Isaiah 59:2

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 59:1-8

The prophet here rectifies the mistake of those who had been quarrelling with God because they had not the deliverances wrought for them which they had been often fasting and praying for, Isa. 58:3. Now here he shows, I. That it was not owing to God. They had no reason to lay the fault upon him that they were not saved out of the hands of their enemies; for, 1. He was still as able to help as ever: His hand is not shortened, his power is not at all lessened, straitened, or abridged. Whether we... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 59:2

Like a partition wall dividing between them, so that they enjoy no communion with him in his worship and ordinances; which is greatly the case of the reformed churches: they profess the true God, and the worship of him, and do attend the outward ordinances of it; but this is done in such a cold formal way, and such sins and wickedness are perpetrated and connived at, that the Lord does not grant his gracious presence to them, but stands at a distance from them: and your sins have hid his... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 59:2

His face - For פנים panim , faces, I read panaiv , his face. So the Syriac, Septuagint, Alexandrian, Arabic, and Vulgate. פני panai , MS. Forte legendum פני panai , nam מ mem , sequitur, et loquitur Deus ; confer cap. Isaiah 58:14 . "We should perhaps read פני panai ; for מ mem follows, and God is the speaker." - Secker. I rather think that the speech of God was closed with the last chapter, and that this chapter is delivered in the person of the prophet.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 59:1-2

The true and the false account of Divine inactivity. How comes it to pass that the people of the Lord are in such distress? How do we account for the fact that the cause of Christ makes such slow progress or even shows symptoms of decline and failure? Where is the Lord God of Israel? Is the Spirit of God present in the midst of the Churches? I. THE APPARENTLY INEXHAUSTIBLE FORCES AT OUR COMMAND . For our resources we have: 1 . The fulness of Divine pity. The ear of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 59:1-8

A GENERAL REBUKE OF ISRAEL FOR ITS MANIFOLD SINS , The command given to the prophet in Isaiah 58:1 to "show God's people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins "—partly executed in Isaiah 58:4-7 and Isaiah 58:13 —is now further carried out by a scathing denunciation of various forms of wickedness, more or less prevalent in Israel, the effect of which has been to separate between Israel and God, to "shorten God's hand" and "make his ears heavy." The... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 59:1-15

The separation of the soul from God. Why in the hour of need is there no deliverance? Why are prayers for aid unanswered? A theory might obtain, or an objection might be raised, that Divine power was not sufficient, that the Divine sensibility was dulled. And yet this cannot be. The simplest knowledge of what God is must contradict an assumption so foolish. There must be another explanation; and that, the conscience says, is to be found on the human side of the relation. I. THE ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 59:2

Have separated ; literally, have been separating. The force of the form used is continuous, and implies that Israel had now for a long time been heaping up a barrier between itself and Jehovah. Your sins have hid his face; literally, your sins have caused his face to be hidden from you , i.e. "have made him avert it." read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 59:2

Attention from God. "Your iniquities have separated between you and your God." Here is the secret. We can resist God's arm. Until the "iniquities" be confessed, deplored, and forsaken, there can be no salvation. God is ready to forgive; but are we ready to be forgiven? God has provided a Saviour; but it may be true of us, "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." Man is not a heart only; he is a will. And here lies our condemnation, not that we are not sometimes ashamed and even... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 59:2

Sin-clouds between us and God. In a former homily it has been shown how, in judgment, and in order to awaken us to a sense of our sin, God may pass a cloud across between us and him, hiding from us his smiling face, and leaving us in the dark and the chill. Now we see how, in our heedlessness and wilfulness, we may put clouds, even little clouds, into our own sky, and hide his face. The reference of the text is to the doubting ones, the unfaithful ones, in Babylon, who let their own... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 59:2-8

The unsatisfactoriness of sinful courses. "What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye now are ashamed?" asks the apostle of those whom he had converted from a life of sin to a life of righteousness ( Romans 6:21 ). What good did the life of sin seem to do you? Of course, if the life of sin had no pleasures at all to offer, it would have no attractiveness, and would not be led by any. But what, after all, are the attractions, compared with the counterbalancing disadvantages? I. ... read more

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