Isaiah 63:5

5 I looked, but there was no helper; I stared, but there was no one to sustain me; so my own arm brought me victory, and my wrath sustained me.

Isaiah 63:5 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 63:5

And I looked, and there was none to help
As, in the first redemption and salvation by Christ here on earth, there were none among the angels, nor any of the sons of men, to help him and assist him therein, none but Jehovah the Father; so, in this latter salvation, the church and people of God will be reduced to such a low, helpless, and forlorn condition, that there will be none to lend an assisting hand; their deliverance will appear most manifestly to be the sole work of almighty power: and I wondered that there was none to uphold;
not the Saviour and Redeemer, he needed none; but his people under their sufferings, trials, and exercises, and his sinking, dying, cause and interest: this is spoken after the manner of men, and to make the salvation appear the more remarkable, distinguishing, and great, and solely his own work; for otherwise expectation and disappointment, consternation and amazement, as the word F18 signifies, cannot be properly ascribed to this great Redeemer: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me;
to himself, his mystical self, his church and people, and for his own glory; a salvation which his own omnipotent arm could only effect; (See Gill on Isaiah 59:16), and my fury it upheld me;
his zeal for his church and people, and his indignation against their enemies, excited his almighty power on their behalf, and carried him through the work of their deliverance and salvation he engaged in; see ( Isaiah 9:7 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F18 (Mmwtvaw) "et obstupui, Musculus; stupefactus sum", Vatablus; "et obstupesceban", Cocceius; "stupebam", Vitringa.

Isaiah 63:5 In-Context

3 "I have trodden the wine press alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their juice spattered on my garments, and stained all my robes.
4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year for my redeeming work had come.
5 I looked, but there was no helper; I stared, but there was no one to sustain me; so my own arm brought me victory, and my wrath sustained me.
6 I trampled down peoples in my anger, I crushed them in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth."
7 I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord, the praiseworthy acts of the Lord, because of all that the Lord has done for us, and the great favor to the house of Israel that he has shown them according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.