Isaiah 55:7-9

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 55:6-13

We have here a further account of that covenant of grace which is made with us in Jesus Christ, both what is required and what is promised in the covenant, and of those considerations that are sufficient abundantly to confirm our believing compliance with and reliance on that covenant. This gracious discovery of God's good-will to the children of men is not to be confined either to the Jew or to the Gentile, to the Old Testament or to the New, much less to the captives in Babylon. No, both the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 55:7

Let the wicked forsake his way ,.... His evil way, as the Targum paraphrases it, his wicked course of life; and which is his own way, of his own choosing, and in which he delights, and a very dangerous one it is; and yet he is bent upon it, and nothing can turn him from it but efficacious grace; nor will he ever forsake it till he sees the evil, danger, and loathsomeness of it; and when he does forsake it, it is so as not to make sin the course of his life, though he does not and cannot live... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 55:8

For my thoughts are not your thoughts ,.... In some things there may be a likeness between the thoughts of God and the thoughts of men, as to the nature of them: thoughts are natural and essential to them both; they are within them, are internal acts, and unknown to others, till made known; but then the thoughts of men are finite and limited, whereas the thoughts of the Lord are infinite and boundless; men's thoughts have a beginning, but the Lord's have none; though not so much the nature... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 55:9

For as the heavens, are higher than the earth ,.... Than which there cannot be conceived a greater distance: so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts ; which may denote the heavenliness of the ways and thoughts of God, the eternity and unsearchableness of them, and their excellency and preciousness; as well as the very great distance between his ways and thoughts and men's which this is designed to illustrate. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 55:9

For as the heavens are higher - I am persuaded that כ caph , the particle of comparison, is lost in this place, from the likeness of the particle כי ki , immediately preceding it. So Houbigant and Secker. And their remark is confirmed by all the ancient Versions, which express it; and by the following passage of Psalm 103:11 , which is almost the same: - הארץ על שמים כגבה כי haarets al shamayim chigboah ki יראיו על חסדו גבר yereaiv al chasdo ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 55:1-7

AN EXHORTATION TO SPIRITUALITY AND REPENTANCE . The prophet passes from the ideal to the actual, from the glorious future to the unsatisfactory present. The people are not ripe for the blessings of the Messianic kingdom—they do not sufficiently value them. Hence a tender exhortation is addressed to them by God himself, inviting them to become more spiritually minded ( Isaiah 55:1-3 ), and fresh promises are held out to the obedient ( Isaiah 55:3-5 ). The disobedient are... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 55:6-13

Exhortations and assurance. I. EXHORTATIONS . "Seek ye Jehovah." This is the beginning of a religious life—to seek for God, to inquire for his ways ( Deuteronomy 4:29 ; Job 5:8 ; Job 8:5 ; Psalms 9:10 ; Psalms 14:2 ; Psalms 27:8 ). "While he may be found" ( Psalms 32:6 )—"in a time of finding." For a bitter "day" will come, when woe to his foes ( Isaiah 65:6 , Isaiah 65:7 )! It is hinted that a time will come when the offer will be withdrawn. "If a man will not do so... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 55:7

Let the wicked forsake his way; i.e. his mode of life. A general promise of forgiveness of sin upon repentance and amendment of life was first given to Israel through Solomon ( 2 Chronicles 7:14 ). The doctrine is largely preached by the prophets; but is nowhere more distinctly and emphatically laid down than in this place. God's will is to "multiply pardon," if man will only turn to him. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 55:7

Distance, return, welcome. Few more gracious words than these can be found in Scripture: they are of those which the world would not willingly let die; whole libraries could be better spared from human literature than this single verse. We may express the thoughts it offers to us by four simple propositions. I. SIN MEANS SEPARATION —the separation of the soul from its Creator. The distance we can calculate in miles or in degrees is nothing to that which divides one spirit from... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 55:7

Man's preparations for receiving God's pardon. Two things have to be clearly recognized, and harmoniously set together. 1. God's pardon and favour are absolutely free and priceless; they are sovereign gifts, based on no condition, won by no payment, responsive to no merit in us. He saves us purely for his "own Name's sake." 2 . And yet there are conditions which those who receive the grace are reasonably required to be in, if they are to be recipients, and make right use of the... read more

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