Isaías 51

1 Un llamado a confiar en el Señor
«Escúchenme, todos los que tienen esperanza de ser liberados,
todos los que buscan al Señor
.
Consideren la piedra de la que fueron tallados,
la cantera de la que fueron extraídos.

2 Sí, piensen en Abraham, su antepasado,
y en Sara, que dio a luz a su nación.
Cuando llamé a Abraham, era un solo hombre;
pero, cuando lo bendije, se convirtió en una gran nación».

3 El Señor
volverá a consolar a Israel
y tendrá piedad de sus ruinas.
Su desierto florecerá como el Edén,
sus lugares desolados como el huerto del Señor
.
Allí se encontrarán gozo y alegría;
los cantos de gratitud llenarán el aire.

4 «Escúchame, pueblo mío;
óyeme, Israel,
porque mi ley será proclamada
y mi justicia llegará a ser una luz para las naciones.

5 Mi misericordia y mi justicia ya se acercan,
mi salvación viene en camino;
mi brazo fuerte hará justicia a las naciones.
Las tierras lejanas me buscarán
y con esperanza aguardarán mi brazo poderoso.

6 Levanten los ojos a los altos cielos
y miren la tierra abajo.
Pues los cielos desaparecerán como humo
y la tierra se gastará como una prenda de vestir.
Los habitantes de la tierra morirán como moscas,
pero mi salvación permanece para siempre;
mi reinado de justicia nunca tendrá fin.

7 »Escúchenme, ustedes que distinguen entre lo bueno y lo malo,
ustedes que atesoran mi ley en el corazón.
No teman las burlas de la gente,
ni tengan miedo de sus insultos.

8 Pues la polilla los devorará a ellos como devora la ropa
y el gusano los comerá como se come la lana.
Pero mi justicia permanecerá para siempre;
mi salvación continuará de generación en generación».

9 ¡Despierta, oh Señor
, despierta! ¡Vístete de fuerza!
¡Mueve tu poderoso brazo derecho!
Levántate como en los días de antaño,
cuando mataste a Egipto, al dragón del Nilo.

10 ¿Acaso no eres el mismo hoy,
el que secó el mar,
haciendo un camino en las profundidades
para que tu pueblo pudiera escapar y cruzar al otro lado?

11 Regresarán los que fueron rescatados por el Señor
y entrarán cantando a Jerusalén,
coronados de alegría eterna.
Desaparecerán el dolor y el luto
y estarán llenos de gozo y de alegría.

12 «Yo, sí, yo soy quien te consuela.
Entonces, ¿por qué les temes a simples seres humanos
que se marchitan como la hierba y desaparecen?

13 Sin embargo, has olvidado al Señor
, tu Creador,
el que extendió el cielo como un dosel
y puso los cimientos de la tierra.
¿Vivirás en constante terror de los opresores humanos?
¿Seguirás temiendo el enojo de tus enemigos?
¿Dónde están ahora su furia y su enojo?
¡Han desaparecido!

14 Pronto quedarán libres los cautivos.
¡La prisión, el hambre y la muerte no serán su destino!

15 Pues yo soy el Señor
tu Dios,
que agito el mar haciendo que rujan las olas.
Mi nombre es Señor
de los Ejércitos Celestiales.

16 Y he puesto mis palabras en tu boca
y te he escondido a salvo dentro de mi mano.
Yo extendí
el cielo como un dosel
y puse los cimientos de la tierra.
Yo soy el que le dice a Israel:
“¡Tú eres mi pueblo!”».

17 ¡Despierta, oh Jerusalén, despierta!
Has bebido la copa de la furia del Señor
.
Has bebido la copa del terror,
la has vaciado hasta la última gota.

18 Ni uno de tus hijos queda con vida
para tomarte de la mano y guiarte.

19 Estas dos calamidades te han ocurrido:
la desolación y la destrucción, el hambre y la guerra.
Y ¿quién ha quedado para compadecerse de ti?
¿Quién ha quedado para consolarte?

20 Pues tus hijos se han desmayado y yacen en las calles,
tan indefensos como antílopes atrapados en una red.
El Señor
ha derramado su furia;
Dios los ha reprendido.

