Isa. 41 God called Abraham, and was with him: the nations idolatrous, Isa. 41:1–8. Israel encouraged by promises of safety and deliverance, Isa. 41:9–20. The vanity of idols, Isa. 41:21–24. Redemption by Christ, Isa. 41:25–29.

Keep silence before me; attend diligently to my plea, and then answer it if you can. O islands; O you inhabitants of islands, as the next clause explains this. By islands he here means, as he doth Isa.

Who? what man or god? Was it not my alone work? The idols were so far from assisting me, that they did their utmost to oppose me in it. Raised up into being and power, stirring up his spirit, and strengthening him to the work. The righteous man, Heb.

He pursued them, and passed safely; went on in the pursuit with great ease, and safety, and success. Even by the way that he had not gone with his feet; which is added as further evidence of God’s wonderful providence, in encouraging and enabling him to march by unknown paths; which hath oft proved…

Who hath wrought and done it? whose work was this but mine? Calling; either, 1. Calling them out of nothing, giving to them breath and being; or, 2. Calling them to his foot, as he said above, Isa. 41:2, disposing and employing them as he sees fit, sending them upon his errands.

The isles, even remote countries, as Isa. 41:1, saw it; discerned the mighty work of God in delivering his people, and overthrowing their enemies, in so wonderful a manner.

They encouraged and assisted one another in their idolatrous practices.

The carpenter, who brought wood to compose the body of the idol. The goldsmith, who was to prepare golden plates for covering and adorning of the image, which some of them beat out upon the anvil, and others smoothed or polished, as it follows.

But thou, Israel, art my servant: thus the Gentiles show themselves to be the servants of their idols, and own them for their god; but thou art my people, and I am and will be thy God. Whom I have chosen, out of the heap of the idolatrous nations, to be my peculiar people.

Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth; thou, Israel, whom I took to myself, and brought hither in the loins of thy father Abraham from a remote country, to wit, Chaldea; or, whom I brought back out of Babylon into thine own land, which though yet to come, he may speak of as of a thing…

Which I do and will manage with righteousness, whereby I will deliver thee, and destroy thine and mine enemies, as it follows.

Shall be ashamed and confounded, both because their hopes and designs shall be utterly disappointed, and because the mischief which they contrived against thee shall fall upon themselves. Shall be as nothing; shall come to nothing, or perish, as the next clause explains it.

Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them; they shall be so totally consumed, that although thou searchest for them, thou shalt not be able to find them any where in the world. Shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought; shall be utterly brought to nought.

Will hold thy right hand; or, will strengthen, &c, as this word properly signifieth; will assist and enable thee to vanquish all thine enemies.

Thou worm Jacob, who art weak in thyself, and despised and trodden under foot by thy proud and potent enemies.

New; and therefore sharper and stronger than another which hath been much used. Sharp threshing instrument having teeth; such as were usual in those times and places, of which See Poole “Isa. 28:25”, See Poole “Isa. 28:28”.

Thou shalt fan them, when thou hast beaten them as small as dust or chaff. Shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel; for to him, and not to thyself, thou shalt ascribe thy victory over thine enemies.

When my poor people are come to the greatest extremity of danger and misery, then will I appear for their relief.

In high places; upon the mountains, where by the course of nature there are no rivers. In the midst of the valleys; or, in the valleys, to wit, in such of them as are not well watered.

Trees which are both useful and pleasant to the eye, and giving a good shadow to the traveller, which in those hot and parched countries was very comfortable. Thus much is evident and confessed.

That they may see; or, that men may see; for it is an indefinite expression. The sense is, that all that see this wonderful change may consider it, and may know that this is the work of God alone.

Produce your cause: the prophet having pleaded God’s cause against the idolatrous Gentiles, whom he challenged to a dispute, Isa. 41:1, he now reneweth the challenge, and gives them liberty and invitation to speak whatsoever they can on the behalf of their idols.

Let them; either the idols; or, which is all one, the idolaters in the name and by the help of their idols. What shall happen; all future events; which he divides into two sorts in the following clause, the former and the latter, as we shall see.

That we may know that ye are gods; that we may have, if not a certain proof, yet at least a probable argument, of your deity. It may be objected that the devil hath foretold future events by idols; but it may be answered, that such predictions were but rare, and oftentimes were false, and confuted…

Ye are of nothing; you lately were nothing, without any being at all, and now you have nothing at all of divinity or virtue in you. Your work; either, 1. Passively, your workmanship, all the cost and art which is laid out upon you. Or, 2. Actively, all that you can do.

I have raised up; you neither foreknow nor can do any thing; but I do now foretell, and will certainly effect, great revolution and change in the world, which you shall not be able to hinder.

Who hath declared from the beginning? which of all your idols did or could foretell such things as this from the beginning of the world unto this day? They never yet did nor can foretell any such things, further than I think fit to reveal it to them.

The first; I who am the first, as I said before, Isa. 41:4, and therefore capable of declaring or foretelling things to come from the beginning, which your idols cannot do, Isa. 41:26. Shall say to Zion; do and will foretell unto my people by my prophets things to come.

For I beheld, Heb. And I beheld; I looked about me to see if I could find any man of them that could certainly and of themselves foretell such future events.

They are all vanity: this is the conclusion of the whole dispute, and the just sentence which God passeth upon idols after a fair trial; they are vain things, and are falsely called gods. Their works are nothing: see Isa. 41:24.