Matthew Henry

But there the Majestic One, our LORD, will be for us a place of rivers and wide canals, where no galley with oars will row, and no majestic vessel will…

“This the principal ground of their confidence: "He that is himself the glorious Lord will display his glory for us and be a glory to us, such as shall eclipse the rival-glory of the enemy."”

And no resident of Zion will say, “I am sick.” The people who dwell there will be forgiven of iniquity.

“Sin is the sickness of the soul. When God pardons the sin he heals the disease; and, when the diseases of sin are healed by pardoning mercy, the sting of bodily sickness is taken out and the cause of it removed; so that either the…”

Their slain will be left unburied, and the stench of their corpses will rise; the mountains will flow with their blood.

“These expressions are hyperbolical (as St. John's vision of blood to the horse-bridles, Rev. xiv. 20 ), and are made use of because they sound very dreadful to sense (it makes us even shiver to think of such abundance of human gore), and are therefore…”

It will bloom profusely and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.

“Whatever was excellent an desirable in the Mosaic economy is translated into the evangelical institutes. The glory of God shining forth: They shall see the glory of the Lord.”

Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

“These miracles Christ wrought to prove that he was sent of God ( John iii. 2 ), nay, working them by his own power and in his own name, he proved that he was God, the same who at first made man's mouth, the hearing…”

Then the lame will leap like a deer and the mute tongue will shout for joy. For waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.

“This was fulfilled when the Holy Ghost fell upon the Gentiles that heard the word ( Acts x. 44 ); then were the fountains of life opened, whence streams flowed, that watered the earth abundantly.”

The parched ground will become a pool, the thirsty land springs of water. In the haunt where jackals once lay, there will be grass and reeds and papyrus.

“In the thirsty land, where no water was, nor ordinances ( Ps. lxiii. 1 ), there shall be springs of water, a gospel ministry, and by that the administration of all gospel ordinances in their purity and plenty, which are the river that makes glad…”

No lion will be there, and no vicious beast will go up on it. Such will not be found there, but the redeemed will walk upon it.

“Those that walk in the way of holiness may proceed with a holy security and serenity of mind, knowing that nothing can do them any real hurt; they shall be quiet from the fear of evil.”

So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.

“Those that by faith are made citizens of the gospel Zion may go on their way rejoicing ( Acts viii. 39 ); they shall sing in the ways of the Lord, and be still praising him.”

Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’

“They are nothing; he is the great I AM: they are the creatures of men's fancy and the works of men's hands; he is the Creator of all things.”

Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back…

“God had signed Sennacherib's commission against Judah ( ch. x. 6 ); here he supersedes it. He has frightened them, but he must not hurt them, and therefore is discharged from going any further; nay, his commitment is here signed, by which he is clapped…”

I said, “I will never again see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living; I will no longer look on mankind with those who dwell in…

“He shall no more see (that is, serve) the Lord in the land of the living, the land of conflict between his kingdom and the kingdom of Satan, this seat of war.”

Now Isaiah had said, “Prepare a lump of pressed figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.”

“We must not put physicians, or physic, in the place of God, but make use of them in subordination to God and to his providence; help thyself and God will help thee.”

And Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the house of the LORD?”

“It is taken for granted that if God would restore him to health he would immediately go up to the temple with his thank-offerings. There Christ found the impotent man whom he had healed, John”

But Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “At least there will be peace and security in my lifetime.”

“Hezekiah reckoned that word of the Lord good which discovered sin to him, and made him sensible that he had done amiss, which before he was not aware of.”

Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain.

“(2.) We must get our hearts levelled by divine grace. Those that are hindered from comfort in Christ by their dejections and despondencies are the valleys that must be exalted.”

Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth?

“This is understood not only ever since the beginning of the world, but from and by the origin of the universe. It is founded upon the foundation of the earth. The invisible things of God are clearly seen from the creation of the world, Rom.”

But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and…

“But those that wait on the Lord, who make conscience of their duty to him, and by faith rely upon him and commit themselves to his guidance, shall find that God will not fail them. [1.]”

Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—the first and the last—I am He.”

“Now observe what is here said concerning him. [1.] That he was a righteous man, or righteousness, a man of righteousness, that believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness; and so he became the father of all those who by faith in…”

“But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend—

“He is the righteous man whom God raised up from the east. Of him the Chaldee paraphrast expressly understands it: Who brought Abraham publicly from the east?”

You will seek them but will not find them. Those who wage war against you will come to nothing.

“But let not God's people be incensed at them, nor strive with them, nor render evil for evil; but wait God's time, and believe, 1.”

I have raised up one from the north, and he has come—one from the east who calls on My name.

“(2.) All opposition shall fall before him: He shall come upon the princes of Babylon, and all others that stood in his way, as mortar, and trample upon them as the potter treads clay, to serve his own purposes with it.”

Who has declared this from the beginning, so that we may know, and from times past, so that we may say: ‘He was right’?

“None of all the gods of the nations have shown their worshippers the way of salvation, which God will show by the Messiah. The good tidings which the Lord will send in the gospel is a mystery hidden from ages and generations, Rom. xvi.”

I was the first to tell Zion: ‘Look, here they are!’ And I gave to Jerusalem a herald of good news.

“This is applicable to the work of redemption, in which the Lord showed himself much more than in the release of the Jews out of Babylon: he it was that contrived our salvation, and he brought it about, and he has given to us the…”

He will not grow weak or discouraged before He has established justice on the earth. In His law the islands will put their hope.”

“4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.”