26:1 In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: Our city is strong; salvation he has set up as walls and barricades! The land of Judah was the Promised Land. The Promised Land can be anywhere where the Lord's people are. They, too, are a city. They, too, are a single entity. They may be scattered in different parts of the earth, but they are a single entity. Ultimately, in the next world, there'll be one city, the city of God. "Our city is strong; salvation he has set up as walls and barricades." "Our city," that is, the city of the righteous. Not the wicked city that was turned into a heap of rubble. "Salvation he has set up as walls and barricades." It won't have highly-walled fortifications, like the wicked city did, that were all laid low by being razed to the ground. We had the Lord himself as our walls and barricades. "Salvation" is a metaphor describing the Lord himself. He was our walls, because protections is ultimately Divine. There is no other Divine protection, other than the Lord himself. So these people who were relying upon the Lord had their prayers answered, and the Lord saved them. 26:2–3 Open the gates to let in the nation righteous because it keeps faith. Those whose minds are steadfast, O Lord, thou preservest in perfect peace, for in thee they are secure. This is like saying, "This is our God whom we expected would save us." Their minds were steadfastly trusting in him, because they didn't waver, because they kept faith. They were righteous because they kept faith. Therefore, they were preserved. They form a nation of individuals who come from exile, coming from different directions of the earth in an exodus to Zion. They are let into the city of Zion, or the New Jerusalem, in that day. As they come in the exodus, protected by the Lord's cloud of glory, they enter the city. The gates there are opened to them by those who are already there. "Open the gates to let in the nation righteous, because it keeps faith." Again this shows the idea of those who are at home and those who are abroad. Those who are home welcome those who are abroad, at that time, and they become one people again, or one city. "Those whose minds are steadfast, thou preservest in perfect peace." Peace is a synonym of Salvation, in the book of Isaiah. The people are also preserved. In other words, preserved identifies the elect, in the book of Isaiah, like the city of Zion that's under siege that's preserved in chapter one, verse eight. The word, preserved, is used in various contexts in the book of Isaiah. The cross reference in chapter thirty-one, verse five says: "As birds hover over the nest, so will the Lord of Hosts guard Jerusalem. By protecting it he will deliver it. By passing over, preserve it." So he preserves it in a new Passover, as it were. In him, or "in thee, they are are secure." 26:4 Ever trust in the Lord, for the Lord Yah is an everlasting Rock. And the word, Rock, too, we have used as a metaphor of the Lord himself. "You have forgotten your God, your Salvation and not remembered the Rock, your fortress."(Isaiah 17:10) The Lord Yah is an everlasting Rock. In other words, a place of protection, something that stands firm through any destruction. You can trust in that. You can implicitly trust in that. Ever trust in the Lord, always. Don't let your faith waver. 26:5–6 He has put down the elite inhabitants of the exalted city by casting it to the ground, laying it even with the dust. It is trodden underfoot by the feet of the poor, by the footsteps of those impoverished. The elite inhabitants of the exalted city, again, are the inhabitants of the world in general, or the city, Babylon, the wicked city. Those who dwell in that city were the elite of the earth. And that is what happens in chapter two, also, where that which is lifted up, and that which is exalted, is cast to the ground, even with the dust. Again, they become a non-entity. They cease to exist, dust being a chaos motif. "Is trodden underfoot by the feet of the poor." The poor and the needy are those who survive, for whom the Lord is a refuge and a shelter from the downpour and from the heat. So the "poor" are his covenant people, "the footsteps of those impoverished." They were impoverished and now, as we'll see, the Lord replenishes them, and they are well provided for, and they become blessed and prosperous, in the Millennial time of peace. This is very similar to what Malachi says, where he says that, "Then shall ye discern between the righteous and the wicked, in that day between those who serve God, and those who serve him not." And he talks about the wicked being ashes under the feet of the righteous, because that's all that remains of the wicked in that day. If they are laid even with the dust, and they cease to exist, they've gone into the dust. 26:7–8 The path of the righteous is straight; thou pavest an undeviating course for the upright. In the very passage of thine ordinances we anticipate thee, O Lord; the soul's desire is to contemplate thy name. This is temple imagery, or rites of passage, that alludes to the ordinance in the temple. "In the very passage of thine ordinances we anticipate thee, O Lord; the soul's desire is to contemplate thy name." This is temple imagery, or rites of passage. That through ordinances conducted in the temple, people enter the presence of the Lord: "We anticipate thee, O Lord." The name of the Lord, when it is pronounced, brings one into the presence of the Lord. "The soul's desire is to contemplate thy name." Anciently, the High Priests of Israel went into the Holy of Holies and pronounced the name of God, on the day of atonement, then the Lord appeared to him. That has to do with temple ordinances. 