Matthew Henry Commentary Isaiah 26:12-19

"Jehovah, thou wilt ordain peace for us; for thou hast also wrought all our works for us. O Jehovah our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over us; but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. [They are] dead, they shall not live; [they are] deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all remembrance of them to perish. Thou hast increased the nation, O Jehovah, thou hast increased the nation; thou art glorified; thou hast enlarged all the borders of the land. Jehovah, in trouble have they visited thee; they poured out a prayer [when] thy chastening was upon them. Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain and crieth out in her pangs; so we have been before thee, O Jehovah. We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. Thy dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is [as] the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth the dead." — Isaiah 26:12-19 (ASV)

Every creature, every business, anything in any way serviceable to our comfort, God makes it so; He makes that work for us which seemed to work against us. They had been slaves of sin and Satan, but by the Divine grace they were taught to expect to be set free from all former masters.

The cause opposed to God and His kingdom will sink at last. We see here our need for afflictions. Before, prayer came drop by drop; now they pour it out, it comes now like water from a fountain. Afflictions bring us to secret prayer.

Consider Christ as the Speaker addressing His church. His resurrection from the dead was a pledge of all the deliverance foretold. The power of His grace, like the dew or rain which causes the herbs that seem dead to revive, would raise His church from the lowest state. But we may also refer to the resurrection of the dead, especially of those united to Christ.

Isaiah 26:20–21 When dangers threaten, it is good to withdraw and lie hidden; when we commit ourselves to God to hide us, He will hide us either under heaven or in heaven. Thus we will be safe and happy in the midst of tribulations. It is only for a short time, as it were, for a little moment; when it is over, it will seem as nothing.

God's place is the mercy seat; there He delights to be. When He punishes, He comes out of His place, for He has no pleasure in the death of sinners. But there is hardly any truth more frequently repeated in Scripture than God's determined purpose to punish the workers of iniquity. Let us keep close to the Lord, separate from the world, and seek comfort in secret prayer.

A day of vengeance is coming on the world, and before it comes we are to expect tribulation and suffering. But because the Christian looks for these things, should he be restless and dismayed? No, let him rest in his God. Abiding in Him, the believer is safe.

And let us wait patiently for the fulfilling of God's promises.