Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 44:7

"And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I established the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and that shall come to pass, let them declare." — Isaiah 44:7 (ASV)

Since I appointed the ancient people ... —Literally, the people of the age, or of eternity. The phrase is used to refer to the dead in Ezekiel 26:20. Here it has been referred either to the antediluvian fathers of mankind (Job 22:15), to the patriarchs of Israel, or, more suitably, to Israel, as having before it a distant future as well as a distant past, and, therefore, an everlasting people. The same phrase is used for the “perpetual covenant” of Exodus 31:16. (2 Samuel 7:13; 2 Samuel 7:16.)