15 For this is the word of him who is high and lifted up, whose resting-place is eternal, whose name is Holy: my resting-place is in the high and holy place, and with him who is crushed and poor in spirit, to give life to the spirit of the poor, and to make strong the heart of the crushed.
The Lord is near the broken-hearted; he is the saviour of those whose spirits are crushed down.
Though the Lord is high, he sees those who are low; and he has knowledge from far off of those who are lifted up.
And at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifting up my eyes to heaven, got back my reason, and, blessing the Most High, I gave praise and honour to him who is living for ever, whose rule is an eternal rule and whose kingdom goes on from generation to generation.
The Lord says, Heaven is the seat of my power, and earth is the resting-place for my feet: what sort of house will you make for me, and what place will be my resting-place? For all these things my hand has made, and they are mine, says the Lord; but to this man only will I give attention, to him who is poor and broken in spirit, fearing my word.
For from the first making of the world, those things of God which the eye is unable to see, that is, his eternal power and existence, are fully made clear, he having given the knowledge of them through the things which he has made, so that men have no reason for wrongdoing:
Have you no knowledge of it? has it not come to your ears? The eternal God, the Lord, the Maker of the ends of the earth, is never feeble or tired; there is no searching out of his wisdom.
The Lord is high over all nations, and his glory is higher than the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, Looking down on the heavens, and on the earth?
The God of your fathers is your safe resting-place, and under you are his eternal arms: driving out the forces of your haters from before you, he said, Let destruction overtake them.
So that men may see that you only, whose name is Yahweh, are Most High over all the earth.
The seat of your power has been from the past; you are eternal.
The spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make the broken-hearted well, to say that the prisoners will be made free, and that those in chains will see the light again; To give knowledge that the year of the Lord's good pleasure has come, and the day of punishment from our God; to give comfort to all who are sad; To give them a fair head-dress in place of dust, the oil of joy in place of the clothing of grief, praise in place of sorrow; so that they may be named trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, and so that he may have glory.
For he who is strong has done great things for me; and holy is his name.
Now to the King eternal, ever-living, unseen, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. So be it.
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia say: These things says he who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, opening the door so that it may be shut by no one, and shutting it so that it may be open to no one.
But our God is in heaven: he has done whatever was pleasing to him.
The offerings of God are a broken spirit; a broken and sorrowing heart, O God, you will not put from you.
Happy are the poor in spirit: for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Happy are those who are sad: for they will be comforted.
See, my servant will do well in his undertakings, he will be honoured, and lifted up, and be very high.
And in the same way, let the younger men be ruled by the older ones. Let all of you put away pride and make yourselves ready to be servants: for God is a hater of pride, but he gives grace to those who make themselves low.
And the four beasts, having every one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and inside: and without resting day and night, they say, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, Ruler of all, who was and is and is to come.
So that, at the memory of these things, you may be at a loss, never opening your mouth because of your shame; when you have my forgiveness for all you have done, says the Lord.
But is it truly possible that God may be housed on earth? see, heaven and the heaven of heavens are not wide enough to be your resting-place; how much less this house which I have made!
And crying out to the Lord his God in his trouble, he made himself low before the God of his fathers, And made prayer to him; and in answer to his prayer God let him come back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh was certain that the Lord was God.
So I would still have comfort, and I would have joy in the pains of death, for I have not been false to the words of the Holy One.
Make songs to God, make songs of praise to his name; make a way for him who comes through the waste lands; his name is Jah; be glad before him. A father to those who have no father, a judge of the widows, is God in his holy place.
He has sent salvation to his people; he has given his word for ever: holy is his name and greatly to be feared.
<A Song of the going up.> To you my eyes are lifted up, even to you whose seat is in the heavens.
In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord seated in his place, high and lifted up, and the Temple was full of the wide skirts of his robe.
And one said in a loud voice to another, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of armies: all the earth is full of his glory.
And Abraham, after planting a holy tree in Beer-sheba, gave worship to the name of the Lord, the Eternal God.
This order is fixed by the watchers, and the decision is by the word of the holy ones: so that the living may be certain that the Most High is ruler over the kingdom of men, and gives it to any man at his pleasure, lifting up over it the lowest of men.
This is the sense of it, O King, and it is the decision of the Most High which has come on my lord the king: That they will send you out from among men, to be with the beasts of the field; they will give you grass for your food like the oxen, and you will be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven times will go by you, till you are certain that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and gives it to any man at his pleasure.
For at the shaking of my hand over them, their goods will be taken by those who were their servants: and you will see that the Lord of armies has sent me.
Let this then be your prayer: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make well those who are broken-hearted; to say that the prisoners will be let go, and the blind will see, and to make the wounded free from their chains,
And he got up and went to his father. But while he was still far away, his father saw him and was moved with pity for him and went quickly and took him in his arms and gave him a kiss. And his son said to him, Father, I have done wrong, against heaven and in your eyes: I am no longer good enough to be named your son. But the father said to his servants, Get out the first robe quickly, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet: And get the fat young ox and put it to death, and let us have a feast, and be glad. For this, my son, who was dead, is living again; he had gone away from me, and has come back. And they were full of joy.
But you would have nothing to do with the Holy and Upright One, and made request for a man of blood to be given to you,
So that now, on the other hand, it is right for him to have forgiveness and comfort from you, for fear that his sorrow may be over-great.
But God who gives comfort to the poor in spirit gave us comfort by the coming of Titus;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 57
Commentary on Isaiah 57 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 57
The prophet, in this chapter, makes his observations,
Isa 57:1-2
The prophet, in the close of the foregoing chapter, had condemned the watchmen for their ignorance and sottishness; here he shows the general stupidity and senselessness of the people likewise. No wonder they were inconsiderate when their watchmen were so, who should have awakened them to consideration. We may observe here,
Isa 57:3-12
We have here a high charge, but a just one no doubt, drawn up against that wicked generation out of which God's righteous ones were removed, because the world was not worthy of them. Observe,
Isa 57:13-16
Here,
Isa 57:17-21
The body of the people of Israel, in this account of God's dealings with them, is spoken of as a particular person (v. 17, 18), but divided into two sorts, differently dealt with-some who were sons of peace, to whom peace is spoken (v. 19), and others who were not, who have nothing to do with peace, v. 20, 21. Observe here,