Matthew Henry Commentary Isaiah 48:9-15

"For my name`s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. Behold, I have refined thee, but not as silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. For mine own sake, for mine own sake, will I do it; for how should [my name] be profaned? and my glory will I not give to another. Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. Yea, my hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spread out the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. Assemble yourselves, all ye, and hear; who among them hath declared these things? He whom Jehovah loveth shall perform his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm [shall be on] the Chaldeans. I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him; I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous." — Isaiah 48:9-15 (ASV)

We ourselves have nothing to plead with God as a reason for Him to show mercy on us. It is for His praise, to the honor of His mercy, to spare.

His bringing people into trouble was to do them good. It was to refine them, but not as silver is refined—not as thoroughly as people refine silver. If God should take that course, they are all dross, and, as such, might justly be put away. He accepts them as refined only in part.

Many have been brought home to God as chosen vessels, and a good work of grace begun in them, in the furnace of affliction. It is a comfort to God's people that God will secure His own honor and therefore work deliverance for them.

And if God delivers His people, He cannot be at a loss for instruments to employ. God has formed a plan in which, for His own sake and the glory of His grace, He saves all who come to Him.