Isaiah 57 (v15-18)

It is likely that what Isaiah describes here took place in the reign of Manasseh.  The righteous perished and no one cared (v1).  Manasseh shed much innocent blood, filling Jerusalem from one end to the other (2 Ki. 21:16).  Idolatry in Judah sank to unimaginable depths, including the sacrifice of children (v5).  Again, Manasseh sacrificed children to Molech in the valley of Hinnom on the southern end of the city (2 Chron. 33:6).  The idolatry of the surrounding nations included sexual immorality, often employing male and female prostitutes as part of the temple service.  Shiny, smooth stones were part of determining the will of the gods (v6).  

The one good thing that God could say about the righteous, who were unjustly persecuted, was that at least they would be at rest (v2).  They would not be around when the judgment of God’s wrath would fall on the nation.  At the same time, there would be no rest for the wicked (v21).  Those who did not fear God (v11) would find their idols useless when judgment came (v12-13).  

But those who trust in God will prosper.  A highway will be built for His people to return to Him (v14).  Though they are the despised minority, the almighty God will dwell with those who have humbled themselves (v15).  God promises a day when those who have been beaten down (they perished and no one cared) will be revived in their humble spirits.  Again He speaks words of lovingkindness: “I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry” (v16).

There is a wonderful truth in vs.17-18: God will “heal the backslider.”  The backslider, being judged by God, would finally humble himself, turning from his sin to trust in God.  The Apostle Paul made a similar declaration about our Lord in Rom. 4:5: He “justifies the ungodly.”  Note the entire verse: “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.”  

Isa. 57:17-18 and Rom. 4:5 fit perfectly together.  The one who “works” so that he can be righteous before God is the one who is proud.  He does not recognize that he is unable to be righteous.  But the one who believes in Christ is the one who is of a humble and contrite spirit.  He realizes that he is a sinner and unworthy of God’s salvation and righteousness.  He comes to God empty-handed, dependent on the grace of God.

This was illustrated in a parable of Christ (Lk. 18:9-14).  Two men prayed at the temple.  The Pharisee thanked God for how good he, the Pharisee, was.  The tax collector could not even raise his head but could only say, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.”  Jesus proclaimed that the one who was contrite went to his house that day justified.  Truly, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart – these, O God, You will not despise” (Ps. 51:17).

Isaiah 56 (v6-8)

Psalm 15 begins with and answers the question, “Who may abide in Your tabernacle?  Who may dwell in Your holy hill?”  This is an important question in Judaism because the Law of Moses did exclude certain ones from entrance to the temple (Deut. 23:1-8).  There were exclusions that applied to, among others, foreigners and “he who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation” (Dt. 23:1).  

In the New Testament not only were people excluded from the temple; there was a maze of statutes that kept the Jews from any unnecessary contact with “undesirables” (esp. Gentiles/foreigners; Acts 10:28).  It is quite likely that what was going on in Jesus’ day was happening in the days of Isaiah.

In the previous chapter God called everyone to come to Him, to seek Him, and to turn from their sin.  Now the prophet speaks to some who considered themselves to be outcasts (v2).  They too were welcome to God’s righteousness and salvation (v1).  As in Psalm 15, the faith of those who would come to the temple would be evident in the lives they lived (v2,6).  Thus, “the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, ‘Yet I will gather to him others besides those who are gathered to him’” (v8).  Solomon had anticipated the nations in worship at the temple (1 Ki. 8:41-43).  So did Jesus when He said, “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:16).

You may remember that Jesus quoted Isa. 56:7: “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations” (Luke 19:45).  He said this when He cleansed the temple upon arrival at Jerusalem for the final time before His death.  What Jesus did and said on that occasion helps us understand the beginning (v1-8) and end (v9-12) of Isa. 56.  Some people think there is a sudden change in topics that defies reason.  In fact the sections fit together of necessity.  

The “shepherds of Israel” were charged with defining and applying the Law for the Nation (Matt. 23:1-3).  They enforced the rules of the temple, excluding anyone they saw as unfit. There came a time when they excluded any who followed Christ (John 9:22).  Yet they permitted onto the temple mount itself the crooks and swindlers that were part of the Passover business, making great amounts of money off people’s worship.  Thus Jesus’ use of Isa. 56:7 also invoked the condemnation of 56:9-12.  Those unworthy shepherds were blind watchmen, lazy and greedy drunks.

Let us not forget.  Heaven itself has a magnificent wall that is exclusionary (Rev. 22:14-15; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Matt. 7:21-23).  But the invitation to that city is open to all.  “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heaven laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).  “I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).  “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters” (Isa. 55:1).

Psalm 119:73-80

1 Peter 4:19 says “Let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.”  That is what the Psalmist is doing in this stanza.

There are times when our response to affliction seems to question whether or not God knows what He is doing.  In fact, any time people ask, “How can a loving God do this or that”, they cast doubt that God is the Creator.  The Creator should know better than to allow wrongful treatment of those He has made (v78).  

Sometimes when people hear this charge made against God they defend God by denying He had anything to do with the affliction.  But that is not the case with the Psalmist.  He affirms, God’s judgments have been right as He has afflicted the believer (v75).

Some may think that this presents God as harsh or cruel, but such is not the case.  It is this faith in a faithful Creator that gives rise to the 5 requests prayed in vs. 76-80.

·        76: he prays that the Creator will be faithful to His word, and will thus be mercifully kind to His servant.  Unlike the gods men devise, the faithful Creator not only afflicts us; He can be counted on to comfort us so we are benefitted.

·        77: he prays that the tender mercies of the Creator will enable him to live.  He knows our need and thus afflicts us accordingly.  But He also knows our limitations and is the cause of comfort and mercy.  (1 Cor. 10:13 and 1 John 1:9 are 2 of many examples of the way God shows mercy in affliction.)

·        78: he prays that the proud, who are used by God in the affliction, will come to be ashamed of their actions.

·       79: he prays to be surrounded by those who fear God rather than by the proud.

·       80: he prays that in his trial he will not be ashamed by disobedience or failure to learn God’s statutes.

All these requests are based in the thought that God is our faithful Creator in time of trial.  In this way we are like our Lord Jesus Christ Who, when suffering on the cross, “committed Himself to Him who judged righteously” (1 Peter 2:23).  

 God made you.  He knows you.  He is faithful in your affliction!