XXV. (1) O LORD, THOU ART MY GOD. — The burst of praise follows, like St. Paul’s in Romans 11:33, upon the contemplation of the glory of the heavenly city. THY COUNSELS OF OLD ARE FAITHFULNESS AND TRUTH. — It is better to omit the words in italics, and to treat the words as standing in the objecti... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU HAST MADE OF A CITY AN HEAP. — The city spoken of as “the palace of strangers” was, probably in the prophet’s thought, that which he identified with the oppressors and destroyers of his people — _i.e.,_ Nineveh or Babylon; but that city was also for him the representation of the world-power whi... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE SHALL THE STRONG PEOPLE... — Better, “a _fierce people_ and a city,” the Hebrew having no article before either noun. The words paint the effect of the downfall of the imperial oppressor on the outlying fiercer nations, who were thus taught to recognise the righteous judgments of the God o... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU HAST BEEN A STRENGTH... — Literally, _a fortress._ The fierceness of the oppressor is represented by the intolerable heat, and the fierce tornado of an eastern storm, dashing against the wall, threatening it with destruction. From that storm the faithful servants of the Lord should find shelter... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT BRING DOWN THE NOISE OF STRANGERS... — The thought of Isaiah 25:4 is reproduced with a variation of imagery, the scorching _“_heat” in a “dry” (or _parched_) “land.” This is deprived of its power to harm, by the presence of Jehovah, as the welcome shadow of a cloud hides the sun’s intoler... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IN THIS MOUNTAIN SHALL THE LORD... — The mountain is, as in Isaiah 2:1, the hill of Zion, the true representative type of the city of God. True to what we may call the catholicity of his character, Isaiah looks forward to a time when the outlying heathen nations shall no longer be excluded from... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FACE OF THE COVERING CAST OVER ALL PEOPLE... — To cover the face was, in the East, a sign of mourning for the dead (2 Samuel 19:4); and to destroy that covering is to overcome death, of which it is thus the symbol. With this there probably mingled another, though kindred, thought. The man whose... [ Continue Reading ]
HE WILL SWALLOW UP... — The verb is the same as the “destroy” of Isaiah 25:7. The words are an echo of the earlier promise of Hosea 13:14. They are, in their turn, re-echoed in the triumph-anthem of St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:54. The clause, “the Lord God shall wipe away tears,” is in like manner... [ Continue Reading ]
IT SHALL BE SAID IN THAT DAY. — The speakers are obviously the company of the redeemed, the citizens of the new Jerusalem. The litanies of supplication are changed into anthems of praise for the great salvation that has been wrought for them.... [ Continue Reading ]
MOAB SHALL BE TRODDEN DOWN... — There seems at first something like a descent from the great apocalypse of a triumph over death and sin and sorrow, to a name associated with the local victories or defeats of a remote period in the history of Israel. The inscription of the Moabite stone, in connectio... [ Continue Reading ]
AS HE THAT SWIMMETH SPREADETH FORTH HIS HANDS TO SWIM. — The structure of the sentence leaves it uncertain whether the comparison applies (1) to Jehovah spreading forth His hands with the swimmer’s strength to repress the pride of Moab, or (2) to the outstretched hands upon the Cross, or (3) to Moab... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE FORTRESS OF THE HIGH FORT OF THY WALLS... — Primarily the words, as interpreted by Isaiah 25:10, point to Kir-Moab (Isaiah 15:1) as the stronghold of the nation. Beyond this they predict a like destruction of every stronghold, every rock-built fortress (2 Corinthians 10:5) of the great world... [ Continue Reading ]