26:9 My soul yearns for thee in the night; at daybreak my spirit within me seeks after thee. For when thine ordinances are on the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. These people are not the kind that just remember him only on Sundays, and go about their business on the rest of the days of the week, never thinking of him again. But these are the people who are contemplating and thinking of God all the time. Their whole lives revolve around their covenant Lord. "For when thine ordinances are on the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness." The ordinances bring one into the presence of God, whereas, the wicked inhabitants of the earth change the ordinances, and set at naught the covenant, and transgress the laws. The pure ordinances, the true ordinances, of the covenant make one righteous. When the ordinances are on the earth, the inhabitants of the Lord learn righteousness. They teach the ways of God. These rites of passage show one what's involved, how one enters the presence of God. They have to enter God's presence because when he comes to rule upon the earth, he will be there. And they will dwell in his presence. "Righteousness" is also a metaphor of the Lord's Servant. And that implies that when the Servant begins his mission, then will be the time when the ordinances will be restored in their purity, and people will be coming into the presence of the Lord, on a much larger scale than now, when everybody's making sure their callings and elections, at that time, in perhaps a much greater abundance than now. That will be necessary as a preparation for the coming of the Lord to the earth. 26:10 Though favor be shown the wicked, they will not learn righteousness; in a land of uprightness they remain perverse and see not the glory of the Lord. Now, the wicked don't follow this course, even though they're given the opportunity. Even though favor is shown them, they will not learn righteousness. They despise the ordinances of God, the temple, and his law and covenant. They refuse to have anything to do with him. And so, in that sense they remain perverse. Perverse is kind of a stubborn and stiffneckedness that's talked about, elsewhere, where the people are alienated from God. In a land of "uprightness," even when people around them are righteous and are doing as the Lord desires, they do not. They "see not the glory of the Lord." The words, "favor" and "righteousness," and perhaps, "glory," are pseudonyms of the Lord's Servant. He personifies righteousness, but they don't learn from him. They will not learn righteousness. Favor is shown to them, as he's shown to them, or as the Lord raises him up; they reject him. "Favor" is also a covenant term. It's a synonym of covenant, so the covenant of the Lord with his people is offered to them also; they may come in unto the covenant and become the Lord's people. But they choose not. 26:11 O Lord, thy hand is lifted up, but they perceive it not. Let them perceive with dismay thy zeal for thy people when the fire prepared for thine enemies consumes them. There are really two hands lifted up. One, the hand of deliverance-- which is the Lord's Servant, and the other, the hand of punishment-- which is the king of Assyria. There'll be a time before the destruction comes when both are fulfilling their missions upon the earth. On the one hand they are offered deliverance, and on the other hand they are offered destruction. And they don't perceive either one. They perceive it not. They don't perceive that they're about to be wiped out if they don't repent, or that they could be delivered, if they did repent. "Let them perceive, with dismay, thy zeal for thy people, when the fire prepared for thine enemies consumes them." The fire prepared for his enemies is the king of Assyria. He personifies the fire; he is the fire that consumes the enemies of God. And since they have numbered themselves among God's enemies, the king of Assyria will have power over them, to burn them up. The zeal for his people could again be the king of Assyria, or it could be the Lord's Servant, either one. The Lord's zeal for his people is to deliver them from their enemies, by destroying their enemies, or by delivering them from destruction. 