Song of Trust in God’s Protection
1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; He sets up salvation as walls and ramparts.
2 “Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter, The One that [1]remains faithful and trustworthy.
3 “You will keep in [2]perfect andconstant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both [3]inclination and character],
Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].
4 “Trust [confidently] in the Lord forever [He is your fortress, your shield, your banner], for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].
5 “For He has thrown down the [arrogant] ones who dwell on high, the lofty and inaccessible city; He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He hurls it to the dust.
6 “The foot will trample it, even the feet of the suffering, and the steps of the helpless.”
7 The way of the righteous [those in right-standing with God—living in moral and spiritual integrity] is smooth and level; O Upright One, make a level path for the just and righteous.
8 Indeed, in the path of Your judgments, O Lord, we have waited expectantly for You; Your name, even Your memory, is the desire and deep longing of our souls.
9 In the night my soul longs for You [O Lord], indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; for [only] when Your judgments are experienced on the earth will the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10 Though the wicked is shown compassion and favor, He does not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness he deals unjustly, and refuses to see the majesty of the Lord.
11 Though Your hand is lifted up [to strike], O Lord, the wicked do not see it. Let them see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame; indeed, let the fire reserved for Your enemies consume them.
12 Lord, You will establish peace for us, since You have also performed for us all that we have done.
13 O Lord our God, other masters besides You have ruled over us; but through You alone we confess Your name.
14 The [wicked] dead will not live [again], the spirits of the dead will not rise and return; therefore You have punished and destroyed them, and You have wiped out every memory of them [every trace of them].
15 You have increased the nation, O Lord; You have increased the nation, You are glorified; You have extended all the borders of the land.
16 O Lord, they sought You in distress; they managed only a prayerful whisper when Your discipline was upon them.
17 As a woman with child approaches the time to give birth, she is in pain and struggles and cries out in her labor, so we were before You, O Lord.
18 We have been with child, we have twisted and struggled in labor; we gave birth, as it seems, only to wind. We could not accomplish salvation for the earth, nor were inhabitants of the world [4]born.
19 Your dead will live; [5] their dead bodies will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy! For your dew is a dew of [celestial] light [heavenly, supernatural], and the earth will give birth to the spirits of the dead.
20 Come, my people, enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you; hide for a little while until the [Lord’s] [6]wrath is past.
21 Listen carefully, the Lord is about to come out of His [heavenly] place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing]; the earth will reveal the [innocent] blood shed upon her and will no longer cover her slain.
Isaiah 26:1-21
Footnotes
- Isaiah 26:2 Lit keeps trustworthiness.
- Isaiah 26:3 Lit peace, peace, a Hebrew idiom of emphasis.
- Isaiah 26:3 The Hebrew word for inclination became a technical term in Jewish tradition, and the rabbis frequently referred to the “evil inclination” much in the same sense as the sin nature. They also recognized a “good inclination,” which the righteous choose to follow, and urged people to make their good inclination king over the evil inclination.
- Isaiah 26:18 Lit fallen.
- Isaiah 26:19 So with some ancient versions; MT reads My dead body.
- Isaiah 26:20 Lit curse.
Unapologetically Marcia 