Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 52

Verse 1

Isaiah 52:1

Men can rouse themselves to action. There is more power in man than he may be aware of, and he should inquire what objects and pursuits are worthy of his enthusiastic devotion.

I. No object which bears upon this world only is worthy of the supreme energy of man.

II. Spiritual objects are alone worthy of the supreme energy of man. (1) They are akin to his own nature. (2) They touch every point of his being. (3) They prepare him for the solemnity and service of the future.

III. The fact that spiritual objects alone are worthy of the supreme energy of man should impel to decisive action. (1) "Put on thy strength" for the time is short. (2) "Put on thy strength" for the enemy is on the alert. (3) "Put on thy strength" for the Master is worthy.

Parker, City Temple, vol. ii., p. 67 (see also Pulpit Notes, p. 81).

References: Isaiah 52:1 . J. C. Harrison, Penny Pulpit, No. 526; A. F. Barfield, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 319; W. Burrows, Ibid., vol. xi., p. 172; Preacher's Monthly, vol. vii., p. 33, vol. x., p. 181.

Verse 7

Isaiah 52:7

I. In their first sense these words form a part of that great series of encouragement and consolation in which the prophet promises to Israel redemption from captivity and return from exile, and assures the chosen people of God that, though for a time deserted and forsaken, they shall yet be restored to the land given to their fathers, and the worship of God once more established on the heights of Mount Zion. But the prophet, while thus describing in thrilling language the deliverance of his countrymen from bondage, rises to the contemplation of promises which far transcend the greatness of the most glorious earthly kingdom, and passes from the thought of Israel after the flesh to the eternal spiritual Israel, "whose people shall be all righteous, and inherit the land for ever" the Church of God.

II. The Apostle Paul appropriates and intensifies the aspirations of the prophet; he shows how the deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Assyria typified and prefigured the deliverance of all men whether belonging to the earthly Israel or not, whether born in the east or the west, in the north or the south from the yet more bitter slavery of sin; and that if a blessing from God followed the feet of the herald who proclaimed the temporal restoration of Zion and the glad tidings of political peace and liberty, far deeper and truer would be the blessing which would attend the footsteps of those who preached the good tidings of spiritual liberty and the peace of God which passeth all understanding.

G. E. Cotton, Sermons to English Congregations in India, p. 21.

Reference: Isaiah 52:10 . Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iv., No. 185.

I. The news of the Gospel is news of a victory over sin news of a victory over death news of a reconciliation with our God and Father, against whom we had been lured by our enemy, Sin, to be guilty of treachery and rebellion. Jesus has not put an end to the war as yet; but He has put it on quite a new footing. Sin is still abiding in the world, notwithstanding the victories of Jesus, just as a remnant of the Canaanites was left on the borders of the promised land, notwithstanding the victories of Joshua. Those Canaanites, the Bible tells us, were left to try the children of Israel, and to teach them war (Judges 3:1-2 ); and it is perhaps for a like reason that sin is still left on earth, in order that we may be put to the test to prove whether we choose to obey God or no, and that we may be trained to our duties as Christ's soldiers by a course of hard service against God's enemies.

II. Before Christ's coming, for the great bulk of mankind, both Jews and Gentiles, the battle against sin was quite hopeless. Sin was waxing every day stronger and spreading wider; goodness, on the other hand, was growing rarer and rarer. Man felt himself to be overmatched by sin; indeed, he could scarcely lift up his hand against it. But all this is now changed, and most blessedly, for the better. We are no longer the weaker side. Christ has provided armour of proof for us, has sent His Spirit to strengthen us while we are standing, and has given us His cross to catch hold of when we are falling. He has proclaimed that we are at peace with God, that we may fight with a better heart. He has promised and assured us of a glorious triumph for every one who will fight his best. Such is the news which Jesus has brought us. Whereas before men could not cope with sin, we may now be sure of overcoming it. Whereas men before shuddered at the thought of death as the dark and dismal end of all things, we have now been taught to look upon it as the gate of a more glorious life. Whereas men before felt that they were at enmity with God, and therefore could not love Him or take pleasure in Him, they now know that He is ready to receive them into favour, and will treat them as sons, if they will only behave to Him as such.

A. W. Hare, The Alton Sermons, p. 135;

Verse 12

Isaiah 52:12

I. Consider the essentially symbolic character of the captivities and deliverances of the Jewish people. The history of Israel is the Divine key to the history of man. In that history there were two great captivities and two great deliverances. The people were born in the one captivity it was the dark accident of nature; the other they earned by sin. These represent our natural bondage, and the self-earned serfdom of the soul. There is one Deliverer and one deliverance from both. The method of His deliverance was the same out of both captivities a glorious manifestation of the might of the redeeming arm of God.

II. We have the image here of the great deliverance which is freely offered in the Gospel. It furnishes (1) the key to our protracted discipline. God will not have us "go out with haste, nor go forth by flight." These long wanderings, this patient waiting, is a store of power and wisdom, whose worth you will never estimate till your footsteps press the borders of your Canaan. (2) "The Lord will go before you." He has gone before us ( a ) in bearing to the uttermost the penalty of sin; ( b ) in breaking the power of evil; ( c ) in the way of the wilderness, through life's protracted discipline, to glory.

J. Baldwin Brown, The Sunday Afternoon, p. 419.

References: Isaiah 52:12 . Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. v., No. 230, vol. xxx., No. 1793; S. A. Tipple, Old Testament Outlines, p. 215.Isaiah 52:13-15 . Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxi., No. 1231; Clergyman's Magazine, vol. xxii., p. 211.Isaiah 52:14 . T. B. Dover, A Lent Manual, p. 142.Isaiah 53:1 . Homiletic Magazine, vol. xiv., p. 55; R. Milman, The Love of the Atonement, pp.8, 17. Isaiah 53:1-12 . C. Clemance, To the Light through the Cross, p. 3.