#988 Isaiah 26 City of God

 

In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;

he sets up salvation

as walls and bulwarks.

2 Open the gates,

that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.

3 You keep him in perfect peace

whose mind is stayed on you,

because he trusts in you.

4 Trust in the Lord forever,

for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

5 For he has humbled

the inhabitants of the height,

the lofty city.

He lays it low, lays it low to the ground,

casts it to the dust.

6 The foot tramples it,

the feet of the poor,

the steps of the needy.”

7 The path of the righteous is level;

you make level the way of the righteous.

8 In the path of your judgments,

O Lord, we wait for you;

your name and remembrance

are the desire of our soul.

9 My soul yearns for you in the night;

my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.

For when your judgments are in the earth,

the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

10 If favor is shown to the wicked,

he does not learn righteousness;

in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly

and does not see the majesty of the Lord.

11 O Lord, your hand is lifted up,

but they do not see it.

Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed.

Let the fire for your adversaries consume them.

12 O Lord, you will ordain peace for us,

for you have indeed done for us all our works.

13 O Lord our God,

other lords besides you have ruled over us,

but your name alone we bring to remembrance.

14 They are dead, they will not live;

they are shades, they will not arise;

to that end you have visited them with destruction

and wiped out all remembrance of them.

15 But you have increased the nation, O Lord,

you have increased the nation; you are glorified;

you have enlarged all the borders of the land.

16 O Lord, in distress they sought you;

they poured out a whispered prayer

when your discipline was upon them.

17 Like a pregnant woman

who writhes and cries out in her pangs

when she is near to giving birth,

so were we because of you, O Lord;

18 we were pregnant, we writhed,

but we have given birth to wind.

We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,

and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.

19 Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.

You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!

For your dew is a dew of light,

and the earth will give birth to the dead.

20 Come, my people, enter your chambers,

and shut your doors behind you;

hide yourselves for a little while

until the fury has passed by.

21 For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place

to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity,

and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it,

and will no more cover its slain. Isaiah 26 ESV

Isaiah 26 You keep him in perfect peace.

1-2. We have a strong city - Like the armor of God, so is the Rock of our salvation, a strong city, secured by the gift of faith that quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked. 

3-6. You keep him in perfect peace -

People talk about trying to find peace and quiet, or trying to make peace, or law enforcement trying to keep the peace, or global arbitrators trying to establish peace, until we finally rest in peace.  People pursue their peace by diversion, by drugs, by recreation, by entertainment, by shopping.  On a broader scale, there are those who tell us that peace will only come in communities and cities when there is social change, when there is economic change, when we fix the external things.  People have been saying that since the beginning of human history, and peace has been completely elusive.  There is a reason for this and it is this: among those who do not know God in the wicked world, there is no peace, there is no peace.

Shalom is a word that is a very large and all-encompassing word, and in essence it means this: a wish for completeness; or a wish for contentment; or a wish for fulfillment, or satisfaction, or blessing; or maybe well-being works; a wish for prosperity on all levels. In other words, it is a desire that all that is good would flow into your life.

And that’s what Jewish people meant, and still mean, when they say shalom. They don’t mean, “I hope you stop fighting with your wife.” They mean, “I wish for you all that is good, all that is blessed, all that brings satisfaction, fulfillment, completeness, and contentment.”

The New Testament counterpart to that word is the word eirn from which we get the feminine name Irene. It is the same thing. Eirn is a word that literally describes a tranquil state of the soul, a soul at rest, a satisfied soul. That’s the biblical view of peace.  - J Mac

26But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you. 27Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid. John 14: 26-27

Whose mind is stayed on you - Not on circumstances, but on God. What He has promised can be read and studied; He has left us His Word. He prepared a sacrifice for us, in His Son, a peace offering, binging those who were enemies from the fall, from sin, back into Holy communion. He has given us of His Spirit to bring light, life and comfort even in times of great distress. The Spirit prays for us even when we don't know what to say, and guides us as we learn and teaches us how to pray in earnest. When we praise Him, lift His name up, believe and trust in Him, we feel and know such peace that passes understanding.

The feet of the poor, the steps of the needy - They will walk over this Babylon, this world's system.

…4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.… Matthew 5: 4-6

…12Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the path chosen for him. 13His soul will dwell in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land.14The LORD confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.… Psalm 25: 12-14

7-11. You make level the way of the righteous - The Psalmist asked that God keep his feet from slipping. Those that have believed in the righteousness of Christ, who have by faith received such peace, they are eager to learn His ways and walk in them. True faith always produces the fruit of the Spirit. 

…8For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.… Ephesians 2: 8-10

If favor is shown to the wicked - Sadly, the mercies of God, the bounties of rain, harvest, family, love, individual abilities, those things that help us to prosper, will not keep the wicked from acting on what's in their heart. They can live in a great nation where they are afforded many individual rights, where they enjoy ideals of justice and mercy, but they in turn are not just, and are rather unmerciful. 

…44But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same?… Matthew 5: 44-46

12-15. For You have indeed done for us all our works - Our righteousness is as filthy rags. We are not good by nature, but rather we are born children of wrath. Our righteousness depends upon the righteousness of Christ, and the acceptability of our works is that which He has wrought in us unto. No one can clean themselves up, make themselves more appealing, work they way towards salvation. No, we trust in Christ alone, are saved by His merit, His blood, His power. Men are not saved by their works, but sinners that are saved will always produce the fruit of good works which God has prepared in Christ Jesus in advance for us to walk in. This is not the gospel preached today of self fulfillment and feelings, but rather the gospel of Jesus and the Apostles, that of self denial and the power of humility. Do not eat the bread or drink of the cup in light fashion, consider the cost, He is worthy.

16-19. But we have given birth to wind - All our self effort, human based religion, trust in self, though we strive, grimace, yet no life is born of it. You must be born again.

“We have had the torment of a woman in child-bearing, but not the comfort of a living child… for we have brought forth nothing but the wind; all our labours and hopes were vain and unnuccessful.” (Poole)

Their bodies shall rise - Though this seems clear as to a resurrection of the dead, there was argument even among the Jewish scribes, between the schools of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, which made them sad, you see.  

…9He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began. 10And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel, 11to which I was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher.… 2 Timothy 1: 9-11

…25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. 26And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this? 27“Yes, Lord,” she answered, “I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”… John 11: 25-27

Christ displays His power and intent in this as well with raising the dead, including the stinking dead, Lazarus.

…42I knew that You always hear Me, but I say this for the benefit of the people standing here, so they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 After Jesus had said this, He called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out! 44The man who had been dead came out with his hands and feet bound in strips of linen, and his face wrapped in a cloth. “Unwrap him and let him go,” Jesus told them.… John 11: 42-44

20-21. For behold the Lord is coming out of His place - 

Hide yourself, as it were: When is this time when God’s people are carried away, securely hidden, from a time of great indignation the LORD brings upon the earth? It can refer to the deliverance of the Jewish people from the fury of the Antichrist described in Revelation 12:6 and 12:13-16. But it is more likely that it speaks of the refuge, the safety, the security of God’s people when they are caught up together with the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) and escape the horrific indignation of the Lord that He pours out upon the world in the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21-22, Revelation 9:15-21), which will immediately precede the second coming of Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:29-30). - Enduring Word