Below are some preliminary questions to assist in the study of this passage. For a comprehensive study of the passage, download the Study Guide (PDF download).
1. What does Isaiah desire for the Lord to do and why? See Isaiah 26:8-9 (printed below)
Yes, O Jehovah, we wait for you to come by way of your judgments; because your name, your memorial name, is the desire of our soul. (9) My soul yearns for you in the night; indeed, my spirit within me seeks you diligently; for when your judgments come upon the earth the people of the world learn righteousness. (Isaiah 26:8-9)
Speaking on behalf of the whole body of Christ, Isaiah testifies, “O Jehovah, we wait for you to come by way of your judgments” (verse 8a). Note: the Hebrew term translated “judgments” is here used in the sense of God’s acts of justice. The people of God wait for their righteous Lord to enact His judgments upon the earth, this statement is similar to the prayer found in Revelation 6:9-10. Isaiah goes on to explain the reason for this longing to see God exerting Himself with works of righteous judgment: “because your name, your memorial name, is the desire of our soul” (verse 8b). The Christian’s desire is for the Lord—for His presence, His fellowship, His salvation, and that His name be glorified. The Christian’s desire is for the Lord to come and work on behalf of His people and for His name’s sake.
2. What will be the fate of the Lord’s adversaries (see Isaiah 26:11 printed below) and what assurance does Isaiah express with regard to the Lord’s people (see Isaiah 26:12 printed below?)
Jehovah, your hand is lifted up against them, but they do not see it—but they shall see your zeal for your people and be put to shame; indeed, fire will consume your adversaries. (Isaiah 26:11)
Jehovah, you will ordain peace for us, for you have produced all our works for us. (Isaiah 26:12)
Isaiah now goes on to declare, “Jehovah, your hand is lifted up against them…indeed, fire will consume your adversaries” (verse 11). Isaiah is made to see that the Lord, indeed, is poised and ready to administer His justice: His hand is lifted up and ready to strike; and when He does act, fire will consume his adversaries. Becoming acutely aware of that approaching day of judgment, and that even now the Lord’s righteous judgment is suspended over the world, Isaiah—no doubt feeling a sense of anxiety, knowing that he, too, is a sinner—gains personal assurance from the Lord’s grace and faithfulness: “Jehovah, you will ordain peace for us; for you have produced all our works for us” (verse 12). Isaiah expresses the assurance that the Lord will ordain peace for us—i.e.; even as the Lord pronounces final condemnation upon the world of unrepentant mankind, those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice accomplished upon the cross of Calvary shall find the Lord ministering His divine peace to us. Note: this assurance does not find its origin in the Christian’s own works or character, but rather in the fact that the Lord has produced all our works for us—i.e.; the Lord Himself has provided and accomplished all that we need to obtain peace and fellowship with Himself (note Ephesians 2:8-10).
3. What confessions does Isaiah make in verse 13 (printed below?)
O Jehovah, our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us; but by you alone will we remember your name. (Isaiah 26:13)
Isaiah, and every Christian, acknowledges that the Lord is our God, and makes the confession: “O Jehovah our God” (verse 13a). We rejoice that we belong to the Lord and recognize Him as the rightful Lord of our lives (note 1 Corinthians 6:19b-20). But there also comes the regretful admission: “other lords besides you have ruled over us” (verse 13b). On a political level, here is a reference to the nation’s subjugation by foreign powers as a judgment for their sins—the people who had been called to dwell in the Lord’s Promised Land and have the Lord their God as their King, often times in their history found themselves subject to foreign, pagan powers. On a deeper, spiritual level, here is a reference to the nation’s awful submission to sin and idolatry when they should have been in submission to the Lord their God.
4. How does Isaiah portray himself and the rest of God’s people in verse 17 (printed below?) What does he regretfully acknowledge in verse 18 (printed below?)
Like a pregnant woman who is about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so have we been in your presence, O Jehovah. (Isaiah 26:17)
We were pregnant, we writhed in pain, but we gave birth to nothing but wind—we have not brought salvation to the earth, neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen before us. (Isaiah 26:18)
In verse 17 Isaiah portrays himself—and the church—as a pregnant woman drawing near to the time of her delivery. But, regretfully, no child is delivered: “We were pregnant, we writhed in pain, but we gave birth to nothing but wind” (verse 18a). There has been the pain and labor involved in childbirth, but there has been no fruit! Now, dropping the imagery and speaking in straightforward language, Isaiah admits, “We have not brought salvation to the earth.” That is to say, we have failed to bring the kingdom of heaven to the earth, causing it to supplant the kingdom of darkness. Furthermore, “neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen before us.” We have not conquered the world for Christ; we have not seen the world converted to Christ.
5. What words of assurance does the Lord speak in verse 19 (printed below?)
Your dead shall live; their corpses shall rise. Wake up and shout for joy, you who lie in the dust, for your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth shall give birth to the dead. (Isaiah 26:19)
At this point the Lord Himself speaks, He proclaims to us the assurance of resurrection life: “Your dead shall live; their corpses shall rise. Wake up and shout for joy, you who lie in the dust; for your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth shall give birth to the dead” (verse 19). Although we ourselves are spiritually powerless and unable to advance the kingdom of God, the Lord assures us that He will exert His divine, omnipotent power on our behalf in order to accomplish His good purpose (note Zechariah 4:6).
