In my last post, we continued exploring The Lord’s Judgment of the Whole Earth ~ Part 3 in Yesha’yahu 25:1-12. In this post, we move on to The Lord’s Judgment of the Whole Earth ~ Part 4 in Yesha’yahu 26:1-10.

In chapter 26, we come to the second of a trilogy of chapters that speak of the coming kingdom. Our passage is a song to be sung in the Age of the Kingdom, celebrating God’s grace.

¹ On that day this song will be sung in the land of Y’hudah: “We have a strong city! He has built walls and ramparts for our safety.

The strong city contrasts with the city of chaos we have looked at previously. The city of chaos represented human evil and has walls that crumble, but the strong city with its walls and ramparts is defined by salvation.

² Open the gates! Let the righteous nation enter, a nation that keeps faith!

The righteous nation includes faithful Isra’eli but might also suggest other peoples as well, since the defining characteristic of the nation is that it remains committed to God and His law. Could that possibly include the United States of America?

³ “A person whose desire rests on You, You preserve in perfect peace, because he trusts in You. ⁴ Trust in Adonai forever, because in Yah Adonai is a Rock of Ages.”

Trust is the defining trait of those who depend on Yah Adonai (literally God the Lord), not on other nations. The image of the everlasting Rock of Ages points to God’s persistent protection of His people. The rock is one in which the faithful can find shelter (see Exodus 33:22). Prudential Life Insurance promises a piece of the rock, but Yeshua promises something infinitely better: peace from the Rock of Ages.

⁵ For he has humbled those in high places, leveling the lofty city, leveling it to the ground, laying it in the dust.

The lofty city, like the city of chaos, represents the proud who do not humble themselves before God. Though it is called lofty, God can defeat this city in spite of its pretensions.

⁶ It is trampled underfoot by the feet of the poor, by the footsteps of the needy.

Thanks to God’s intervention, the humble poor and needy will trample on the arrogant.

⁷ The way of the righteous is level; Righteous One, you smooth the path for the righteous.

The image of the path is drawn from wisdom literature (Proverbs 1-9) and stands for the course of a person’s life. A level or smooth path is a life with few problems (Hebrews 12:13).

⁸ Following the way of Your judgments, we put our hope in You. The desire of all our soul is to remember You and Your name. ⁹ My soul desires You at night, my spirit in me seeks You at dawn; for when your judgments are here on earth, the people in the world learn what righteousness is.

Yesha’yahu speaks on behalf of himself and the righteous as he expressed a longing for God and specifically for God’s coming judgment on the wicked. But even in the context of passionate desire for God, they did not demand His actions but expressed confidence.

America spends over one billion dollars a year on sleeping aids. And yet there is a better way. That is, in the evening hours when you wake up or can’t fall asleep, you have an excellent opportunity to spend time with the Lord. If you worship and express your heart to Him in those late-night or early morning hours, you’ll be amazed at how rich and unique it can be. [1]

¹⁰ Even if pity is shown to the wicked, he still doesn’t learn what righteousness is. In a land of uprightness, he will still act wrongly and fail to see the majesty of Adonai. ~ Isaiah 26:1-10 (CJB)

Even though God’s grace is extended to the wicked, they will continue in frivolity. God is very much justified in pouring out wrath in the Tribulation period. For thousands of years, God has been so gracious to humanity -blessing those who curse His name, providing for those who deny His existence, loving people who couldn’t care less about Him.

In my next post, we will continue to explore The Lord’s Judgment of the Whole Earth ~ Part 5 in Yesha’yahu 26:11-21.

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[1] Jon Courson’s Application Commentary Old Testament Volume 2.