Isaiah 59:15

15 Truth cannot be found anywhere, and people who refuse to do evil are attacked. The Lord looked and could not find any justice, and he was displeased.

Isaiah 59:15 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 59:15

Yea, truth faileth
Or, "is deprived" F6; of its life and being; it not only falls in the street, and there lies, without any to show regard unto it; but it fails; it seems as if it had given up the ghost and expired; so very prevalent will error be, before light and truth spring up again and be victorious, as they will: and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey;
he that does not give in to the prevailing vices of the age in which he lives, now become fashionable, but abstains from them, and departs from doctrinal as well as practical evils; from all false doctrines, and from all superstitious modes of worship; becomes a prey to others; a reproach and a laughing stock to them; they scoff at him, and deride him for his preciseness in religion; for his enthusiastic and irrational notions in doctrine; and for his stiffness in matters of worship: or, "he makes himself reckoned a madman" F7; as some render it; and this is a common notion with profane men, and loose professors, to reckon such as madmen that are upright in doctrine, worship, and conversation; see ( Acts 26:24 ) : and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no
judgment;
he took notice of all this, and resented it, though in a professing people, that there was no judgment or discretion in matters of doctrine and worship; no order or discipline observed; no justice done in civil courts, or in the church of God; no reformation in church or state.


FOOTNOTES:

F6 (trden) "privata"; so (rdeh) "privatio", often with the Rubbins.
F7 (llwtvm) "facit ut insanus habeatur", Junius & Tremellius; "habitus est pro insano", Vitringa; so Abendana, "he that fears God, and departs from evil", (hjwvl whwbvxy) , "they reckon him a fool or a madman."

Isaiah 59:15 In-Context

13 sinning and rejecting the Lord, turning away from our God, planning to hurt others and to disobey God, planning and speaking lies.
14 So we have driven away justice, and we have kept away from what is right. Truth is not spoken in the streets; what is honest is not allowed to enter the city.
15 Truth cannot be found anywhere, and people who refuse to do evil are attacked. The Lord looked and could not find any justice, and he was displeased.
16 He could not find anyone to help the people, and he was surprised that there was no one to help. So he used his own power to save the people; his own goodness gave him strength.
17 He covered himself with goodness like armor. He put the helmet of salvation on his head. He put on the clothes of punishment and wrapped himself in the coat of his strong love.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.