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41. The Helper of Israel

¹ “Be silent before me, you islands!
Let the nations renew their strength!
Let them come forward and speak;
let us meet together at the place of judgment.

    ² “Who has stirred up one from the east,
   calling him in righteousness to his service Or east, / whom victory meets at every step?
He hands nations over to him
   and subdues kings before him.
He turns them to dust with his sword,
   to windblown chaff with his bow.
³ He pursues them and moves on unscathed,
   by a path his feet have not traveled before.
⁴ Who has done this and carried it through,
   calling forth the generations from the beginning?
I, the LORD—with the first of them
   and with the last—I am he.”

    ⁵ The islands have seen it and fear;
   the ends of the earth tremble.
They approach and come forward;
    ⁶ they help each other
   and say to their companions, “Be strong!”
⁷ The metalworker encourages the goldsmith,
   and the one who smooths with the hammer
   spurs on the one who strikes the anvil.
One says of the welding, “It is good.”
   The other nails down the idol so it will not topple.

    ⁸ “But you, Israel, my servant,
   Jacob, whom I have chosen,
   you descendants of Abraham my friend,
⁹ I took you from the ends of the earth,
   from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, ‘You are my servant’;
   I have chosen you and have not rejected you.
¹⁰ So do not fear, for I am with you;
   do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
   I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

    ¹¹ “All who rage against you
   will surely be ashamed and disgraced;
those who oppose you
   will be as nothing and perish.
¹² Though you search for your enemies,
   you will not find them.
Those who wage war against you
   will be as nothing at all.
¹³ For I am the LORD your God
   who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
   I will help you.
¹⁴ Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob,
   little Israel, do not fear,
for I myself will help you,” declares the LORD,
   your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
¹⁵ “See, I will make you into a threshing sledge,
   new and sharp, with many teeth.
You will thresh the mountains and crush them,
   and reduce the hills to chaff.
¹⁶ You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up,
   and a gale will blow them away.
But you will rejoice in the LORD
   and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

    ¹⁷ “The poor and needy search for water,
   but there is none;
   their tongues are parched with thirst.
But I the LORD will answer them;
   I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
¹⁸ I will make rivers flow on barren heights,
   and springs within the valleys.
I will turn the desert into pools of water,
   and the parched ground into springs.
¹⁹ I will put in the desert
   the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive.
I will set junipers in the wasteland,
   the fir and the cypress together,
²⁰ so that people may see and know,
   may consider and understand,
that the hand of the LORD has done this,
   that the Holy One of Israel has created it.

    ²¹ “Present your case,” says the LORD.
   “Set forth your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.
²² “Tell us, you idols,
   what is going to happen.
Tell us what the former things were,
   so that we may consider them
   and know their final outcome.
Or declare to us the things to come,
    ²³ tell us what the future holds,
   so we may know that you are gods.
Do something, whether good or bad,
   so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear.
²⁴ But you are less than nothing
   and your works are utterly worthless;
   whoever chooses you is detestable.

    ²⁵ “I have stirred up one from the north, and he comes—
   one from the rising sun who calls on my name.
He treads on rulers as if they were mortar,
   as if he were a potter treading the clay.
²⁶ Who told of this from the beginning, so we could know,
   or beforehand, so we could say, ‘He was right’?
No one told of this,
   no one foretold it,
   no one heard any words from you.
²⁷ I was the first to tell Zion, ‘Look, here they are!’
   I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good news.
²⁸ I look but there is no one—
   no one among the gods to give counsel,
   no one to give answer when I ask them.
²⁹ See, they are all false!
   Their deeds amount to nothing;
   their images are but wind and confusion.

18. and 19. I will open rivers. He illustrates the former doctrine in a different manner, namely, that God has no need of outward and natural means for aiding his Church, but has at his command secret, and wonderful methods, by which he can relieve their necessities, contrary to all hope and outward appearance. When no means of relief are seen, we quickly fall into despair, and scarcely venture to entertain any hope, but so far as outward aids are presented to our eyes. Deprived of these, we cannot rest on the Lord. But the Prophet states that at that time especially they ought to trust, because at that time the Lord has more abundant opportunities of displaying his power, when men perceive no ways or methods, and everything appears to be utterly desperate. Contrary, then, to the hope and belief of all men, the Lord will assist his people, that we may not suffer ourselves to be driven hither and thither by doubt and hesitation.

On lofty mountain tops. In order to confirm his statement more fully, he promises that he will perform miracles contrary to the nature and order of things, that we may not imagine that we should think and judge of these things according to human capacity, or limit the power and promises of God to these inferior means. ¹⁴³¹⁴³ “Aux causes secondes.” “To second causes.” The Lord has sufficient power in himself, and needs not to borrow from any other, and is not confined to the order of nature, which he can easily change, whenever he thinks fit; for when he says that he will make waters to flow on the tops of mountains, and fountains in valleys, and pools in deserts, we know that all this is contrary to the order of nature. The reason why he promised these things is abundantly evident. It was that the Jews might not think that they were prevented from returning to Judea by that vast desert in which travelers are scorched by the heat of the sun, and deprived of all the necessaries of life. The Lord therefore promises that he will supply them with water, and with everything else that is necessary for the journey. Now, these things were fulfilled when the Lord brought his people out of Babylon, but much more abundantly when he converted the whole world to himself by Christ the Redeemer, from whom flow in great abundance throughout the whole world waters to quench the thirst of poor sinners. ¹⁴⁴¹⁴⁴ “Des poures pecheurs.” At that time such a change took place as could never have entered into the imaginations of men.