speaks; scoffing at religion; infatuated by sin; given over to the grossest iniquity; hardened in sin (Isa_57:4-9; Isa_57:17). God’s compassionate eye is fixed upon you; He sees your wanderings, sins, repentance, &c., from His Omniscient out look, as though you alone of all His children were penitent. As a compassionate parent looks upon his erring penitent child, so God looks upon broken-hearted penitents. His pitying eye sees the contrite spirit and the aching heart, &c. (Psa_103:13; Luk_15:20; Luk_22:61). Ever look upon God as ever looking upon you. Look well to your “ways,” cherish the spirit of prayerful watchfulness and self-denial. “Thou God seest me.”
II. He heals them. Pardons and restores them. Sin is often represented as a painful, loathsome disease, and pardon and salvation as a healing of the disease (Isa_6:10; Isa_30:26; 2Ch_7:14; Jer_3:22; Jer_8:22; Jer_17:4; Jer_33:6; Psa_41:3-4; Psa_103:3; Psa_147:3).
1. The inimitable character of the Physician.
(1.) His skill is infinite. A physician must understand anatomy, disease, symptoms, causes, &c., and he must be skilful to prescribe suitable directions and remedies, &c. The Divine Physician possesses unbounded knowledge of the cause, the progress, and the precise state of the soul’s disorders and infirmities, of which bodily diseases are analogous. (See pp. 496.)
(2.) His power is almighty. No spiritual disease so inveterate and stubborn but He can conquer and cure it with infinite ease. He never turns any away, saying, “I can do no more for you,” &c.
(3.) His tenderness and compassion is unspeakable (Isa_42:3; Psa_103:13-14).
(4.) His patience and diligence is unwearied. He bears with their ingratitude, &c., pursues His work till He has effected a cure.
2. The remedy by which He heals.
(1.) His pardoning and restoring mercy through the redemption of Christ (Isa_53:5; Zec_13:1; Rom_3:23-26; Rev_5:9, Rev_5:12; Rev. 8:14). Announced in the ministry of the Word. Applied by His Spirit (Eze_36:25-27; Heb_10:16). Received by faith.
(2.) The means of grace (Eph_4:11-13). Designed to promote spiritual health. The Church—the hospital of grace, where the Divine art of healing is carried on, &c.
III. He leads them. Not only amends what is amiss in them, that they may cease to do evil; but directs them into the way of duty, that they may learn to do well (Psa_23:2-3; Psa_73:24; and others. See pp. 296). He leads them to the mercy-seat; to His Word; into paths of righteousness, &c.
IV. He comforts them. He restores the comforts which they had forfeited and lost, for the return of which the grace of God had prepared them, and for which the pious among them had fervently prayed. They had experienced true and satisfying joy, but they sinned it away—they had lost their peace of mind, their souls were sad and cheerless. Sin always produces this effect. In the path of sin neither hope nor comfort can be found. And when lost, it can be recovered only by penitent faith (Psa_51:1-12, and others). God graciously restores the comfort of forfeited mercy, lost joy, vanished hope, &c. (Psa_23:3). He removes all false comforts, and then restores true comforts—the comfort of perfect pardon, daily communion, &c.
CONCLUSION.—Some of you are still impenitent—indifferent about spiritual healing, &c. Remember! God sees you always, in all your sinful “ways,” and therefore sees that which in righteousness He must abhor, and in pity mourn. As a faithful father mourns because of the continued rebellion of a prodigal, so your heavenly Father mourns over you. Take that into your consideration, and surely you will be reluctant to weary out His patience, &c. “Repent and believe the Gospel,” then God shall not see you as sinners He must condemn, but as penitents He must save, and heal, and lead, and comfort (1Jn_1:8-9).—A. Tucker.
ASPECTS OF THE DIVINE CHARACTER.
The proper study of man is God. Nothing so tends to expand the mind, and humble the soul, &c. This description of God is worthy our careful consideration. From it we learn—
I. God is the all-seeing One. The doctrine of the Divine Omniscience one of the most important. Yet practically ignored. It should—
1. Exert a restraining influence. If we realised that God’s eye was upon us we should refrain from sin in all its forms and manifestations; like Joseph we should exclaim, “How can I,” &c.
2. Encourage the penitent.
3. Stimulate the Christian worker.
II. God is the great Physician. Men need healing. Not a hopeless case. Bodily health valuable, spiritual far more precious.
III. God is the Leader of His people. They need leading. God graciously offers to be our Guide—all-wise, powerful, faithful, &c. He is leading us to the heavenly habitation, &c. (see p. 296).
IV. God is the Comforter of His people. In the world they have tribulation, &c. Therefore need super-human comfort.
CONCLUSION.—“Acquaint now thyself with Him and be at peace, thereby good shall come to thee.”—A. Tucker.
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv16, 18 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues speaking to the people of Israel.
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I hid my face
This means God gave up on his people and no longer helped or blessed them. (See: Idiom)
he went backward in the way of his heart
This means the Israelites kept rejecting the true God for false ones. Here "backward" and "way" are location words representing motivations and feelings. (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
accuse
eternity
anger
spirit
life
sin
punish
face
heart
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 v18 57:18 I will heal them anyway: Salvation is by…
57:18 I will heal them anyway: Salvation is by God’s grace (see 19:22; 30:26; 53:5).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.