Isaiah 26:9 says, With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Isaiah said that he desired God in the night and then early in the morning. I believe that this means that Isaiah continually sought to be in fellowship with God. We likewise need to always desire to be in fellowship with God at all times. Isaiah then added that when the judgments of people were based on following God’s law that all the earth would learn His righteousness. This should be our desire, though it will never happen in this lifetime.
Verse ten adds, Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord. Though God showed His mercy to the wicked, the sinners, they would not walk in obedience to Him by learning about His righteousness. They would continue to deal unjustly with others and would not behold the majesty of God. Even if we are a Christian nation, which I don’t personally think we can call ourselves anymore, there will always be those who refuse to believe in God and acknowledge His majesty.
Verse eleven continues, Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them. Isaiah said that God had lifted up His hand to give the wicked warning of the danger of continuing to deny or defy Him. They would not see what should be evident to them, but Isaiah said there was coming a day when God would make them see, but it would be too late to do them any good. Those who refuse to see Who God is in this life will one day see Him clearly, but it will be too late to accept His mercy shown to everyone when He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for their sins.
Verse twelve states, Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. Isaiah said that God would ordain peace to His people, and we as His people, those who are followers of Christ, should be at peace in our lives today. This doesn’t mean that everything is always peaceful in our lives with those around us, but that we should be spiritually at peace even if our life is in turmoil. We aren’t promised that we will never be persecuted and suffer because of our faith, but we still should always be at peace in our soul. We also must acknowledge that any good that we do as Christians is because God empowers us to do it.
Verse thirteen adds, O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. Isaiah said that even though the people of Judah had often been under the power of rulers of other nations that only God had the right to rule them and that they should give their allegiance to Him. Still, they found themselves in this situation because they refused to be obedient to God and His commandments. As followers of Christ, we should never put our faith in any earthly ruler, but we should always be obedient to God alone.
Verse fourteen continues, They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish. Isaiah reminded the people of Judah that their enemies of the past were dead and forgotten. Those who oppose God and His people, no matter how powerful they may be, will one day be dead and forgotten. Even if they are remembered, they will no longer have power over anyone. Our ruler as Christians, Jesus Christ, will never be dead and forgotten, since His power is forever. Only those with our names written in the Book of Life will be remembered, and even then, it will not be because of what we have done, but it will be because of what Jesus Christ did for us when He died for our sins.
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