1358 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee,.... From distress and impending ruin, if they can; meaning not the allies and auxiliaries of the Jews, the Egyptians and Assyrians, they sent to for help, as Kimchi, and others; rather, as Jarchi, their idols and graven images they worshipped, angels and saints departed, the Papists pray unto; let...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And shall say, cast ye up, cast ye up,.... A causeway, a highway, for the people of the Jews to return to their own land: this is either said by the Lord, as some supply it; or by the prophet, as Jarchi; or by him that putteth his trust in the Lord, as Kimchi; or rather by one, that is, the first of the living creatures, a set of Gospel ministers,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For thus saith the high and lofty One,.... Who is high above the earth, and the nations of it; higher than the kings in it; the King of kings, and Lord of lords; and so able to save his people, and destroy his and their enemies; who is higher than the heavens, and the angels there; who is exalted above the praises of his people; the knowledge of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For I will not contend for ever,.... By afflictive providences; with the humble and contrite, the end being in a great measure answered by their humiliation and contrition; when God afflicts his people, it shows that he has a controversy with them, for their good, and his own glory; and when these ends are obtained, he will carry it on no longer:...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him, .... Not the greedy watchmen of the church of Rome, Isaiah 56:10, but teachers and preachers in the reformed churches, who mind their own things, and not the things of Christ; seek after good benefices and livings, temporalities and pluralities, and to be lord bishops; taking the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I have seen his ways, and will heal him,.... Either the ways of such who trust in the Lord, the ways of the humble and contrite, who are brought by repentance and reformation, by the dealings of God with them; these he sees, knows, and approves of, and heals their former backslidings; for though not all, yet some may be reformed hereby; or rather...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I create the fruit of the lips,.... Which is praise and thanksgiving, Hebrews 13:16 that is, give occasion of it, afford matter for it, by restoring comforts to the church and its mourners, as in the preceding verse; and by giving peace, as in all the following words. The Targum renders it, "the speech of the lips in the mouth of all men;'' as if...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest,.... Disturbed by winds, storms, and hurricanes, when its waves rise, rage, and tumble about, and beat against the shore and sand, threatening to pass the bounds fixed for it. In such like agitations will the minds of wicked men be, through the terrors of conscience for their sins; or...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. They have no share in the peace made by the blood of Christ; they have no true, solid, inward peace of conscience; nor will they have any part in the happiness and prosperity of the church and people of God in the latter day, which will but add to their uneasiness; and will have no lot and portion in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Isaiah 58 From the wicked and antichristian party the prophet is bid to turn to the professors of the true religion, and openly, boldly, and sharply, reprove them for their sins, particularly their hypocrisy and formality in worship, Isaiah 58:1, who yet were angry, and complained that the Lord took no notice of their religious...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet,.... These words are directed to the prophet; and so the Targum expresses it, "O prophet, cry with thy throat;'' and so it is in the original, "cry with the throat" (d), which is an instrument of speech; and it denotes a loud, strong, vehement cry, when a man exerts his voice, and as it were...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Yet they seek me daily,.... Which may be considered as an acknowledgment of their external piety; or as a caution to the prophet not to be imposed upon by outward appearances; or as a reason why they should be rebuked sharply: they sought the Lord, either by prayer, or in the ministry of the word; they sought doctrine, as the Targum; they sought...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not?.... Our fasting; takest no notice of it; expresses no approbation of it, and pleasure in it: this is put for all religious services, being what was frequently performed under the Old Testament, not only at certain times appointed by the Lord, but on other occasions, and of their own fixing;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Behold, ye fast for strife and debate,.... Brawling with their servants for not doing work enough; or quarrelling with their debtors for not paying their debts; or the main of their religion lay in contentions and strifes about words, vain hot disputations about rites and ceremonies in worship, as is well known to have been the case of the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Is it such a fast that I have chosen?.... That is, can this be thought to be a fast approved of by me, and acceptable to me, before described, and is as follows: a day for a man to afflict his soul? only to appoint a certain day, and keep that, by abstaining from bodily food, and so for a short time afflict himself; or only after this manner to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Is not this the fast that I have chosen?.... Which God has appointed, he approves of, and is well pleasing in his sight; these are works and services more agreeable to him, which follow, without which the rest will be rejected: to loose the bands of wickedness; which some understand of combinations in courts of judicature to oppress and distress...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry?.... Or "to break" (f) it, divide it, and communicate it to them; that which is "bread", food fit to eat, wholesome and nourishing; which is thine, and not another's; which thou hast saved by fasting, and therefore should not be laid up, but given away; and that not to the rich, who need it not, but to the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning,.... Through thick clouds, or the darkness of the night, suddenly, swiftly, irresistibly, and increase more and more, till it is perfect day. This is to be understood best of temporal and spiritual prosperity, especially the latter, which will attend the churches of the Reformation, when a spirit of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then shall thou call, and the Lord shall answer,.... A spirit of grace and supplication will be poured out upon the people of God; they will then pray without a form, and call upon the Lord in sincerity and truth, with faith and fervency; and the Lord will hear and answer them, and plentifully bestow his favours on them, so that they will have no...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry,.... Not only deal out thy bread, but thy soul also, to him; that is, give him food cheerfully, with a good will, expressing a hearty love and affection for him; do it heartily, as to the Lord; let thy soul go along with it; and this is true of affectionate ministers of the Gospel, who not only impart...