Isaiah 2:17

And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down,.... This, with what follows in this verse, is repeated for the confirmation and certainty of it; and also for the further explanation of what is before figuratively and metaphorically expressed. See Gill on Isa 2:11. Jarchi interprets "that day", here spoken of, of the day of judgment; and then indeed every tongue shall confess, whether they will or not, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, Php 2:11.

Behold every one that is proud, and abase him; then will I also confess unto thee. It is likewise for the honour of his justice. Proud men stand in competition with God, who is jealous for his own glory, and will not suffer men either to take to themselves or give to another that which is due to him only.

Their friends shall desert them; their enemies shall destroy them; so that, one way or other, an utter riddance shall be made of them. The vanity of false gods; they cannot secure themselves, so far are they from being able to secure their worshippers. The victory of the true God over them; for great is the truth and will prevail.

THIS is the case when God visits a nation with terrible judgments. When the Jews were led away captive into Babylon, the great men of the land were bound in chains and treated as common slaves. And as they marched across the weary wilderness, the iron entered into their souls. Then was the loftiness of their spirit bowed down and the haughtiness of the king and the princes, who laughed at the Prophet, was laid low. So also when God is pleased to send famine upon a land, then again man has to humble himself.

THIS is the case when God visits a nation with terrible judgments. When the Jews were led away captive into Babylon, the great men of the land were bound in chains and treated as common slaves. And as they marched across the weary wilderness, the iron entered into their souls. Then was the loftiness of their spirit bowed down and the haughtiness of the king and the princes, who laughed at the Prophet, was laid low. So also when God is pleased to send famine upon a land, then again man has to humble himself. It is not easy to say, "I am my own. Who is Lord over me?" when the barn is empty and when the wine vats no longer burst with new wine. Famine is a wondrous leveler—and when the king of Samaria went through his straitened cities—where women had eaten their own children in the straitness of the siege, I think there was none brought so low as the king—none so humbled as the highest and none so base as the haughtiest! It is so, too, when pestilence comes. With equal foot, it kicks at the door both of the palace and of the cottage. Then the prince must mourn because his first-born dies—and majesty must sit in weeds when desolation is in the palace. God has wondrous ways of making men feel that they are but dust, but when nothing else can serve His turn He will sweep whole dynasties away, as men remove an anthill when it has become a nuisance. Yes, He will shake mighty nations, and make "eternal cities," as they were called, only to stand as the memorials and the wrecks of greatness! The Lord, in all the works of Providence hitherto, if you analyze the pages of history, you will find has been constantly bringing down high looks and making the haughtiness of man to be humbled.