26:12 O Lord, thou bringest about our peace; even all that we have accomplished thou hast done for us. So, while the wicked are being burned and destroyed, like at the Flood that took everybody away except Noah and those in the ark, so he brings about the peace or salvation—salvation into a Millennial peace-- for the righteous, "our peace." But what did these righteous say when they survived? Did they say, "Well, we were righteous, so we survived!" No. They said, "Even all that we have accomplished thou hast done for us." They viewed their own nothingness, but they had no power to deliver themselves. Let the Lord deliver them. And their righteousness is really his righteousness. 26:13 O Lord, our God, lords other than thou have ruled over us, but thee alone we recall by name. "O Lord, our God--" our covenant God--" lords other than thou have ruled over us." In other words, wicked lords, or human lords. "But thee alone we recall by name." They recall him by name because they know his name. They meditate upon his name, and they recall his name, and they enter his presence. 26:14 They are dead, to live no more, spirits who will not rise up; thou appointest them to destruction, wiping out all recollection of them. The wicked-- including these Lord's and rulers-- die, never to be resurrected. In verse nineteen he talks about the resurrection of the righteous. He says, first of all, that these will not rise up—that is, from the dust. The words, rise up are used in the sense of rising from the dust, in the book of Isaiah. Zion arises from the dust, to sit upon her throne, and so forth. "Thou appointest them" is used in the book of Isaiah, of the Lord's Servant who's appointed as a Deliverer. But here, the wicked are appointed to destruction. All recollection of them is wiped out. 26:15 Thou hast enlarged the nation, O Lord, and by enlarging it gained glory for thyself; thou hast withdrawn all borders in the earth. How did the Lord enlarge all the borders of the earth? He did it by destroying the wicked at the hands of the Assyrians who conquered the whole world. It was the Assyrians who did away with the borders of all nations: "I have done away with the borders of nations," (Isaiah 10:13) It is the king of Assyria who is speaking. And so when the Assyrians conquered the world, they made into one world, as it were. And then, when the Assyrians themselves are destroyed, the Lord's people regain the earth, reconquer the world on behalf of the Lord, for the Lord's sake. It's like Cyrus conquered Babylon; that's the type that Isaiah uses. And so that what we end up with is a situation where the Lord is in charge, now, of the whole earth. And he's withdrawn all the borders in the earth. The whole earth has become the Lord's, in that way. It became the Lord's when the people of God reconquered it. Just like the Israelites conquered the land of Canaan, so they reconquer the earth from the Assyrians. Now you may say, "That's not fair, because the Assyrians did it." Yes, but the Assyrians did it because of the wickedness of the inhabitants of the world, so they brought that upon themselves. Now the Lord's people conquer it from the Assyrians and deliver the inhabitants of the earth that survive. In that way the whole earth becomes the Lord's. All its lands become Promised lands. "Thou hast enlarged the nation, O Lord, and by enlarging it, gained glory for thyself," just as he did when the Israelites came out of Egypt. "Thou hast withdrawn all the borders in the earth." The nation that is enlarged implies that to the Lord's covenant people are joined all those who are left, out there in the earth, who are the more righteous part of the people of the earth who survived, who are the covenant people of the Lord. First of all, the elect—the holy and valiant ones, whom the Lord protects directly, during that time of destruction—and also those who are not wicked, per se, who survive because they were the somewhat more righteous part of the people of the earth. It is only the wicked who are destroyed. And it is only the elect, or holy ones, who receive direct, Divine, protection. There are those out there who survive, nevertheless. And that's how the nation of the Lord's people is enlarged. They now become one people of God. They may remain different nations, or ethnic groups, but the nation of the covenant people of God are enlarged by them becoming, at least, if not primary citizens, at least secondary citizens in the kingdom of God, in the Millennium. 26:16 O Lord, in their distress they remembered thee; they poured out silent prayers when thy chastisements were upon them. That is, the people in the earth. When the destruction began, they began to think of their Maker, and to forsake their idols, and to repent, and so forth. They poured out silent prayers, perhaps because if they poured out open, and public prayers, they were put to death. Their prayers had to be silent, when God's chastisements were upon them, chastisement at the hand of the Assyrians. If an Israelite, in bondage, was caught praying to God, he was whipped or put to death by the Egyptians. So, doubtless, will it be with the Assyrians. 