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2.
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The Lord doth bind up Jerusalem. Compare also the
emphasis in vv. 12,13 where He hath strengthened the bars of thy gates is
particularly eloquent of the saving of Jerusalem from the seemingly irresistible
Assyrians (cp. also Psa. 46:5; 48:2,3; 125:2).
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He gathered together the outcasts of Israel, as a
shepherd gathers his flock (cp. Isa. 11:12; 40:11; 54:7; and also Jer. 23:3;
31:10; Ezek. 34:13). Here is double reference to (1) the estranged northern
tribes, many of whom came to Hezekiah’s great Passover, and to (2) the
amazing restoration of the great multitude of captives whom Sennacherib rounded
up and marched off to Babylon (Mic. 4:10). The word “outcasts” is
especially relevant to the latter (s.w. Isa. 11:12; 56:8).
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3.
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He healeth the broken in heart, those who were too sad
to sing the Lord’s songs in a foreign land like Babylon (Psa.
137).
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6.
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The Lord lifteth up the meek (Psa. 146:9), those with
the humble religious spirit of Hezekiah.
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The wicked, on the other hand, were the boastful
tyrannous Assyrians, who were cast down to the ground in the most
sensational military destruction in all of ancient history.
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8,9.
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Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for
the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. He giveth to the beast
his food, and to the young ravens which cry. Here is the special blessing of
rain, fertility and fruitfulness in the Year of Jubilee (Isa.
37:30,31).
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10.
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He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh
not pleasure in the legs of a man (Psa. 33:16,17; Prov. 21:31; Isa. 31:1).
This chimes in with Rabshakeh’s crude challenge in 2 Kings
18:23:
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“Now therefore... give pledges to my lord the king of
Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy
part to set riders upon them.”
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“The [cherubim] chariots of Israel and the horsemen
thereof” were plenty enough, and more, to answer the taunts of
Rabshakeh!
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13.
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Strengthened is a play on the name of
Hezekiah.
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He hath blessed thy children within thee.
Hezekiah’s faithful remnant.
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14.
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He maketh peace in thy borders. Note the
italics: ‘He makes “Peace” thy borders!’ — much
more emphatic (cp. the figures of speech in Isa. 60:17,18). This was all
unexpected, at a time when lasting destruction from the Lord seemed
inevitable.
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And filleth thee with the finest of the wheat. The
promised but unexpected blessing of the Year of Jubilee (see on v. 8; also Psa.
81:16).
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15.
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He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word
runneth very swiftly (cp. v. 18). The “commandment” is the
divine instruction to the Angel of God’s power (Isa. 37:36).
“Runneth” is an allusion to the cherubim war-chariots (cp. Ezek.
1:18-21; Zech. 6:1-8; Rev. 5:6). Also, to the word of God in the tongues of the
prophets, who “run” carrying the message of God (Jer. 23:21; 1 Kings
18:46; 2 Chron. 16:9; Hab. 2:2; Amos 8:12; Zech. 4:10; Dan. 12:4; Gal. 2:2;
Phil. 2:16; 2 Thes. 3:1; Jude 11; cp. Prov. 25:11: “a word spoken upon
its wheels”!). In either case, of course, it is the word of God which
is powerful and swift to accomplish His Purposes — without
regard to the exact means employed.
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20.
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As for his judgments, they have not known them. Here is
the pathetic ignorance of boastful, idol-worshiping Assyria.
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2.
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The Lord doth build up Jerusalem (Psa. 102:16). This is
a necessary beginning to the New Age, after the great earthquake of Zech.
14:4.
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He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel, Jews and
also Gentiles (John 11:52). And, in the future, his angels will gather together
all his elect, from the four winds, to Jerusalem (Matt. 24:31).
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3.
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He healeth the broken in heart, that is, repentant
Israel (Zech. 12:10-14).
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4.
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He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by
their names. Here is the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham:
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“Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be
able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be” (Gen.
15:5; cp. 22:17; Dan. 12:3; Rom. 4:18).
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6.
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The Lord lifteth up the meek, so that they may inherit
the earth (Psa. 37:11; Matt. 5:5).
