2 Open ye the gates, that enter may a righteous nation, Preserving stedfastness.
And opened have thy gates continually, By day and by night they are not shut, To bring unto thee the force of nations, Even their kings are led.
This `is' the gate to Jehovah, The righteous enter into it.
and ye `are' a choice race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people acquired, that the excellences ye may shew forth of Him who out of darkness did call you to His wondrous light;
praising God, and having favour with all the people, and the Lord was adding those being saved every day to the assembly.
And nations have seen thy righteousness, And all kings thine honour, And He is giving to thee a new name, That the mouth of Jehovah doth define.
And thy people `are' all of them righteous, To the age they possess the earth, A branch of My planting, A work of My hands, to be beautified.
and ye -- ye are to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation: these `are' the words which thou dost speak unto the sons of Israel.'
and they sing a new song, saying, `Worthy art thou to take the scroll, and to open the seals of it, because thou wast slain, and didst redeem us to God in thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation,
and for new heavens and a new earth according to His promise we do wait, in which righteousness doth dwell;
Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Yet come do peoples, and inhabitants of many cities,
And the gates of the city `are' according to the names of the tribes of Israel; three gates northward: the gate of Reuben one, the gate of Judah one, the gate of Levi one. And on the east side five hundred, and four thousand, and three gates: the gate of Joseph one, the gate of Benjamin one, the gate of Dan one. And the south side five hundred, and four thousand measures, and three gates: the gate of Simeon one, the gate of Issachar one, the gate of Zebulun one. The west side five hundred, and four thousand, their gates three: the gate of Gad one, the gate of Asher one, the gate of Naphtali one.
Then broken up as the dawn is thy light, And thy health in haste springeth up, Gone before thee hath thy righteousness, The honour of Jehovah doth gather thee.
To look on the good of Thy chosen ones, To rejoice in the joy of Thy nation, To boast myself with Thine inheritance.
and ye have kept and done `them' (for it `is' your wisdom and your understanding) before the eyes of the peoples who hear all these statutes, and they have said, Only, a people wise and understanding `is' this great nation. `For which `is' the great nation that hath God near unto it, as Jehovah our God, in all we have called unto him? and which `is' the great nation which hath righteous statutes and judgments according to all this law which I am setting before you to-day?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 26
Commentary on Isaiah 26 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 26
This chapter is a song of holy joy and praise, in which the great things God had engaged, in the foregoing chapter, to do for his people against his enemies and their enemies are celebrated: it is prepared to be sung when that prophecy should be accomplished; for we must be forward to meet God with our thanksgivings when he is coming towards us with his mercies. Now the people of God are here taught,
And this is written for the support and assistance of the faith and hope of God's people in all ages, even those upon whom the ends of the world have come.
Isa 26:1-4
To the prophecies of gospel grace very fitly is a song annexed, in which we may give God the glory and take to ourselves the comfort of that grace: In that day, the gospel day, which the day of the victories and enlargements of the Old-Testament church was typical of (to some of which perhaps this has a primary reference), in that day this song shall be sung; there shall be persons to sing it, and cause and hearts to sing it; it shall be sung in the land of Judah, which was a figure of the gospel church; for the gospel covenant is said to be made with the house of Judah, Heb. 8:8. Glorious things are here said of the church of God.
Isa 26:5-11
Here the prophet further encourages us to trust in the Lord for ever, and to continue waiting on him; for,
Isa 26:12-19
The prophet in these verses looks back upon what God had done with them, both in mercy and judgment, and sings unto God of both, and then looks forward upon what he hoped God would do for them. Observe,
Isa 26:20-21
These two verses are supposed not to belong to the song which takes up the rest of the chapter, but to begin a new matter, and to be rather an introduction to the following chapter than the conclusion of this. Of whereas, in the foregoing song, the people of God had spoken to him, complaining of their grievances, here he returns an answer to their complaints, in which,