26:17 As a woman about to give birth cries out from her pangs during labor, so were we at thy presence, O Lord. The whole world goes into labor, and the people of God go into labor. "At thy presence" because the presence of the Lord, the coming of the Lord, was near, at that time. 26:18 We were with child; we have been in labor, but have brought forth only wind. We have not wrought salvation in the earth, that the inhabitants of the world might not fall. The woman, Zion, goes into labor, in chapter sixty-six, and brings forth a Deliverer, and he delivers the woman, Zion; he delivers the people of God. And these people had no deliverer. These were not the elect. But, nor were they the wicked. "We were with child; we have been in labor, but have brought forth only wind." So their labor didn't produce anything. They were not valiant and they were not holy. They were not consecrated to the service of God. "We have not wrought salvation in the earth, that the inhabitants of the world might not fall." All the inhabitants of the earth fell; the wicked all fell. We could have saved some of them, but we didn't. How could we have saved them? By saving ourselves, first of all, by being valiant and keeping covenant with God, by consecrating our life to the service of our fellowmen and women. But we didn't do that. And then by teaching the law of the covenant to the world, they could have all come into the covenant and received Divine protection. But we didn't perform our labors on their behalf. We were not valiant. We have not wrought salvation. Salvation is also a metaphor describing the Lord himself. So we have not brought the Lord to them, to the inhabitants of the earth. So they fall. Another translation is, " that they might not abort." Many peoples who came into mortality have aborted their stays on the earth, needlessly. 26:19 Yet shall thy dead live when their bodies arise. Thou wilt say to them, Awake, and sing for joy, you who abide in the dust: your dew is the dew of sunrise! For the earth shall cast up its dead. "Yet shall thy dead--"that is, the righteous people of the earth, whether they're valiant and holy, or the elect, or whether they're not valiant and not holy, but nevertheless, not wicked, either--"Yet shall thy dead live when their bodies arise." As Paul says, some will inherit a glory like unto the sun, and some like the glory of the moon, and some like the glory of the stars. They will all arise. Except those Perdition types, mentioned in verse fourteen, who will not rise. They are dead, to live no more; their spirits will not rise up. "Yet shall thy dead live when their bodies arise. Thou wilt say to them, Awake and sing for joy, you who abide in the dust: your dew is the dew of sunrise! For the earth shall cast up its dead." So the dead rise from the dust, from being a non-entity, physically, to being an entity again, a resurrected entity. When? At the sunrise. When is that? At the dawning of the Millennium. "Your dew is as the dew of sunrise." Dew is also assertive of youth, vigor, and fertility. So they will rise up in their youth, in their fertility, in their full stature. The earth shall cast up its dead. In spite of the graphic description here, "shall thy dead live when their bodies arise," many scholars say that resurrection doesn't appear in the Old Testament. 26:20–21 Come, O my people, enter your chambers and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves a little while until the wrath is past. For now will the Lord come out of his dwelling place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquities; the earth will uncover the blood shed upon it and no more conceal its slain. So, during the time of judgment the people go into their chambers, which is very much like the Passover in Egypt. Remember? People went into their chambers and shut the door, and they put the blood of the lamb on the lintels of the door, and the angel of death passed over them. That's very similar, here: "Enter your chambers. Shut the door behind you, my people—my covenant people. Hide yourselves a little while, until the wrath is past. "Wrath" is the day of judgment. It's a metaphor that describes the king of Assyria who personifies God's wrath. So, during his work of destruction, stay behind closed doors. Who? Which group of people is being talked about? Not the wicked whom he has power over to destroy. It says, "my people." But since the Lord's people go on an exodus to Zion, or to the New Jerusalem, this could be a particular reference to the middle group, the ones who live through that time and have to live in holes and dens, it says elsewhere, and somehow survive. The Lord makes provision to deliver all of the elect, by his direct, Divine, intervention. Only the elect go on the exodus, the holy ones. He calls them the holy ones, and valiant ones. So those who are not holy and not valiant may have to hide themselves during that time when the king of Assyria does his destruction. And in that way they will survive. But not by the Lord being a shelter and a refuge for them, with the shade of cloud. This is a second way that people survive. Then those people who survive out there, who don't participate on the exodus, under the Lord's protection of the cloud of glory, then they, too, are gathered out from among the nations of the world, after it's all over. But didn't have the privilege of participating in the pilgrimage trek back to Zion.