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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadSpurgeon Verse Expositions - Isaiah 26:1 - 26:21
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Isa_26:1. In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah;
God would have his people to be a singing people. They often sigh; they should oftener sing. God makes their songs, and appoints the song for the day, and so helps them to cheer the darkest day with some melodious music.
Isa_26:1. We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
Jerusalem may fall, her walls may be destroyed till not one stone is left upon another; but still, “we have a strong city.” In the salvation of God, we live and are safe. Our place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks. The eternal purposes of God shall guard the safety of his people.
Isa_26:2. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
This city is for the righteous, for those who keep the truth of God. They are to dwell in this city; not fighting in the open, not wandering in the plains, but dwelling at ease behind the massive walls and bulwarks which God himself has appointed in his salvation.
Isa_26:3. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
This is our city; by faith, we enter into the purposes and promises of God, and there we dwell in perfect peace. The adversary may thunder outside the walls; but what of that? He may threaten that he will capture the city; but how can he do so when the Lord is there? This is a sweet, sweet verse; may you all get the very marrow of it! “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”
Isa_26:4. Trust ye in the LORD for ever:
Not sometimes, but always; not for a certain number of days during your season of trial, but if the trial should last a lifetime, “trust ye in the Lord for ever.”
Isa_26:4. For in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:
If he could fail you, you would do well to be looking out for another shelter; but since his strength is everlasting, let your faith be also everlasting. Lives there a man who has fully trusted in God, and yet has been confounded? Is there one anywhere who has really relied upon the invisible power of Jehovah, and yet has found him fail in the hour of need? It cannot, and it shall not be.
Isa_26:5-6. For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust. The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.
This is always God’s way,-overturning the great and the proud, and casting down the mighty works of men, so that he who trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, soon finds himself in a pitiful condition. All the proud, who glory in their own power, shall be as when a city is battered down, and the very dust is trodden by “the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.”
Isa_26:7. The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.
God makes a plain path for his own people; and he, knowing their way, forms a right estimate of it. Let them never fear for a moment that he will condemn them because of the condemnation of their fellow men; he takes care himself to weigh the path of the just, and his scales cannot err.
Isa_26:8-9. Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
You notice that the song given to us in this chapter is all concerning God. We are bidden to trust in him, we are told how safe are they that do so, we are shown how futile is all strength apart from him, and now the desire of his saints is set forth as being toward him, and toward him alone.
Isa_26:10. Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
Until men are changed in heart, and renewed in nature, they will not see God. If you could transport them to the land of uprightness, where there would be no sin to tempt them, yet even then they would not know the Lord. Still is our Saviour’s message true, “ Ye must be born again.” O unconverted men and women, we look upon you through our tears, because you are incapable of everything that is good and right until the Lord in covenant mercy renews your hearts, and brings you to know him! Of the ungodly man it is truly declared, “In the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord.”
Isa_26:11. LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.
There are some people who will not see; and, as the old proverb hath it, there are none so blind as those that will not see; but they will one day be made to see, if not to their salvation, then to their everlasting shame and confusion. They shall he made to see that, after all, there is a God, and that he is strong to punish the ungodly, and to overthrow his adversaries. I pray that no one of you may refuse to see by the light of the gospel until he is forced to see by the blaze of the judgment-day; yet, alas! there will be such.
Isa_26:12. LORD, those wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.
That is a delightful verse. Here is an ordination spoken of; for God has ordained peace for his people, and they must have it, and they shall have it. On the other hand, his people ordain glory for him, for they declare, “Thou also hast wrought all our works in us.” Thus we also sing,-
“
And every victory won,
And every thought of holiness,
Are his alone.”
“O Lord, how sadly, how long, how grievously, did those other lords domineer over us; but from this time forth we will know no name but thine; and, when we mention it, it shall be by thy grace, and by thy power alone, that we even put our trust in thy wondrous name!
Isa_26:14. They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they, shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.
Yes, our lusts are all dead; they will never live again, thank God. The Sword of the Spirit has slain them: “they are deceased.” We want to have nothing more to do with them, we desire that the very memory of them should perish.
