Isaiah 26:16 - Exposition

Lord, in trouble have they visited thee . Here, at any rate, the redeemed go back in thought to their time of trouble. They remember that what brought them back to God from that alienation which they have confessed ( Isaiah 26:13 ) was the affliction which they so long endured. Their present bliss is the result of their former woe, and recalls the thought of it. They poured out a prayer ; rather, as in the margin, a secret speech , or a low whisper (Kay); comp. Isaiah 29:4 . The word elsewhere means "the muttering of a charm ," but must here signify the " whispered prayer" of one in deep humiliation.