Isaiah 26:3-13

3 You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you.

4 Trust in the Lord forever; he will always protect us.

5 He has humbled those who were proud; he destroyed the strong city they lived in, and sent its walls crashing into the dust.

6 Those who were oppressed walk over it now and trample it under their feet.

7 Lord, you make the path smooth for good people; the road they travel is level.

8 We follow your will and put our hope in you; you are all that we desire.

9 At night I long for you with all my heart; when you judge the earth and its people, they will all learn what justice is.

10 Even though you are kind to the wicked, they never learn to do what is right. Even here in a land of righteous people they still do wrong; they refuse to recognize your greatness.

11 Your enemies do not know that you will punish them. ¹ Lord, put them to shame and let them suffer; let them suffer the punishment you have prepared. Show them how much you love your people.

12 You will give us prosperity, Lord; everything that we achieve is the result of what you do.

13 Lord our God, we have been ruled by others, but you alone are our Lord.

Isaiah 26:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 26

This chapter contains a song of praise for the safety and prosperity of the church, and the destruction of its enemies. The church is represented as a strong city, whose walls and bulwarks are salvation, Isa 26:1 it is said to have gates which are to be opened to a righteous nation, Isa 26:2 its inhabitants, being such who trust in the Lord, are promised perfect peace, Isa 26:3 hence the saints are exhorted to trust in him, Isa 26:4 then follows an account of another city, described as lofty, and its inhabitants as dwelling on high, who are brought down, and trampled on, by the feet of the poor and needy, Isa 26:5,6 when the prophet returns to the righteous, and asserts their way to be uprightness, because their path is weighed or levelled by God the most upright, Isa 26:7 and in the name of the church declares that they had waited for the Lord in the way of his judgments; and that the desire of their souls was to his name, and the remembrance of it; and that they continued, and would continue, to desire him, and seek after him, seeing righteousness was to be learned by his judgments, Isa 26:8,9 and though the wicked would not be brought to repentance and reformation by the goodness of God, nor take notice of his hand, yet they should see and be ashamed, and destroyed at last, Isa 26:10,11 but notwithstanding these judgments of God in the earth, the church professes her faith in the Lord, that he would give her peace and prosperity, from the consideration of what he had wrought for her, and in her, Isa 26:12 and rejects all other lords but him, Isa 26:13 who were dead, and should not live again, but were visited and destroyed, and their memory made to perish, Isa 26:14 but the righteous nation should be increased, though they should meet with trouble, which would cause them to go to the throne of grace, and there pour out their complaints, express their pain and distresses, and the disappointments they had met with, Isa 26:15-18 to which an answer is returned, promising a glorious resurrection, Isa 26:19 and calling upon the people of God to retire to their chambers for protection in the mean while, until the punishment to be inflicted on the inhabitants of the earth for their sins was over, Isa 26:20,21.

Cross References

• 1. 26.11Hebrews 10.27.

Footnotes

• [a]. everything that . . . do; [or] you treat us according to what we do.