Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.
In Isaiah 25-26 the verse stands within a picture of the preparation God has made for salvation, where the gospel covenant is represented by a marriage and the dinner made ready, the feast is the blessing of pardon and the removing of sins by free access of grace to the riches of His glory, and the wedding garment is the righteousness of Christ. It is exaltation and praise of God for wonderful things, for His counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. Strong peoples glorify Him and the city of the terrible nations fears Him after He makes a city a heap, a defended and fortified city a ruin, and the palace of strangers to be no city, never to be rebuilt.
The glorifying and fearing come because He has been a strength to the poor and to the needy in distress, a refuge from the storm and a shadow from the heat. That help comes when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall, bringing down the noise of strangers and laying low the branch of the terrible ones. The verse belongs to the future when the Lord will have destroyed all pride and self-exaltation. It belongs to God's counsels to His covenant people, which are all faithfulness and truth, showing that mercy and righteousness have their foundation in understanding and obeying the will of the Lord.
The verse therefore calls for having the spirit of Christ in praise and thanksgiving to God, pressing together in unity, and making zealous efforts to save souls by practicing the truth and being doers of the Word, instead of murmuring and complaining and being ready to accuse and pick flaws.
In Isaiah 25-26 the verse stands within a picture of the preparation God has made for salvation, where the gospel covenant is represented by a marriage and the dinner made ready, the feast is the blessing of pardon and the removing of sins by free access of grace to the riches of His glory, and the wedding garment is the righteousness of Christ. It is exaltation and praise of God for wonderful things, for His counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. Strong peoples glorify Him and the city of the terrible nations fears Him after He makes a city a heap, a defended and fortified city a ruin, and the palace of strangers to be no city, never to be rebuilt.
The glorifying and fearing come because He has been a strength to the poor and to the needy in distress, a refuge from the storm and a shadow from the heat. That help comes when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall, bringing down the noise of strangers and laying low the branch of the terrible ones. The verse belongs to the future when the Lord will have destroyed all pride and self-exaltation. It belongs to God's counsels to His covenant people, which are all faithfulness and truth, showing that mercy and righteousness have their foundation in understanding and obeying the will of the Lord.
The verse therefore calls for having the spirit of Christ in praise and thanksgiving to God, pressing together in unity, and making zealous efforts to save souls by practicing the truth and being doers of the Word, instead of murmuring and complaining and being ready to accuse and pick flaws.