Isaiah 26:17

17 Like a woman having a baby, writhing in distress, screaming her pain as the baby is being born, That's how we were because of you, O God.

Isaiah 26:17 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 26:17

Like as a woman with child
By this simile are set forth the great distresses and afflictions the church of Christ will be in, before redemption and deliverance from the antichristian yoke comes: [that] draweth near the time of her delivery;
when her burden is great and very troublesome: [is] in pain, [and] crieth out in her pangs;
for her friends to come about her, and give her all the help and assistance they can: so have we been in thy sight, O Lord;
in great distress and trouble, and crying to him for salvation and deliverance, all which were well known unto him.

Isaiah 26:17 In-Context

15 But the living you make larger than life. The more life you give, the more glory you display, and stretch the borders to accommodate more living!

16 O God, they begged you for help when they were in trouble, when your discipline was so heavy they could barely whisper a prayer.

17 Like a woman having a baby, writhing in distress, screaming her pain as the baby is being born, That's how we were because of you, O God.

18 We were pregnant full-term. We writhed in labor but bore no baby. We gave birth to wind. Nothing came of our labor. We produced nothing living. We couldn't save the world.

19 But friends, your dead will live, your corpses will get to their feet. All you dead and buried, wake up! Sing! Your dew is morning dew catching the first rays of sun, The earth bursting with life, giving birth to the dead.