Isaiah26
New International Version
1In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts.
2Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith.
3You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
4Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.
5He humbles those who dwell on high, he lays the lofty city low; he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust.
6Feet trample it down— the feet of the oppressed, the footsteps of the poor.
7The path of the righteous is level; you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth.
8Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.
9My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.
10But when grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and do not regard the majesty of the Lord.
11Lord, your hand is lifted high, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame; let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them.
12Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.
13Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone do we honor.
14They are now dead, they live no more; their spirits do not rise. You punished them and brought them to ruin; you wiped out all memory of them.
15You have enlarged the nation, Lord; you have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for yourself; you have extended all the borders of the land.
16Lord, they came to you in their distress; when you disciplined them, they could barely whisper a prayer.
17As a pregnant woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in your presence, Lord.
18We were with child, we writhed in labor, but we gave birth to wind. We have not brought salvation to the earth, and the people of the world have not come to life.
19But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise— let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy— your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.
20Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by.
21See, the Lord is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed on it; the earth will conceal its slain no longer.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Isaiah 26.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The Divine mercies encourage to confidence in God. (1-4). His judgments. (5-11). His people exhorted to wait upon Him. (12-19). Deliverance promised. (20,21).
vv1-4
"That day," seems to mean when the New Testament Babylon shall be levelled with the ground. The unchangeable promise and covenant of the Lord are the walls of the church of God. The gates of this city shall be open. Let sinners then be encouraged to join to the Lord. Thou wilt keep him in peace; in perfect peace, inward peace, outward peace, peace with God, peace of conscience, peace at all times, in all events. Trust in the Lord for that peace, that portion, which will be for ever. Whatever we trust to the world for, it will last only for a moment; but those who trust in God shall not only find in him, but shall receive from him, strength that will carry them to that blessedness which is for ever. Let us then acknowledge him in all our ways, and rely on him in all trials.
vv5-11
The way of the just is evenness, a steady course of obedience and holy conversation. And it is their happiness that God makes their way plain and easy. It is our duty, and will be our comfort, to wait for God, to keep up holy desires toward him in the darkest and most discouraging times. Our troubles must never turn us from God; and in the darkest, longest night of affliction, with our souls must we desire him; and this we must wait and pray to him for. We make nothing of our religion, whatever our profession may be, if we do not make heart-work of it. Though we come ever so early, we shall find God ready to receive us. The intention of afflictions is to teach righteousness: blessed is the man whom the Lord thus teaches. But sinners walk contrary to him. They will go on in their evil ways, because they will not consider what a God he is whose laws they persist in despising. Scorners and the secure will shortly feel, what now they will not believe, that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. They will not see the evil of sin; but they shall see. Oh that they would abandon their sins, and turn to the Lord, that he may have mercy upon them.
vv12-19
Every creature, every business, any way serviceable to our comfort, God makes to be so; he makes that work for us which seemed to make against us. They had been slaves of sin and Satan; but by the Divine grace they were taught to look to be set free from all former masters. The cause opposed to God and his kingdom will sink at last. See our need of afflictions. Before, prayer came drop by drop; now they pour it out, it comes now like water from a fountain. Afflictions bring us to secret prayer. Consider Christ as the Speaker addressing his church. His resurrection from the dead was an earnest of all the deliverance foretold. The power of his grace, like the dew or rain, which causes the herbs that seem dead to revive, would raise his church from the lowest state. But we may refer to the resurrection of the dead, especially of those united to Christ.
Key Words
יוֹם: a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)
זֶה: the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or that
שִׁיר: a song; abstractly, singing
שִׁיר: to sing
אֶרֶץ: the earth (at large, or partitively a land)
יְהוּדָה: Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five Israelites; also of the tribe descended from the first, and of its territory
עֹז: strength in various applications (force, security, majesty, praise)
עִיר: a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)
שִׁית: to place (in a very wide application)
יְשׁוּעָה: something saved, i.e. (abstractly) deliverance; hence, aid, victory, prosperity
Cross References
Isaiah 26Salvation appointed as walls and bulwarks; Isa 60:18 similarly equates salvation with walls.
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JFB links the righteous as God's 'workmanship' (Hebrew structure) to believers created in Christ.
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The gate of the Lord into which the righteous nation shall enter.
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The righteous man's heart is established (stayed), trusting in the Lord.
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Jehovah as the 'Rock of ages' (everlasting strength) echoes Deuteronomy's Rock.
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God weighs the path of the just; 1Sa 2:3 notes actions are weighed by Him.
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Seeking/desiring God in the night matches David's meditation on his bed.
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Other lords ruling over Israel, reflecting the consequence of subjection to foreign kings.
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Inhabitants of the world learning righteousness through manifest divine judgments.
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God working all things for us: 'The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me.'
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Poole links God working our works in us to deeds 'wrought in God'.
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The corporate resurrection and restoration of Israel's dead national body.
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The remembrance/memorial of God's name throughout all generations.
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The earth disclosing her blood, echoed by Abel's blood crying from the ground.
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Indignation lasting only 'for a little moment' mirrors God's anger being for a moment.
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