Isaiah 57:16 - Exposition

I will not contend for ever. God "will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger for ever" ( Psalms 103:9 ). If he were "extreme to mark what is done amiss," none could abide it ( Psalms 130:3 ). He remits somewhat, therefore, from the claims of strict justice, and is content to take lower ground. Were it otherwise, man's spirit should fail before him. Man, i.e; would be utterly unable to justify himself, and would faint and fade away before the Divine fury. The souls which God has made would, one and all, perish. He, however, has not made them for this purpose, but that they should live ( Deuteronomy 30:19 ; Ezekiel 18:31 ); and has therefore devised for them a way of salvation (see Isaiah 53:5-10 ).