Isaiah 40:27

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 40:27-31

Here, I. The prophet reproves the people of God, who are now supposed to be captives in Babylon for their unbelief and distrust of God, and the dejections and despondencies of their spirit under their affliction (Isa. 40:27): ?Why sayest thou, O Jacob! to thyself and to those about thee, My way is hidden from the Lord? Why dost thou make hard and melancholy conclusions concerning thyself and thy present case as if the latter were desperate?? 1. The titles he here gives them were enough to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 40:27

Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel ,.... The Jews, supposed to be in captivity, are here meant, according to Jarchi and Kimchi; whom the prophet reproves, for murmuring at the calamities and afflictions there endured by them; but it may be the church and people of God, in Gospel times, are here intended, being under suffering circumstances, either under Rome Pagan, or Rome Papal; not only inwardly repining, but openly complaining and uttering, as follows: my way is hid from... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:1-31

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:12-31

THE MIGHT AND GREATNESS OF GOD CONTRASTED WITH THE WEAKNESS OF MAN AND THE FUTILITY OF IDOLS . If captive Israel is to be induced to turn' to God, and so hasten the time of its restoration to his favour and to its own land, it must be by rising to a worthy conception of the nature and attributes of the Almighty. The prophet, therefore, in the remainder of this chapter, paints in glorious language the power and greatness, dud at the same time the mercy, of God,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:27

O Jacob … O Israel (For this pleonastic combination, so characteristic of Isaiah, see Isaiah 9:8 ; Isaiah 10:21 , Isaiah 10:22 ; Isaiah 14:1 ; Isaiah 27:6 ; Isaiah 29:23 , in the earlier chapters; and Isaiah 41:8 ; Isaiah 42:24 ; Isaiah 43:1 , Isaiah 43:22 , Isaiah 43:28 ; Isaiah 44:1 , Isaiah 44:5 , Isaiah 44:23 ; Isaiah 45:4 ; Isaiah 46:3 ; Isaiah 49:5 , Isaiah 49:6 , etc; in the later ones.) Why sayest thou … My way is hid? The prophet has gone back... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:27

Darkness breeding doubt. Here is a question which is full of surprise. " How , then, can Jacob and Israel be faint-hearted, or despair of their restoration, when this unmatchable, all-powerful, unwearying God is their God?" Yet there is almost an excuse for their doubtings and depressions in their national circumstances. They had been so long in the power of their enemies, and their outlook was so utterly dark and hopeless, that they concluded they were quite overlooked by the God of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:27-28

The impiety of impatience. God rebukes Israel for its impatience under trial. It ought to have "remembered the years of the right hand of the Most High;" it ought to have considered that its Divine Sovereign was one whose faithfulness did not depend on a few passing years, that the action or the inaction of "the everlasting God" was not open to the criticism which condemns the short-lived policy of frail and dying men. The rebuke is full of practical truth applicable to ourselves. I. ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:27-31

Despondency reproved. I. THE COMPLAINT OF THE PEOPLE . They feel themselves, or are tempted to feel themselves, forsaken of God. Their "way" seems to be hidden from him. The "way" is a figure for the course and condition of life. And is it not said in the first Psalm, "The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous"? There are times when this cannot be realized. The truth of a providence over the national and the personal life—what more consoling? "Thou art with me;" "Thou God seest... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 40:27

Why sayest thou? - This verse is designed to reprove the people for their want of confidence in God. The idea is, ‘If God is so great; if be arranges the hosts of heaven with such unerring skill, causing all the stars to observe their proper place and their exact times, the interests of his people are safe in his hands.’ Piety may always find security in the assurance that He who preserves the unbroken order of the heavens will not fail to keep and save his people. The language in this verse is... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Isaiah 40:27-28

Isaiah 40:27-28. Why sayest thou, O Jacob The consolatory part of the prophet’s discourse begins at this verse, wherein the foregoing doctrine and prophecy are applied to the comfort of the church, complaining, amid her various afflictions, that she had been neglected of the Lord; which complaint makes the basis of the consolation contained in this period. Why dost thou give way to such jealousies concerning thy God, of whose infinite power, and wisdom, and goodness, there are such evident... read more

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