Matthew Henry Commentary Isaiah 51
Matthew Henry Commentary
Isaiah 51
Matthew Henry Commentary
Isaiah 51
"Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek Jehovah: look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hold of the pit whence ye were digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many. For Jehovah hath comforted Zion; he hath comforted all her waste places, and hath made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." — Isaiah 51:1-3 (ASV)
It is good for those privileged by the new birth, to consider that they were shapen in sin. This should cause low thoughts of ourselves, and high thoughts of Divine grace.
It is the greatest comfort to be made serviceable to the glory of God. The more holiness people have, and the more good they do, the more gladness they have.
Let us seriously reflect upon our guilt. To do so will tend to keep the heart humble, and the conscience awake and tender. These make Christ more precious to the soul, and give strength to our attempts and prayers for others.
"Attend unto me, O my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall go forth from me, and I will establish my justice for a light of the peoples. My righteousness is near, my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the peoples; the isles shall wait for me, and on mine arm shall they trust. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment; and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye dismayed at their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool; but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation unto all generations." — Isaiah 51:4-8 (ASV)
The gospel of Christ shall be preached and published. How shall we escape if we neglect it? There is no salvation without righteousness. The soul, concerning this world, shall vanish like smoke, and the body shall be cast aside like a worn-out garment.
But those whose happiness is in Christ's righteousness and salvation will have the comfort of it when time and days shall be no more. Clouds darken the sun but do not stop its course. The believer will enjoy his portion, while revilers of Christ are in darkness.
"Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Jehovah; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Is it not thou that didst cut Rahab in pieces, that didst pierce the monster? Is it not thou that driedst up the sea, the waters of the great deep; that madest the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? And the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy; [and] sorrow and sighing shall flee away. I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou art afraid of man that shall die, and of the son of man that shall be made as grass; and hast forgotten Jehovah thy Maker, that stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fearest continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he maketh ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor? The captive exile shall speedily be loosed; and he shall not die [and go down] into the pit, neither shall his bread fail. For I am Jehovah thy God, who stirreth up the sea, so that the waves thereof roar: Jehovah of hosts is his name. And I have put my words in thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people." — Isaiah 51:9-16 (ASV)
The people whom Christ has redeemed with His blood, as well as by His power, will obtain joyful deliverance from every enemy. He who designs such joy for us ultimately, will He not work such deliverance in the meantime, as our needs require?
In this world of changes, it is a short step from joy to sorrow, but in that world, sorrow will never come into view.
They prayed for the display of God's power; He answers them with the consolations of His grace. If we dreaded to sin against God, we would not fear the frowns of men. Happy is the man who fears God always.
And Christ's church will enjoy security by the power and providence of the Almighty.
"Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, that hast drunk at the hand of Jehovah the cup of his wrath; thou hast drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it. There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand among all the sons that she hath brought up. These two things are befallen thee, who shall bemoan thee? desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword; how shall I comfort thee? Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as an antelope in a net; they are full of the wrath of Jehovah, the rebuke of thy God. Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but now with wine: Thus saith thy Lord Jehovah, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thy hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath; thou shalt no more drink it again: and I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee, that have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over; and thou hast laid thy back as the ground, and as the street, to them that go over." — Isaiah 51:17-23 (ASV)
God calls upon his people to be mindful of the things that belong to their everlasting peace. Jerusalem had provoked God, and was made to taste the bitter fruits. Those who should have been her comforters were their own tormentors. They have no patience to maintain possession of their own souls, nor any confidence in God's promise to maintain possession of its comfort.
You are drunk, not as before, with the intoxicating cup of Babylon's idolatries, but with the cup of affliction. Know, then, that the cause of God's people may for a time seem lost, but God will protect it, by convincing the conscience or confounding the projects of those who strive against it.
The oppressors required souls to be subjected to them, so that everyone would believe and worship as they dictated. But all they could gain by violence was that people were brought to outward hypocritical conformity, for consciences cannot be forced.
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