Isa. 33 The destruction of the enemies of the church; who are derided, Isa. 33:1–13; which terrifieth the sinners in Zion, Isa. 33:14. The safety and privileges of the godly, Isa. 33:15–24.

Woe to thee that spoilest! to Sennacherib, who wasted the land of Judah. Thou wast not spoiled; thou didst not meet with any considerable opposition, but wast victorious over all thine enemies; of which the Assyrian boasteth, Isa. 10:8–9, Isa. 36:18–19.

O Lord, be gracious unto us; the prophet contemplating the judgment which was now coming upon God’s people, directeth his prayer to God for them. Their arm; our arm or strength. The change of persons is most frequent in prophetical writings.

At the noise of the tumult, which the angel shall make in destroying the army. The people; those of the army who escaped that stroke. The nations; the people of divers nations, which made up his army.

Your spoil, that treasure which you have raked together by spoiling divers people, shall be gathered by the Jews at Jerusalem, when you shall be forced to flee away with all possible speed, leaving your spoils behind you. Like the gathering of the caterpillar; either, 1.

Is exalted; will get great glory by the marvellous deduction of so proud and potent an army, and by the defence of his people. For he dwelleth on high; for he is and will appear to be superior to his enemies, both in place and power.

Wisdom and knowledge, to govern thyself and thy people well, shall be the stability of thy times; of thy reign; times being oft put for things done in those times, as 1 Chron. 12:32, Ps. 31:15, Ps. 37:18;c. He turneth his speech to Hezekiah.

Behold: that the mercy here promised might be duly magnified, he makes a lively representation of their great danger and distress, in which it found them. Their valiant ones; or, their heralds or messengers, as the Hebrew doctors expound the word: either, 1.

The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth, because the Assyrian soldiers possessed and filled the land. He hath broken the covenant; Sennacherib broke his faith, given to Hezekiah, of departing for a sum of money, 2 Kings 18:14, 2 Kings 18:17.

The earth mourneth, being desolate and neglected. Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down by the Assyrians. Or, as the word signifies, and is here rendered by others, withereth or languisheth, because its trees are not now used by the Jews for their buildings, as they have been; and because they are…

In this extremity, I will appear on the behalf of my people and land.

Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble, instead of solid corn. Your great hopes and designs, O ye Assyrians! shall be utterly disappointed. Your breath, as fire, shall devour you; your rage against my people shall bring ruin upon yourselves.

Shall be as the burnings of lime; shall be burnt as easily and effectually as chalk is burned to make lime.

My power and justice in destroying the Assyrians shall be so evident, that people, both far and near, shall be forced to acknowledge it.

The sinners in Zion are afraid: this is spoken, not of the Assyrians, as some would have it, but of the Jews, as appears both from the words themselves, and from the following verses. The prophet having foretold the deliverance of God’s people, and the destruction of their enemies, Isa.

He that walketh righteously; who is just in all his dealings with men, of which the following clauses explain it: which is not spoken exclusively, as if piety towards God were not as necessary as righteousness towards men; but comprehensively, this being one evidence and a constant companion of…

He shall dwell on high; out of the reach of danger. Bread shall be given him, his waters shall be sure; God will furnish him with all necessaries.

Shall see the king; first Hezekiah, and then Christ, as before. In his beauty; triumphing over all enemies, and ruling his own people with righteousness; in which two things the beauty and glory of a king and kingdom doth chiefly consist.

Thine heart shall meditate terror: this is either, 1. A premonition concerning a future judgment, as if he said, Before these glorious promises shall be accomplished, thou shalt be brought into great straits and troubles. Or rather, 2.

Thou shalt not see a fierce people: as Moses said of the Egyptians, Ex. 14:13, so I say of the Assyrians, that fierce and warlike people, whom thou-hast seen, with great terror, near the walls of Jerusalem, Thou shalt see them again no more.

Look upon Zion; contemplate Zion’s beauty and safety, and her glorious and peculiar privileges; it is an object worthy of thy deepest meditation. The city of our solemnities: this he mentions, as the chief part of Zion’s glory and happiness, that God was solemnly worshipped, and the solemn…

There, in and about Zion, the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams: though we have nothing but a small and contemptible brook to defend us; yet God will be as sure and strong a defence to us, as if we were surrounded with such great rivers as Nilus or Euphrates, which…

The Lord is our Judge; to judge for us, to plead our cause against our enemies, as the ancient judges of Israel did, Judg. 2:16. Our Lawgiver; our chief Governor, to whom it. belongs to give laws, and to defend his people.

Thy tacklings are loosed; he directeth his speech to the Assyrians; and having tacitly designed their army under the notion of a gallant ship, Isa. 33:21, he here represents their broken and undone condition by the metaphor of a ship tossed in a tempestuous sea, having her cables broken, and all…

The inhabitant, to wit, of Jerusalem, God’s people, shall not say, I am sick; shall have no cause to complain of any sickness or calamity; shall be fully delivered from all their enemies and evil occurrents; shall enjoy perfect tranquillity and prosperity.