Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 49:8

"Thus saith Jehovah, In an acceptable time have I answered thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages:" — Isaiah 49:8 (ASV)

In an acceptable time. —Literally, in the season of good pleasure. The message is impressed upon the soul of the servant as the secret of confidence and strength. It will be his work to be the link in a new covenant with the people, an idea afterwards developed by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31), and reaching its fulfilment in Matthew 26:28; Luke 22:20.

To cause to inherit the desolate heritages. —The prophet may have thought of a literal fulfilment such as was probably in part accomplished by Zerubbabel. We, seeing the prediction in the light of its fulfilment, look to the spiritual inheritance.