Isaiah 26

1 In that day this song shall be sung in the land of Judah. The city of our strength; the saviour shall be set therein, the wall and the forewall, either a stronghold before the wall. (On that day this song shall be sung in the land of Judah. The city of our strength; salvation shall be found there, yea, the wall and the forewall, that is, a stronghold in front of the wall.)

2 Open ye the gates, and the just folk shall enter, keeping truth. (Open ye the gates, and the just nation shall enter in/and the righteous people shall enter in, keeping faith.)

3 The eld error is gone away; thou shalt keep peace, peace, for thou, Lord, we hoped in thee. (Thou shalt keep us in peace, Lord, for we have put away the old errors, yea, in perfect peace, for we who hope in thee.)

4 Ye have hoped in the Lord, in everlasting worlds, in the Lord God, strong without end. (Yea, hope ye in the Lord, forever, in the Lord God, who shall be strong forever.)

5 For he shall bow down them that dwell on high, and he shall make low an high city; he shall make it low till to the earth; he shall draw it down till to the dust. (For he shall bow down those who be proud, or be haughty, and he shall make low a high city; he shall make it low unto the ground; he shall draw it down unto the dust.)

6 The foot of a poor man shall defoul it, and the steps of needy men shall defoul it. (The foot of the poor shall defile it, and the steps of the needy shall defile it.)

7 The way of a just man is rightful, the path of a just man is rightful to go (on). (The way of the just is right, or is straightforward, yea, the path of the just is straight and clear to go on.)

8 And in the way of thy dooms, Lord, we suffered thee; thy name, and thy memorial is in desire of soul. (And in the way of thy judgements, Lord, we followed thee; thy name and the remembrance of thee be our hearts? desire.)

9 My soul shall desire thee in the night, but also with my spirit in mine entrails; from the morrowtide I shall wake to thee. When thou shalt make thy dooms in [the] earth, all (the) dwellers of the world shall learn rightfulness. (My soul shall desire thee in the night, yea, my spirit in my bowels, or deep within; and early in the morning I shall look for thee. When thou shalt make thy judgements upon the earth, all the inhabitants of the world shall learn righteousness.)

10 Do we mercy to the wicked man, and he shall not learn to do rightwiseness; in the land of saints he did wicked things, and he shall not see the glory of the Lord. (Even if we give mercy to a wicked person, he shall still not learn to do justice, or what is right; yea, even in the land of the saints he did wicked things, and he shall not see the glory of the Lord.)

11 Lord, thine hand be enhanced (Lord, let thy hand be lifted up), (so) that they see not; (but let) peoples having envy see, and be shamed, and (let) fire devour thine enemies.

12 Lord, thou shalt give peace to us, for thou hast (also) wrought all our works in us.

13 Our Lord God, (other) lords had us in possession, without thee; only in thee have we mind of thy name. (Lord our God, other lords have had us in possession besides thee; but only thee do we call on by name.)

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.)

19 thy dead men shall live (again), and my slain men shall rise again. Ye that dwell in dust, awake, and praise; for why the dew of light is thy dew, and thou shalt draw down the land of giants into falling. (But thy dead shall live again, and my slain people shall rise again. Ye who live in the dust, awake, and give praise; for thy dew is the dew of light, and thou shalt revive those who have long been dead/and the earth shall bring back to life those who have long been dead.)

20 Go thou, my people, enter into thy beds, close thy doors on thee, be thou hid a little at a moment, till (the) indignation pass (by).

21 For lo! the Lord shall go out of his place, to visit the wickedness of the dwellers of [the] earth against him; and the earth shall show his blood, and shall no more cover his slain men. (For lo! the Lord shall go out of his place, to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wickedness; and the earth shall show their blood, and shall no more cover its people who be slain.)

Isaiah 26 Commentary

Chapter 26

The Divine mercies encourage to confidence in God. (1-4) His judgments. (5-11) His people exhorted to wait upon Him. (12-19) Deliverance promised. (20,21)

Verses 1-4 "That day," seems to mean when the New Testament Babylon shall be levelled with the ground. The unchangeable promise and covenant of the Lord are the walls of the church of God. The gates of this city shall be open. Let sinners then be encouraged to join to the Lord. Thou wilt keep him in peace; in perfect peace, inward peace, outward peace, peace with God, peace of conscience, peace at all times, in all events. Trust in the Lord for that peace, that portion, which will be for ever. Whatever we trust to the world for, it will last only for a moment; but those who trust in God shall not only find in him, but shall receive from him, strength that will carry them to that blessedness which is for ever. Let us then acknowledge him in all our ways, and rely on him in all trials.

Verses 5-11 The way of the just is evenness, a steady course of obedience and holy conversation. And it is their happiness that God makes their way plain and easy. It is our duty, and will be our comfort, to wait for God, to keep up holy desires toward him in the darkest and most discouraging times. Our troubles must never turn us from God; and in the darkest, longest night of affliction, with our souls must we desire him; and this we must wait and pray to him for. We make nothing of our religion, whatever our profession may be, if we do not make heart-work of it. Though we come ever so early, we shall find God ready to receive us. The intention of afflictions is to teach righteousness: blessed is the man whom the Lord thus teaches. But sinners walk contrary to him. They will go on in their evil ways, because they will not consider what a God he is whose laws they persist in despising. Scorners and the secure will shortly feel, what now they will not believe, that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. They will not see the evil of sin; but they shall see. Oh that they would abandon their sins, and turn to the Lord, that he may have mercy upon them.

Verses 12-19 Every creature, every business, any way serviceable to our comfort, God makes to be so; he makes that work for us which seemed to make against us. They had been slaves of sin and Satan; but by the Divine grace they were taught to look to be set free from all former masters. The cause opposed to God and his kingdom will sink at last. See our need of afflictions. Before, prayer came drop by drop; now they pour it out, it comes now like water from a fountain. Afflictions bring us to secret prayer. Consider Christ as the Speaker addressing his church. His resurrection from the dead was an earnest of all the deliverance foretold. The power of his grace, like the dew or rain, which causes the herbs that seem dead to revive, would raise his church from the lowest state. But we may refer to the resurrection of the dead, especially of those united to Christ.

Verses 20-21 When dangers threaten, it is good to retire and lie hid; when we commend ourselves to God to hide us, he will hide us either under heaven or in heaven. Thus we shall be safe and happy in the midst of tribulations. It is but for a short time, as it were for a little moment; when over, it will seem as nothing. God's place is the mercy-seat; there he delights to be: when he punishes, he comes out of his place, for he has no pleasure in the death of sinners. But there is hardly any truth more frequently repeated in Scripture, than God's determined purpose to punish the workers of iniquity. Let us keep close to the Lord, and separate from the world; and let us seek comfort in secret prayer. A day of vengeance is coming on the world, and before it comes we are to expect tribulation and suffering. But because the Christian looks for these things, shall he be restless and dismayed? No, let him repose himself in his God. Abiding in him, the believer is safe. And let us wait patiently the fulfilling of God's promises.

Chapter Summary

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.