Isaiah 51:7

7 "You people who know what is right should listen to me; you people who follow my teachings should hear what I say. Don't be afraid of the evil things people say, and don't be upset by their insults.

Isaiah 51:7 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 51:7

Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness
The righteousness of God, and of his law; the purity of his nature, what righteousness is agreeable to him, and required by him; the imperfection and insufficiency of a man's own righteousness, and the glory and fulness of Christ's righteousness, revealed in the Gospel; and so know that, as to approve of it, follow after it, lay hold upon it, believe in it, and rejoice in it, as their justifying righteousness: the people in whose heart is my law;
not in their heads only, but in their hearts; having an understanding of it, an affection for it, and the bias of their minds toward it; being written there by the finger of the divine Spirit, according to the covenant of grace, ( Jeremiah 31:33 ) , and not in tables of stone, as the law of Moses, and of which this is not to be understood; but of the law or doctrine of Christ, even the everlasting Gospel; which coming with power, and the Holy Ghost, into the hearts of the Lord's people, is received by them with great approbation and affection, in faith and love; they obey it from their hearts, and are cast into the mould of it: fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their
revilings;
either of the Jews, the Scribes and Pharisees, for renouncing a pharisaical righteousness, and embracing the righteousness of Christ; for rejecting the traditions of the elders, the rituals of the ceremonial law, and the doctrine of justification by the works of the moral law; and for cordially receiving the pure Gospel of Christ: or of idolatrous Heathens, from whom they were called, and that for leaving the religion of their country, and the gods of their fathers, and professing the one only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent: or of the antichristian worshippers, and of the man of sin at the head of them, who belches out his blasphemies against God and Christ, his tabernacle and saints; but neither their shocking blasphemies, nor spiteful taunts and jeers, nor menacing words, nor even cruel persecutions, should deter the saints from the profession of Christ and his Gospel.

Isaiah 51:7 In-Context

5 I will soon show that I do what is right. I will soon save you. I will use my power and judge all nations. All the faraway places are waiting for me; they wait for my power to help them.
6 Look up to the heavens. Look around you at the earth below. The skies will disappear like clouds of smoke. The earth will become useless like old clothes, and its people will die like flies. But my salvation will continue forever, and my goodness will never end.
7 "You people who know what is right should listen to me; you people who follow my teachings should hear what I say. Don't be afraid of the evil things people say, and don't be upset by their insults.
8 Moths will eat those people as if they were clothes, and worms will eat them as if they were wool. But my goodness will continue forever, and my salvation will continue from now on."
9 Wake up, wake up, and use your strength, powerful Lord. Wake up as you did in the old times, as you did a long time ago. With your own power, you cut Rahab into pieces and killed that sea monster.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.