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Isaiah 26:1-18

The Pulpit Commentary on Isaiah 26:1-18

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

Thanksgiving the employment of the saints in bliss.

The prophet, in this sublime passage of his prophecy, carries us with him within the veil, and reveals to us the very words, or, at the least, the general tone and tenor of utterances, which the saints make when they have passed from earth to heaven, and stand in the very presence of God. The words are, as we should have expected, mainly words of praise and thanksgiving. The saints praise God—

I. FOR THE BLESSINGS OF THEIR ACTUAL STATE, which is

II. FOR HIS MERCIES IN THE PAST.

(a) deliverance from the malice of their foes;

(b) direction of their own paths;

(c) chastisements which brought them back to God when they were straying from his ways.

III. FOR HIS GLORIOUS ATTRIBUTES. E.g. "Jehovah is everlasting Strength" (); He is "the Upright One" (), fall of "majesty" () and "glory" (); he is all-powerful (, , ), all-gracious (, , ), a sure Refuge in trouble (). While the occupation of the saints in the heavenly sphere is mainly to praise God, they also confess before him

It is remarkable that the confession of weakness is that with which the song ends. Must we not conclude that humanity, brought into the presence of God, is at first penetrated by no feeling so much as by a sense of its own utter powerlessness and nothingness? "Lord, what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" (), is the cry that rises to man's lips instinctively. Later on, he may forget self, and be absorbed in the contemplation of the High and Holy One, and be content to hymn ceaselessly the Revelation songs, "Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb" (); "Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God forever and ever. Amen" (); "Great and are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints" (). Happy for him when self-consciousness disappears, and God is to him "All in all!"

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