Verse 9
The Israelites had responded to God’s grace in electing them by committing themselves to Him (Exodus 19:8). Consequently, Yahweh had participated in their afflictions with them and rescued His people from them throughout their history.
The identity of "the angel of His presence" is the messenger who came from the Lord’s presence to deliver His people. This is the only place in the Bible where this title appears. This may refer to an angel, but it probably refers to the second person of the Trinity, the primary agent of salvation according to the New Testament.
"Verse 9 is one of the most moving expressions of the compassionate love of God in the OT, reminding the reader of some of the great passages in Hosea, Isaiah’s older contemporary." [Note: Grogan, p. 342.]
"Just as a man can feel pain, and yet in his personality keep himself superior to it, so God feels pain without His own happiness being thereby destroyed." [Note: Delitzsch, 2:453.]
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