Isa_26:15. Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified:
God is always glorified in the increase of his people, therefore, we should, above all other reasons, pray for the increase of the Church because God will be thereby glorified.
Isa_26:15-16. Thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth. LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.
That is true of hypocrites; but it is also sweetly true of some whom God is bringing to himself. Child after child has died, loss after loss has broken down the business; now they turn to God. Oh, it is a blessed loss that makes us find our God! What we gain is infinitely more than what we have lost. What a mercy that God is willing to hear us in the time of trouble, that all our putting-off and rejection of him do not make him put us off! I remember one who wished to hire a conveyance to go to a certain town, and he went to the place where he could hire it, and asked the price; he thought that it was too much, so he went round the town to other people, and found that he could not get it any cheaper; but when he came back to the place visited first, the man said to him, “Oh, no, no! I will not let my horses to you. You have been round to everybody else, and now you come back to me because you cannot get what you want elsewhere; I will have nothing to do with you.” That is man’s way of dealing with his fellow man; but it is not the Lord’s method of dealing with us. When you and I have gone round to everybody else, the Lord still welcomes us when we come back to him. Yes, just as harbours of refuge are meant for ships in distress that would not have put in there except for the storm and danger, such is the mercy of the Lord God in Jesus Christ. If you are forced to accept it, you are still welcome to it. If you are driven to it by stress of weather, you may come in, for the harbour was made for just such as you are.
Isa_26:17-18. Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pain; so have we been in thy sight O LORD. We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
Ah, no! all the agonies of a mind, all the troubles of a soul, cannot save it. This is the work of grace; this is the gift of God. What a mercy it is that such a cheering promise as this next verse contains comes in just here
Isa_26:19. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise.
That note of resurrection comes in as a word of comfort to the most dispirited, the most despairing. As the dead shall live because of Christ, even so is there hope for you who are driven to a very death of despair. You cannot live by your own power; your hopes are all gone, dead and buried, and you yourself lie helpless and lost; but as the Lord will raise the dead from their graves, so will he give you hope, and bless and save you, if you come and trust in him.
Isa_26:19-21. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
The blood of the murdered shall cry to God from the ground, as did Abel’s. The slain in battle shall not be forgotten. God will come and punish the earth for its iniquities. Blessed are they that bide themselves in Christ, till the indignation be over past.
Isa_26:1. In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
God is the great source of song; he “giveth songs in the night.” He can make the saddest heart to break forth into praise. One part of the prophecy concerning Christ’s coming was, “Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing.” The Lord might have caused us to utter nothing but groans if he had pleased; but, instead of doing so, he delights to fill our mouths with joyous songs. Let us from our heart sing this ancient song: “We have a strong city.” The Church of God is a city which has a heavenly citizenship, and other unique privileges; and it is wondrously protected, for the promise in this passage is now fulfilled: “salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.”
Isa_26:2. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
The city is not closed against the righteous; and if we know and love the truth, and especially-, if we know and love him who is the Truth, the gates are always open to us, and we may enter the city, enjoy its privileges, and share its protection.
Isa_26:3. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,—
“Peace, peace,”—that is the form of the Hebrew, and it means a double peace, the perfection of peace,—a great depth of peace, the reality of peace, peace upon peace belongs to the man who trusts in the Lord. Are you vexed, and worried, and perplexed, dear friend? Are you tossed to and fro as upon a stormy sea? This verse shows you the way in which you may obtain perfect peace: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,”—
Isa_26:3-4. Whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:
Nothing can be too hard for him, for he has “everlasting strength.” Nothing can ever happen in the future to overthrow him, for his is not decaying strength, but “everlasting strength.” Hold on to that strength, ye children of God; you may even suck honey out of this “Rock of Ages” (see margin); for there is indescribable sweetness in it: “Trust ye in the Lord for ever:”—not only sometimes, but always;—“for ever,” because there is strength in God for ever.
Isa_26:5-6. For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust. The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.
