Commentary on Isaiah 26:7-9,12,16-19

We have today a beautiful prayer for judgement to come soon. It is the prayer of one who wants to follow closely the Lord’s way:

The way of the righteous is level;
straight is the path of the righteous that you clear.

His one longing is to be close to his Lord:

…your name and your renown
are the soul’s desire.

This contrasts strongly with the cruel and materialistic world of yesterday’s reading.

The next phrase is also a lovely one and one which we could make our own prayer:

My soul yearns for you in the night;
my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.

We speak today of ‘seeking God in all things’, in every person, in every experience, in every situation.  This is where our lives get their true meaning:

For when your judgments are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

It is the judgements of God which throw light on what is really good and true and just.

The upright person too totally accepts those judgements and decisions of God:

O Lord, may you ordain peace for us,
for indeed, all that we have done, you have done for us.

The good person has nothing to fear: good deeds will bring their own reward; evil deeds will bring their consequences too.  In either case, the good experience peace because, whatever happens, they are in touch with God’s love.

The pains that follow from sinful acts are accepted:

O Lord, in distress they sought you;
they poured out a prayer
when your chastening was on them.

Everything, absolutely everything – be it good or bad, pleasant or painful, as Paul reminds us, works together for the ultimate good of those who love God. Those without that love are left pained and puzzled.  Those with love find peace in every experience.

In this passage, the prophet also speaks with regret of how the people have not lived up to their commitments. He may be referring to the Assyrian oppression.

Israel was intended to be “a light for the nations” (see Isaiah 42:6 and 9:2, which are cited in the Gospel) but:

We have won no victories on earth,
and no one is born to inhabit the world.

Jesus will teach us in the Gospel that his followers are also called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  We are to let people see our goodness so that they may be drawn to love and glorify God.  But, by their behaviour, Isaiah says that God’s people failed in this regard.

And we Christians, too, would have to admit to frequent failure. In these days, we are as likely to turn people away from Christ as towards him. It is time for us, as it was for the people that Isaiah addressed, to bring the dead, the spiritually dead, back to life. And then:

…dead shall live; their corpses shall rise.

Let us pray that our land be transformed from one of “corpses” to one that has and gives life.