NOTES for Isa 32:1-20

¹Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.

²And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

³And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.

⁴The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.

⁵The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.

⁶For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

⁷The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.

⁸But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.

⁹Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.

¹⁰Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.

¹¹Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.

¹²They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.

¹³Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:

¹⁴Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;

¹⁵Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.

¹⁶Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.

¹⁷And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.

¹⁸And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;

¹⁹When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.

²⁰Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.

After the catastrophes provoked by sinners, the centuries-old dream of every nation for just government will finally come true. People will acknowledge over themselves the authority of the One who alone can be the true King, and the princes appointed by Him will become bearers of righteousness. But how often subjects who dream of good rulers do not want to look at themselves.

Yet the triumph of justice presupposes not only a one-sided “restoration of order” by those who are placed over the “ordinary” people—in reality it is clear that no one is simple, quite apart from the fact that some kinds of simplicity are worse than theft—but also that the subjects themselves follow the paths of righteousness. And this can come about; we need only keep our eyes and ears open to the commandments that the Lord offers us. But how much easier it is to live when we can blame everything on the authorities who prevent us from living and acting righteously!

But the Lord holds each one of us to account. It is very convenient to point deceitfully at circumstances, but that trick will not work with Him. He is merciful, but His love for us is also expressed in what He demands of us.

Other notes

For Isa 32:1-20