Isaiah moved from a hymn of praise to a prayer that has two parts: present waiting for God (vv. 7-10) and future expectation from God (vv. 11-19).
26:7 Presently the path of the righteous is smooth in that the trip from justification to glorification is secure, though in experience we encounter many obstacles. Isaiah prayed that the "Upright One"would make the road that the righteous tread level in experience (cf. Matt. 6:13). He used this unusual name for God because He wanted the One who is altogether right to make the path of His people altogether right.
26:8 The faithful people of God, Isaiah added, have waited for the Lord to act while following His commandments. They have sought a greater appreciation of Him rather than a change in their circumstances (cf. 1 John 1:1-4).
"Waiting is very difficult for most people, for it is an admission that there is nothing we can do at the moment to achieve our ends. Yet that admission is the first requirement for spiritual blessing. Until we have admitted that we cannot save ourselves, God cannot save us."249
26:9 Waiting was the experience of Isaiah individually as it was the experience of the faithful Israelites collectively. He sought the Lord rather than seeking a change in his circumstances. He recognized that God intends His commandments and His providential acts to teach people righteousness.
26:10 Yet the unrighteous do not learn the righteousness of God from His word or his ways to the extent that they should. They do not understand but continue in sin and remain spiritually blind (cf. Rom. 3:9-18).
Isaiah's concern changed from present to future conditions.
26:11 Even though the unrighteous do not recognize God's messages to them now, they will one day understand, when He brings these enemies of His into judgment.
26:12 Yahweh would establish peace for His people (v. 3) because everything that they had done He had really done for them (cf. Phil. 2:12-13). We cannot establish peace for ourselves, but He will. Only He can break through the darkness of human depravity (Jon. 2:9).
26:13 Even though the Israelites had other earthly masters through their history (Pharaoh, the Philistines, et al.), it was Yahweh their God who kept them following Him.
". . . fidelity is not an attribute native to the people of God but a gift which he enables them to exercise."250
26:14 Those who oppressed God's people have died and are gone because God punished them. Many of their names have even been forgotten and are irretrievable by historians.251
26:15 Rather than Israel dying out as a nation, the Lord had increased her, as he promised Abraham (Gen. 15:5). This was not Israel's doing; the Lord had increased her borders and so gained great glory for Himself. During the reigns of David and Solomon the Israelites experienced numerical growth and geographical expansion. God would do the same for them in the future.
"It is worth remembering that the land promised to Israel in Exodus 23:31 was never fully occupied, even in the days of David and Solomon, but that the bounds of the messianic kingdom are to be wider still (cf. Ps 72:8)."252
26:16 The period of the judges is a good example of what the prophet wrote here. The Israelites suffered chastening from the Lord for departing from Him, but when they sought Him in their distress, even with just a whispered prayer, He saved them (cf. 1 Sam. 1:12-15).
26:17-18 During Isaiah's own times Israel went through many pains, as a woman in labor. But rather than giving birth to something significant, the salvation of the world or many individuals, these experiences only proved painful for the Israelites. They had not learned from God's dealings with them any more than the nations had (v. 10).
26:19 Was Isaiah referring to national survival or to individual resurrection here? Probably both.253He had been talking about the near-death experiences of Israel in the preceding verses (vv. 16-18), and he had already revealed that a remnant would enter the Millennium (25:6-10; cf. Ezek. 37). However, in the same passage the prophet also looked forward to the abolition of death itself (25:7-8). So probably we have both a figurative and a literal resurrection in view, a figurative resurrection of Israel in the future and a literal resurrection of Israelites in the future (cf. Dan. 12:2; Job 19:26).254As dew descends, God would come to the Israelites bringing refreshment and vitality (cf. Ps. 72:6; Hos. 14:5).
