Isaiah 26:16

16 Lord, in anguish they sought thee (out); in the tribulation of grumbling, (you gave) thy doctrine to them.

Isaiah 26:16 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 26:16

Lord, in trouble have they visited thee
This, and the two following verses ( Isaiah 26:17 Isaiah 26:18 ) , represent the troubles and disappointments of the church and people of God, before the destruction of antichrist; in which time of trouble they will visit the Lord, frequent the throne of grace, as saints in afflictions are wont to do; and sometimes this is the end to be answered by afflictions, ( Hosea 5:15 ) : they poured out a prayer;
or "muttering" ^F5; they will pray with a low voice, in an humble and submissive way, as persons in dejected circumstances; not a few words, but many, will they use; their petitions will be numerous; they will continue praying, and be constant at it, and out of the abundance of their hearts their mouth will speak; and they will pour out their souls and their complaints to the Lord, though privately, and with a low voice, and with groans unutterable: [when] thy chastening [was] upon them;
the afflicting hand of God, not as a punishment, but as a fatherly chastisement upon them; so all their persecutions from men are considered as permitted by the Lord for their instruction and correction; and these will not drive them from God, but bring them to him to seek him by prayer and supplication.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F5 (vxl) "mussitationem", Montanus; "submissam orationem", Junius & Tremellius.

Isaiah 26:16 In-Context

14 They that die, live not, and giants, rise not again. Therefore thou hast visited, and hast all-broken them, and thou hast lost all the mind of them; (They who die, live not, and the dead shall not rise again. And so thou hast punished them, and hast all-broken them, and thou hast destroyed all the memory of them;)

15 and Lord, thou hast forgiven to a folk, thou hast forgiven to a folk. Whether thou art glorified? thou hast made far from thee all the ends of [the] earth. (Lord, thou hast increased the nation, thou hast increased the nation, and thou art glorified; thou hast spread it far and wide unto all the ends of the earth.)

16 Lord, in anguish they sought thee (out); in the tribulation of grumbling, (you gave) thy doctrine to them.

17 As she that conceived, when she nigheth sorrowful to the child bearing, crieth in her sorrows, so we be made, Lord, of thy face. (As she who conceived, and when she neareth to giving birth, crieth out in her sorrows, or in her pain, so we be made, Lord, in thy presence.)

18 We have conceived, and we have as travailed of child, and we have childed the spirit of health; we did not rightfulness in (the) earth. Therefore the dwellers of [the] earth fell not down; (We have conceived, and we have laboured as with child, but we brought forth nothing but wind. We have not won any victory in the land, and the inhabitants of the earth have not fallen.)