Isa. 40 The prophet having now foretold the Babylonish captivity, Isa. 39:6–7, doth here arm his people against it by the consideration of their certain deliverance out of it, and their blessed condition after it, as in other things, so especially in the coming of the Messiah, and the great and…

Cry unto her; proclaim it in my name. Her warfare; the time of her servitude, and captivity, and misery. Her iniquity is pardoned; I am reconciled to her; I will not impute sin to her, to punish her any longer for it.

The voice; an abrupt and imperfect speech, such as there are many in the Hebrew language. Methinks I hear a voice; or, a voice shall be heard. Of him that crieth in the wilderness; which words declare the place either, 1. Where the cry was made; or, 2.

This is only a more particular explication of that which was generally expressed Isa. 40:3. The sense is, All obstructions shall be removed, and the way made in all respects convenient and easy for the passenger.

The glory of the Lord shall be revealed: so it was in some sort, when God brought them out of Babylon, which was a glorious work of God; but far more properly and eminently when Christ, who was the glorious God, was manifested in the flesh, and gave much clearer and fuller discoveries of God’s…

The voice said: God speaks unto his prophets or ministers. He said, What shall I cry: the prophet desires to know God’s mind, and his message. All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: the prophet having foretold glorious and wonderful things which God had…

The Spirit of the Lord; or, the breath, &c, as this word is rendered, Ps. 147:18; the wind, as it frequently signifies, which hath this effect upon grass and flowers, Ps. 103:16, James 1:11. The people; the same which he called flesh, and said they were grass, Isa.

Whatsoever God hath said shall infallibly come to pass.

O Zion, that bringest good tidings; O Zion, to whom the glad tidings of the coming of Christ into the world, and of the salvation of mankind by him, were first published by Christ and his apostles, and by whom they were published to all nations.

With strong hand; with invincible strength, conquering all his enemies. The word hand or arm may very well be understood out of the following clause. His arm shall rule for him; he shall need no succours, for his own power shall be sufficient to govern his people, and to destroy his adversaries.

He shall perform all the offices of a tender and faithful shepherd towards his people, carrying himself with great wisdom, and condescension, and compassion to every one of them, according to their several capacities and infirmities.

Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand? i.e. who can measure them? for indicative verbs in the Hebrew language are oft taken potentially.

Who did God either need or take to advise him in any of his works, either of creation or the government of the world? were they not all the effects of his own sole wisdom? Therefore though all the nations of the world contrive and conspire against him, and against this work of his, as indeed they…

Taught him in the path of judgment; how to walk and manage all his affairs with good judgment and discretion.

The nations, all the nations of the world, are as a drop of a bucket, compared with all the water in the bucket, wherein are innumerable drops: such are they if compared with God.

And although he is pleased to accept of poor and small sacrifices from his people, yet if men were to offer a sacrifice agreeable to his infinite excellency, the whole forest of Lebanon could not afford either a sufficient number of beasts to be sacrificed, or a sufficient quantity of wood to…

Before him; either in his eyes, or being set against him, as this Hebrew word properly and most usually signifies. Counted to him, either in his judgment, or in comparison of him. Less than nothing; less than a thing of nought, or of no account or worth; or, as others render it, for nothing.

This is a proper inference from the foregoing discourse of God’s immense and infinite greatness; from whence he taketh occasion to show both the folly of those that make mean and visible representations of God, as not the Gentiles only, but even some of the Jews did; and the utter inability of men…

The workman melteth a graven image; he melteth some base metal into a mould, which giveth it the form of an image, which afterwards is graven or carved to make it more exact and amiable.

That he hath no oblation; that he can hardly procure money sufficient to buy the meanest sacrifice for his God. He seeketh unto him a cunning workman; he is so mad upon his idols, that he will one way or other find money to procure the choicest materials, and the help of the best artist, to make…

Have ye not known, to wit, God to be the only true God, the Maker and Governor of the world, and all its inhabitants? how can you be ignorant of so evident a truth? He addresseth his speech to the idolatrous Gentiles. From the beginning, to wit, of the world, as the next clause explains it.

That sitteth, as a judge or governor upon his throne, upon the circle of the earth; or, above the circle &c. far above this round earth, even in the highest heavens; from whence he looketh down upon the earth, where men appear to him like grasshoppers.

That bringeth the princes to nothing; that can at his pleasure destroy all the great potentates of the world.

They, the princes and judges last mentioned, shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: they shall take no root, as it follows; for planting and sowing are in order to taking root, and are necessary to it.

He repeateth what he said Isa. 40:18, that he might oblige them to the more serious and frequent consideration of the absurdity of the idolatry.

Lift up your eyes on high; to the high and starry heaven as appears from the following words. These things which you see on high, the host of heaven, as it follows.

Why sayest thou in thy heart? why dost thou give way to such jealousies concerning thy God, of whose infinite power, and wisdom, and goodness there are such evident demonstrations given to all mankind, and to thee in a singular manner? My way; the course and condition of my life.

Of the ends of the earth; of all the earth, and the inhabitants thereof, from one end to another. He seems to mention the ends or utmost bounds, because they might seem to be more out of the reach and care of God’s providence, as being most remote from Jerusalem, the only place of God’s solemn and…

He hath strength enough not only for himself, but for all, even the weakest of his creatures, whom he can easily strengthen to bear all their burdens, and to vanquish all their oppressors.

The youngest and strongest men, left to themselves, or without God’s help, or which do not wait upon God; which is easily understood from the opposition in the following verse.

That wait upon the Lord; that rely upon him for strength to bear their burdens, and for deliverance from them in due time. Shall renew their strength; shall grow stronger and stronger in faith, and patience, and fortitude, whereby they shall be more than conquerors over all their enemies and…