John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 44:4

"and they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses." — Isaiah 44:4 (ASV)

And they shall spring up. These words contain nothing more than what I quoted from Psalm 104:30: that when the Spirit of God has been sent forth, the whole face of the earth is renewed, and those fields which formerly were burnt up with thirst become green and flourish, just as herbs grow after being watered by the rains.

By these metaphors, he extends the view of this subject and more fully shows that it is just as easy for God to enlarge the Church with additional offspring—a Church that was desolate and had been reduced to ruinous and frightful solitude—as it is to impart to the earth the power of bringing forth.

Yet, though he does not speak of regeneration, we may still apply this statement to it, because he speaks of the restoration of the Church, the chief part of which is the new creation by which the Lord restores His image in the elect. This doctrine may indeed be drawn from it and more copiously explained, but we must first explain the Prophet’s design and make clear the plain and natural meaning of his words.