You see, there is one city which God builds, and another city which he pulls down. Observe this solemn truth:” For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low;”—that city which is perched on the hill of self-righteousness, and lifted, as it were, almost to heaven by the pride of man,—God will pull it down. It is part of God’s glory to lift up that which is down, and to cast down that which is up; for when men exalt themselves, they shall be abased; and when they humble themselves, they shall be exalted. “He bringeth it even to the dust. The foot shall tread it down.” Oh, if there is anyone here who is trusting in himself, depending upon his own good doings, and reckoning that he will be saved by his own merits, you will have to come down from that high place, my friend; that fine castle of yours will be; left without one stone upon another, and the poorest child of God in all the world shall set his foot upon the loftiest pinnacle of your grand palace. God will bring it down so that “the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy,” shall tread on it.
Isa_26:7. The way of the just is uprightness:
Or, as it might be better rendered, “The way of the just is an even path.” The righteous shall steadily and safely stand in it, while others find themselves sometimes up and sometimes down, and their path shall be slippery and perilous.
Isa_26:7. Thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.
God judges us by weight, not by appearance; not by what we seem to be, but by what we are in the balances of the sanctuary.
Isa_26:8-9. Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. With my soul have I desired thee in the night;
Some poor darkened spirit will, I trust, be able to join in this utterance of the prophet. It is night-time with you now; you are not enjoying the light of God’s countenance; but be very thankful that you can say, “With my soul have I desired thee in the right.” If you are not a child of God, you will be able to do without God; but the fact that some of you cannot be happy except you are living in the light of God’s love, proves that you belong to him. A child can be content without a stranger’s smile, but if the one who is looking at him is his father, just because he is his father’s child he must have the assurance of that father’s love, or else he cannot be happy.
Isa_26:9-10. Yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
There are none so blind as those who will not see, and there are plenty of such people about. They say that they cannot see this, and they cannot see that; but the truth is that they willfully shut their eyes, and disregard the everlasting light.
Isa_26:11. LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.
You know what our Lord Jesus said concerning the rich man, “In hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his, bosom.” He would not look at Lazarus while he was lying at his gates, but now he is obliged to look at Lazarus lying in Abraham’s bosom. He would not relieve him, nor give him even a crumb from his table, but now he begs that Lazarus may be sent, to dip the tip of his finger in water, to cool his parched tongue. “They will not see” now; no, “but they shall, see, and be ashamed for their envy towards the people of the Lord.
Isa_26:12. LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us:
We may be attacked and assailed for a little while, we may be tossed to and fro; but “Thou wilt ordain peace for us:”
Isa_26:12. For thou also hast wrought all our works in us.
We have no works in which we can glory; for even if we have an abundance of good works, they are all God’s work in us, and we give him all the praise for them; and because he has thus wrought in us, we expect that he will give us peace.
Isa_26:13-15. O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish. Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou, hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.
The Jews were scattered and diminished. When they sinned against God, they were exiled; but when the Lord returned to them in favor, he multiplied them, and brought them home again.
Isa_26:16. Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.
And it was well for them that they did so. God’s true child does not get angry against his Father when he whips him; but, being chastened, he begins to pray; and blessed is that chastening that drives us to our knees: “They poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.”
Isa_26:17-18. Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD. We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
Here is the poor Church of God in sore trouble; she says she has been disappointed, her bitterest pangs have not brought her what she expected. What shall happen then? God will interpose.
Isa_26:19. Thy dead men shall live,—
We shall rise with all that belong to Christ at the first and blessed resurrection, and all our dead hopes and our dead expectations shall rise too.
Isa_26:19. Together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
As the soft showers cause the buried bulbs to spring up, so will God’s gentle grace fall on men’s hearts, and they shall arise, though they seemed to be dead before; and at the last great day, the sound of the archangel’s trumpet shall be like a soft vernal shower which brings up the flowers of the earth, and—
“
To realms of everlasting day,”—
Isa_26:20. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee:
Enter into the secret Chambers of communion with your Lord, where you shall be shut out from the world. Enter into the chambers of defense, where God will guard you. Enter into the chambers of devotion, where God shall meet with you.
Isa_26:20-21. Hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.