Isaiah 26:7-21

God's People Vindicated

7 The path of the righteous is level; You clear a straight path for the righteous.

8 Yes, Lord, we wait for You in the path of Your judgments. Our desire is for Your name and renown.

9 I long for You in the night; yes, my spirit within me diligently seeks You, for when Your judgments are [in] the land, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

10 [But if] the wicked is shown favor, he does not learn righteousness. In a righteous land he acts unjustly and does not see the majesty of the Lord.

11 Lord, Your hand is lifted up [to take action], but they do not see it. They will see [Your] zeal for [Your] people, and they will be put to shame. The fire for Your adversaries will consume them!

12 Lord, You will establish peace for us, for You have also done all our work for us.

13 Lord, our God, other lords than You have ruled over us, but we remember Your name alone.

14 The dead do not live;^[a] departed spirits do not rise up. Indeed, You have visited and destroyed them; You have wiped out all memory of them.

15 You have added to the nation, Lord. You have added to the nation; You are honored. You have expanded all the borders of the land.

16 Lord, they went to You in their distress; they poured out whispered [prayers because] Your discipline [fell] on them.^[b]

17 As a pregnant woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pains, so we were before You, Lord.

18 We became pregnant, we writhed in pain; we gave birth to wind. We have won no victories on earth, and the earth's inhabitants have not fallen.

19 Your dead will live; their bodies^[c] will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For you will be covered with the morning dew,^[d] and the earth will bring forth the departed spirits.

20 Go, my people, enter your rooms and close your doors behind you. Hide for a little while until the wrath has passed.

21 For look, the Lord is coming from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal the blood shed on it and will no longer conceal her slain.

Isaiah 26:7-21 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Isa 26:19
• [b]. Hb obscure
• [c]. Lit live; my body they
• [d]. Lit For your dew is a dew of lights