John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 26:9

"With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee earnestly: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness." — Isaiah 26:9 (ASV)

My soul hath desired thee. This is a stronger expression of the former statement. For, having previously spoken in the person of believers, he had said that the desire of their soul was towards God. He now adds, with regard to himself, My soul hath desired; as if he had said, “I have all the faculties of my soul directed towards seeking your name.”

The word נפש (nēphĕsh) frequently denotes the vital Soul. However, as the Prophet here employs two words, I distinguish them so that נפש (nephesh) means the desire or will, and רוח (rūăch) the intellectual parts. For we know that these are the chief parts of the human soul: namely, the Understanding and the Will, both of which God justly claims for himself.

Such is also the import of that passage, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37). The Prophet therefore shows that all the faculties of his soul are directed to this point: to seek God and embrace him.

Others take רוח (rūăch), the Spirit, to mean the regenerated part. By נפש (nĕphĕsh) they understand the natural soul, and by רוח (rūăch), the Spirit, they understand the grace of God, which is supernatural.

But this cannot be admitted, for the sensual man (ψυχικός) never seeks God. We perceive how strongly we are opposed by our feelings when we rise to God, and with what difficulty we conquer that aversion.

It is unnecessary, therefore, to refute this interpretation, for it is directly contrary to Scripture. From many similar passages, it is sufficiently plain that the Spirit and Soul mean the understanding and the heart.

In the night. By the night Scripture often means adversity, which is compared to darkness and gloominess.

But I interpret it somewhat differently, as if the Prophet had said, “There is no time so improper or unreasonable that I may not call upon you or pray to you.” That interpretation differs little from the former but is rather more general. For night is supposed to be set apart for rest, and at that time all the desires and labors of men cease; in short, there is little difference between a sleeping and a dead man.

He says, therefore, that at the time which is devoted to rest and repose he rises to seek God, so that no occasion turns him aside. This is not to say that those who are asleep have any active thought, but that sleep itself, if we turn to God, is a part of our course. Although we slumber and are silent, still we praise him by hope and confidence.

In the morning will I seek thee. By the night the Prophet does not literally mean sleep. This is perfectly evident from the present clause, in which night is contrasted with morning, which denotes continuance.

The inhabitants of the earth will learn righteousness. We must observe the reason assigned, when he says that “the inhabitants of the earth learn righteousness from the judgments of God,” meaning that by chastisements men are taught to fear God.

In prosperity they forget him, and their eyes are, as it were, blinded by fatness. They grow wanton and petulant and do not submit to be under authority. Therefore, the Lord restrains their insolence and teaches them to obey.

In short, the Prophet confesses that he and others were trained by God’s chastisements to yield submission to his authority and to entrust themselves to his guardianship. For if God does not, with uplifted arm, claim his right to rule, no man of his own accord yields obedience.