1 In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation doth he appoint for walls and bulwarks.
2 Open ye the gates, and the righteous nation which keepeth faithfulness shall enter in.
3 Thou wilt keep in perfect peace the mind stayed [on thee], for he confideth in thee.
4 Confide ye in Jehovah for ever; for in Jah, Jehovah, is the rock of ages.
5 For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low, he layeth it low to the ground, he bringeth it even to the dust.
6 The foot shall tread it down, -- the feet of the afflicted, the steps of the poor.
7 The way of the just is uprightness: thou, the Upright, dost make the path of the just even.
8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Jehovah, have we waited for thee; the desire of [our] soul is to thy name, and to thy memorial.
9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10 If favour be shewn to the wicked, he doth not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness he dealeth unjustly, and beholdeth not the majesty of Jehovah.
11 Jehovah, thy hand is lifted up, but they do not see: [yet] they shall see [thy] jealousy [for] the people, and be ashamed; yea, the fire which is for thine adversaries shall devour them.
12 Jehovah, thou wilt ordain peace for us; for thou also hast wrought all our works for us.
13 Jehovah our God, other lords than thee have had dominion over us; by thee only will we make mention of thy name.
14 [They are] dead, they shall not live; deceased, they shall not rise: for thou hast visited and destroyed them, and made all memory of them to perish.
15 Thou hast increased the nation, Jehovah, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified. Thou hadst removed [it] far [unto] all the ends of the earth.
16 Jehovah, in trouble they sought thee; they poured out [their] whispered prayer when thy chastening was upon them.
17 As a woman with child, that draweth near her delivery, is in travail, [and] crieth out in her pangs; so have we been before thee, Jehovah.
18 We have been with child, we have been in travail, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought the deliverance of the land, neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
19 Thy dead shall live, my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing in triumph, ye that dwell in dust; for thy dew is the dew of the morning, and the earth shall cast forth the dead.
20 Come, my people, enter into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself just for a little moment, until the indignation be past.
21 For behold, Jehovah cometh out of his place to visit the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth upon them; and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 26
Commentary on Isaiah 26 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 26
This chapter is a song of holy joy and praise, in which the great things God had engaged, in the foregoing chapter, to do for his people against his enemies and their enemies are celebrated: it is prepared to be sung when that prophecy should be accomplished; for we must be forward to meet God with our thanksgivings when he is coming towards us with his mercies. Now the people of God are here taught,
And this is written for the support and assistance of the faith and hope of God's people in all ages, even those upon whom the ends of the world have come.
Isa 26:1-4
To the prophecies of gospel grace very fitly is a song annexed, in which we may give God the glory and take to ourselves the comfort of that grace: In that day, the gospel day, which the day of the victories and enlargements of the Old-Testament church was typical of (to some of which perhaps this has a primary reference), in that day this song shall be sung; there shall be persons to sing it, and cause and hearts to sing it; it shall be sung in the land of Judah, which was a figure of the gospel church; for the gospel covenant is said to be made with the house of Judah, Heb. 8:8. Glorious things are here said of the church of God.
Isa 26:5-11
Here the prophet further encourages us to trust in the Lord for ever, and to continue waiting on him; for,
Isa 26:12-19
The prophet in these verses looks back upon what God had done with them, both in mercy and judgment, and sings unto God of both, and then looks forward upon what he hoped God would do for them. Observe,
Isa 26:20-21
These two verses are supposed not to belong to the song which takes up the rest of the chapter, but to begin a new matter, and to be rather an introduction to the following chapter than the conclusion of this. Of whereas, in the foregoing song, the people of God had spoken to him, complaining of their grievances, here he returns an answer to their complaints, in which,