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But he casteth the wicked down to the ground, or into
outer darkness.
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7.
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Sing praise upon the harp: Rev. 14:2.
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10.
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He delighteth not in the strength of the horse. All
armaments will be abolished (Isa. 2:4; Mic. 4:3).
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11.
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The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him. The
Hebrew for “taketh pleasure” implies acceptable sacrifice.
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In those that hope in his mercy. God’s
forgiveness becomes “the hope of Israel” (Acts 28:20).
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15.
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He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word
runneth very swiftly. A worldwide publishing of God’s Law, which will
require full obedience (Isa. 2:2,3; Mic. 4:1,2; Zech. 8:20-22;
14:16-19).
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18.
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He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his
wind to blow, and the waters flow. The nations will be disciplined by divine
power.
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19.
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He sheweth his word unto Jacob. God’s purpose is
centered in Israel, and in the new “Israel”.
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3.
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He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their
wounds. Those distraught in mind have their desperate worries taken care
of.
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4.
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The stars are not only literal but also eloquently
symbolic of Israel (Gen. 15:5; 22:17; Jer. 33:22). Men, for all their
cleverness, have abandoned as hopeless the counting of the stars.
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He calleth them all by their names. This is especially
true of God’s New Israel (Isa. 40:26; John 10:3) — who have,
individually and collectively, received a new name (Rev. 2:17; 3:12).
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5.
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Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is
infinite (Psa. 145:3). Even if one might number the stars (v. 4), still
God’s wisdom defies enumeration!
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7.
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Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the
harp unto our God. When a man really appreciates the awe-inspiring power of
God, the praise with which he reacts to this will be mostly thanksgiving that
such incomprehensible majesty is brought home to his soul.
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8,9.
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Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for
the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. He giveth to the beast
his food, and to the young ravens which cry (Luke 12:24; Job 38:41).
All this in the world of Nature is done by overall control of God. A
wholesome faith dissipates the smoke-screen of “the laws of Nature”
which modern scientists so enthusiastically interpose between man and a God who
is ceaselessly at work. The Bible never talks about science or scientific law,
but always about the acts of God (cp. vv. 15-17; Psa. 104; Job 38-41; Matt.
5:45).
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10.
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He taketh no pleasure in the legs of a man, even though
those legs be “legs of iron” (Dan. 2:33)! So much for
“body-builders” in God’s esteem!
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11.
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The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him. There
is something wrong with the man — he is in some profound way mentally
deficient! — who contemplates the marvels of God’s work in Nature
and in miracles, and who is not moved thereby to reverence.
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In those that hope in his mercy. This word is
particularly associated with (a) the forgiveness of sins, and (b) the covenants
of promise, the hope of Israel.
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16.
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He giveth snow like wool (Job 37:6). This describes the
feathery flakes of snow, blanketing the earth like wool, protecting the ground
from worse cold, and at last giving much-needed moisture (Isa.
55:10,11).
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So white is the snow, that it is like wool which has been
washed, and is a fit symbol of one whose sins have been truly forgiven and
blotted out (Isa. 1:18; cp. Rev. 1:14; 7:14).
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17.
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He casteth forth his ice like morsels (Job 37:10). This
could be: (1) hail, or (2) layers of ice, thin and brittle like wafers of
unleavened bread.
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Who can stand before his cold? The NEB, following an
emendation, has: “The waters stand frozen”.
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18.
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He causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow. Exod.
15:10; Psa. 148:8.
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20.
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He hath not dealt so with any nation: Deut. 4:32-34;
32:32-41; Rom. 3:1,2; 2:17; Amos 3:2. “But the reception of a law was not
in itself a ground of satisfaction; the keeping of it would have been... They
knew and approved in theory, but not in personal practice” (John Carter,
The Letter to the Romans, p. 33).
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And as for his judgments, they have not known them. Who
has not known them? Surely the Gentiles (as in Par. 2 above). But also Israel,
which did not truly “know” God’s will because it never really
fulfilled His main purpose in giving them the Law — that is, so that they
might become a light unto the Gentiles (Isa. 49:6).
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