Isaiah 26:5,6

It is the action of the *Lord alone that has completely changed the situation. Poor and weak people had nothing that they could do to save themselves. But they can take advantage of what the *Lord has done.

We can trust God

v7 *Lord, you make life to be like a smooth path for people who live in the right manner. v8 You are the one whom we trust to bring about fair judgements. Above all, we greatly desire every nation to respect the *Lord.

v9 Please comfort me in the night. My spirit seriously wants you all the time. If the inhabitants of the world would obey your instructions, all peoples would learn to live fairly. v10 *Lord, even if you deal gently with wicked people, they will not act fairly. In a land where many people are honest, wicked people continue their evil behaviour. And they fail to recognise your greatness. v11 *Lord, you have raised your hand to punish. But wicked people do not see it. I pray that they will realise about your great love for your special people. I pray that this knowledge will make wicked people ashamed. If they do not change their behaviour, let wicked people suffer great punishment.

v12 *Lord, you have brought us peace in times of trouble. Anything that we have achieved is the result of your action. v13 *Lord our God, many foreign masters have ruled us. But you alone are our real God. You are the only God whom we call by name. v14 Those foreign rulers are all dead. They will not live again. Their spirits will not rise. When you punished wicked people, the punishment was total. You removed every memory of them.

v15 But, *Lord, you made your special people to increase greatly in number. Your nation grew. And this brought you great honour. You extended the boundaries of your people’s land on every side.

v16 *Lord, when your people were in great trouble, they appealed to you for help. They prayed desperately when you punished them. v17 Like a woman about to give birth to a child, you made us cry aloud in pain. v18 We were suffering great pain. But all that we produced was wind. We won no battles for our land. We achieved nothing by our own efforts.

v19 But your dead people will live. Their bodies will rise. You who are lying in the ground, wake up! Shout for joy! *Lord, be like the *dew that shines. Be like *dew on the ground where dead people are lying.

v20 My people, go home and shut the door behind you. Hide yourselves for a little time until the *Lord’s anger has completed its work. v21 The *Lord is coming from his place in heaven. He will punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wicked deeds. The ground will show the murders that happened in secret. Earth will not still cover the blood of those people who suffered.