21 Pero ahora escuchen esto, ustedes los afligidos,
que están completamente borrachos,
aunque no por haber bebido vino.

22 Esto dice el Señor
Soberano,
su Dios y Defensor:
«Miren, yo les quité de las manos la copa aterradora;
ya no beberán más de mi furia.

23 En cambio, entregaré esa copa a quienes los atormentan,
a los que dijeron: “Los pisotearemos en el polvo
y caminaremos sobre sus espaldas”».

Isaías 51 Commentary

Chapter 51

Exhortations to trust the Messiah. (1-3) The power of God, and the weakness of man. (4-8) Christ defends his people. (9-16) Their afflictions and deliverances. (17-23)

Verses 1-3 It is good for those privileged by the new birth, to consider that they were shapen in sin. This should cause low thoughts of ourselves, and high thoughts of Divine grace. It is the greatest comfort to be made serviceable to the glory of God. The more holiness men have, and the more good they do, the more gladness they have. Let us seriously reflect upon our guilt. To do so will tend to keep the heart humble, and the conscience awake and tender. They make Christ more precious to the soul, and give strength to our attempts and prayers for others.

Verses 4-8 The gospel of Christ shall be preached and published. How shall we escape if we neglect it? There is no salvation without righteousness. The soul shall, as to this world, vanish like smoke, and the body be thrown by like a worn-out garment. But those whose happiness is in Christ's righteousness and salvation, will have the comfort of it when time and days shall be no more. Clouds darken the sun, but do not stop its course. The believer will enjoy his portion, while revilers of Christ are in darkness

Verses 9-16 The people whom Christ has redeemed with his blood, as well as by his power, will obtain joyful deliverance from every enemy. He that designs such joy for us at last, will he not work such deliverance in the mean time, as our cases require? In this world of changes, it is a short step from joy to sorrow, but in that world, sorrow shall never come in view. They prayed for the display of God's power; he answers them with consolations of his grace. Did we dread to sin against God, we should not fear the frowns of men. Happy is the man that fears God always. And Christ's church shall enjoy security by the power and providence of the Almighty.

Verses 17-23 God calls upon his people to mind the things that belong to their everlasting peace. Jerusalem had provoked God, and was made to taste the bitter fruits. Those who should have been her comforters, were their own tormentors. They have no patience by which to keep possesion of their own souls, nor any confidence in God's promise, by which to keep possession of its comfort. Thou art drunken, not as formerly, with the intoxicating cup of Babylon's idolatries, but with the cup of affliction. Know, then, the cause of God's people may for a time seem as lost, but God will protect it, by convincing the conscience, or confounding the projects, of those that strive against it. The oppressors required souls to be subjected to them, that every man should believe and worship as they would have them. But all they could gain by violence was, that people were brought to outward hypocritical conformity, for consciences cannot be forced.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 51

This chapter gives the church and people of God reason to expect comfortable times and certain salvation, though they had many enemies. They are directed to look to Abraham and Sarah, signified by the rock and hole of the pit, and observe how he was called alone, blessed and increased; which should be improved as an argument to strengthen their faith, that God could and would bless and increase his church, though in a low estate, and bring it into a flourishing one, Isa 51:1-3. They are assured of the publication of the Gospel, expressed by the law, doctrine, and judgment of the Lord; by which means the righteousness and salvation of Christ should be brought nigh to them, as the object of their trust and confidence, Isa 51:4,5, and also of the perpetuity of his righteousness and salvation, when the heavens, and the earth, and the inhabitants of it, should decay, even their revilers and persecutors, and therefore they need not fear their reproaches and revilings, Isa 51:6-8, upon which follows a prayer of faith, that the Lord would exert his power as in former times, when he destroyed the Egyptians, and dried up the Red sea for Israel to pass through, the ransomed of the Lord; from whence it might be concluded, that the redeemed of the Lord would be brought into a very comfortable condition again, Isa 51:9-11 wherefore they had no reason to be afraid of men, since the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth, would deliver, comfort, and establish them, of which he assured them by his prophet, Isa 51:12-16, and though Jerusalem and her sons were, or would be, in a very distressed condition, through the sword and famine, which is described, Isa 51:17-20, yet they should be delivered out of it, and their persecutors should be brought into the same, Isa 51:21-23.