Isaiah 51:14 says, The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail. Isaiah said that the captive in exile hurried to try to be released so that he would not die in the pit or of starvation. We are captive in the pit of sin and dying of spiritual starvation until we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, but we should never want to die there. God will always be calling us out of the pit if we only listen to His call.
Verse fifteen adds, But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The Lord of hosts is his name. God reminded them once again that He was the only God and that He was their God as long as they continued to put their faith in Him, and that He had delivered them in the past by parting the sea as they left Egypt. He is still the only God, and He will deliver us from the power of sin and death if we put our faith in His only begotten Son Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. If we already have, and life seems to be getting very tough, we simply need to remember that just as God delivered us in the past, He has already delivered spiritually us to everlasting life with Him forever.
Verse sixteen continues, And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people. Matthew Henry says this refers to Isaiah and all the prophets of God, but specifically refers to Jesus Christ, the great Prophet. The other prophets could point people to God, but only Jesus Christ, the Living Word, could save them. Since God is the One Who created it all, we can put our faith in Him to redeem us and keep us spiritually safe forever. Of course, this has to begin by putting our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.
Verse seventeen states, Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out. God called on the people of Israel to awaken spiritually. They had been drinking the dregs of God’s goodness because of their disobedience, but God was calling on them to return to Him in obedience and enjoy the Living Water once more. Whatever we may be putting our faith in other than God will leave us drinking the dregs of life instead of enjoying the Living Water.
Verse eighteen adds, There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up. Isaiah said that there was no earthly ruler to lead the people of Israel. It was a sad state of affairs for there to be no one among God’s chosen people to lead them spiritually to walk in His ways. It is not enough if we have church buildings on every corner if we don’t have people inside who understand and obey God’s word, from the preacher on down.
Verse nineteen continues, These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee? Isaiah said that God had two things to say about what was happening to the people of Israel at that time. First, desolation and destruction were coming to them, as well as famine and the sword, and second it was because of their failing to obey God. Since their disobedience led them to this state, then God asked them who was going to have pity or mercy on them. The world certainly wouldn’t, but fortunately for them, God did. If we find no relief from dire situations in our life today from the people of the world, if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we are already living under the mercy of God, and that is what really matters.
Verse twenty says, Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy God. Isaiah said that the sons of the people of Israel had fainted and were lying at the heads of the streets helpless. He also said they were like a wild bull in a net, trying to escape but only making things worse as they did. When we turn away from God, we are helpless, and if we try to get ourselves out of a bad situation, it may be that the more we struggle, the worse things become. The people then needed to turn to God for guidance and help, and so must we today, even before we find ourselves in trouble.
Verse twenty-one adds, Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine: Isaiah called on the people to hear what God had to say to them. We, as Christians, need to always hear what God has to say to us. Isaiah said that they were like drunken people, but they weren’t drunk on wine, which can inhibit a person’s ability to think. If we are not relying on the Holy Spirit to guide us today, we are no more effective in doing the right thing than one who is drunk on wine is.
Verse twenty-two continues, Thus saith thy Lord the Lord, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again: Isaiah said that the Lord had taken the cup of fury out of their hand and that they would no longer drink from it. Because of their disobedience, God had allowed them to suffer, but now that they had repented and returned to following Him, He would bring them comfort. As followers of Christ, if we have strayed away from obeying Him, He stands ready to forgive and restore us if we repent and turn to Him once more. Until we do, we should be trembling in fear. If we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, then we will always be one of His children, but if we are disobedient to Him, we should tremble at His judgment of our actions. Though forgiven, we will one day have to answer for our disobedience after we have been saved.
Verse twenty-three concludes, But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over. Isaiah said that they had bowed down physically to their captors, but not spiritually. We may at times need to comply with man-made laws, even ones we may not agree with, but if they don’t contradict God’s laws, that is okay, unless we allow complying to become more important than our faith in Jesus Christ. Sometimes, the choice may be life threatening, and if it is, we must choose to remain faithful to God. God will one day deal with those who oppress His people, so we don't need to worry about it.