Bible Commentary

Isaiah 41:17-20

The Pulpit Commentary on Isaiah 41:17-20

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

The crowning promise is that of spiritual support and refreshment through' the dull and dreary time of the Captivity, during which Israel dwells as it were in a desert, without water, or shade, or the relief to the eye which is furnished by the greenery of trees and shrubs.

God was able to make of this "wilderness a standing water, and water-springs of the dry ground" (), and he promises to do so (). The soul that longs for him, that thirsts after him, feeling that it dwells "in a barren and dry land, where no water is" (), shall be relieved and satisfied by a revelation of God's presence, and an outpouring of his grace unusually copious and abundant.

God's grace is shadowed out under the two similitudes of water and verdure, as in , and, to some extent, in .

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