John Wesley

He made My mouth like a sharp sword; He hid Me in the shadow of His hand. He made Me like a polished arrow; He hid Me in His quiver.

“A sword - As he made me the great teacher of his church, so he made my word, quick and powerful, and sharper than any two- edged sword. Hath he hid - He will protect me from all mine enemies.”

He said to Me, “You are My Servant, Israel, in whom I will display My glory.”

“O Israel - As the name of David is sometimes given to his successors, so here the name of Israel may not unfitly be given to Christ, not only because he descended from his loins; but also because he was the true and the great…”

He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel.

“It is - This is but a small favour. The tribes - That remnant of them which shall survive all their calamities. My salvation - The great instrument and author of that eternal salvation which I will give to the Gentiles.”

This is what the LORD says: “In the time of favor I will answer You, and in the day of salvation I will help You; I will keep You and…

“Heard thee - Though not so as to deliver thee from death; yet so as to crown thee with glory and honour. For a covenant - To be the Mediator and surety of that covenant, which is made between me and them.”

to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They will feed along the pathways, and find pasture on every barren hill.

“Prisoners - To the Gentiles who are fast bound by the cords of their sins, and taken captive by the devil at his will. Go forth - Come forth to the light, receive divine illumination.”

Behold, they will come from far away, from the north and from the west, and from the land of Aswan.”

“Sinim - Either of the Sinites as they are called, Gen. x, 17, who dwelt about the wilderness. Or of Sin, a famous city of Egypt, which may be put for all Egypt, and that for all southern parts.”

Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has begotten these for me? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. So who has reared them?

“Who - Whence have I this numberless issue? Seeing - Seeing I was in a manner left childless. Desolate - Without an husband, being forsaken by God, who formerly owned himself for my husband.”

Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet.

“Lick the dust - They shall highly reverence and honour thee. These expressions are borrowed from the practice of the eastern people, who bowed so low as to touch the ground.”

Can the plunder be snatched from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be delivered?

“Shall the prey - Here is a double impediment to their deliverance, the power of the enemy who kept them in bondage, and the justice of God which pleads against their deliverance.”

This is what the LORD says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of My creditors did I sell you?

“Thus saith the Lord - The scope of this and the next chapter, is to vindicate God's justice and to convince the Jews that they were the causes of their own calamities.”

The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of discipleship, to sustain the weary with a word.

“Given me - This and the following passages may be in some sort understood of the prophet Isaiah, but they are far more evidently and eminently verified in Christ, and indeed seem to be meant directly of him.”

The One who vindicates Me is near. Who will dare to contend with Me? Let us confront each other! Who has a case against Me? Let him approach Me!

“Justifieth - God will clear up my righteousness, and shew by many and mighty signs and wonders, that I lived and died his faithful servant.”

Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of His Servant? Who among you walks in darkness and has no light?

“In darkness - Not in sin, but in misery, that lives in a disconsolate and calamitous condition.”

Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. When I called him, he was but one; then I blessed him and multiplied him.

“Him alone - To follow me to an unknown land: him only of all his kindred. Increased - Into a vast multitude, when his condition was desperate in the eye of reason.”

Pay attention to Me, My people, and listen to Me, My nation; for a law will go out from Me, and My justice will become a light to the nations…

“My people - Ye Jews, whom I chose to be my peculiar people. A law - A new law, even the doctrine of the gospel.”

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth below; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and its…

“The heavens - The heavens and earth shall pass away, in regard of their present state, and properties, and use, as smoak is said to vanish, tho' the substance of it be not destroyed.”

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.

“Therefore - This verse contains an answer to the prophet's prayer. I did these great things, and I will do the like again. Joy - Like a crown of glory.”

I have put My words in your mouth, and covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion…

“For God's word is frequently said to be put into the mouths, not only of the prophets, but of the people also.”

These pairs have befallen you: devastation and destruction, famine and sword. Who will grieve for you? Who can comfort you?

“So famine and sword are not named as new evils, but only as the particular ways of bringing the destruction. By whom - I cannot find any man who is able to comfort and relieve thee.”

Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street, like an antelope in a net.

“Fainted - They are so far from being able to comfort thee, that they themselves faint away. They lie - Dead by famine or the sword. As a bull - Those of them who are not slain are struggling for life.”

For this is what the Lord GOD says: “At first My people went down to Egypt to live, then Assyria oppressed them without cause.

“And yet when he oppressed them, I punished him severely, and delivered them out of his hands. The Assyrian - The king of Babylon, who is called the king of Assyria, 2 Kings xxiii, 29, as also the Persian emperor is called, Ezra vi, 22…”

Therefore My people will know My name; therefore they will know on that day that I am He who speaks. Here I am!”

“Shall know - They shall experience my power and goodness in fighting for them. In that day - When I shall redeem my people: which work was begun by the return of the Jews from Babylon, and perfected by the coming of the Messiah.”

Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, together they shout for joy. For every eye will see when the LORD returns to Zion.

“Lift up thy voice - To give notice to all people of these glad tidings; and by way of exultation, to sing forth the praises of God for this glorious day.”

Behold, My Servant will prosper; He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.

“My servant - That it is Christ who is here spoken of, is so evident, that the Chaldee paraphrast, and other ancient, and some later Hebrew doctors, understand it directly of him, and that divers Jews have been convinced and converted to the Christian faith…”

Just as many were appalled at Him—His appearance was disfigured beyond that of any man, and His form was marred beyond human likeness—

“His countenance also was so marred with frequent watchings, and fastings, and troubles, that he was thought to be near fifty years old when he was but about thirty, John viii, 57, and was farther spoiled with buffetings, and crowning with thorns, and other cruel…”