Isaiah 33:6, commentary and pictures

The Lord is exalted because He dwells on high, and He fills His people with judgment and righteousness, making wisdom and knowledge from Him the stability of their times and the strength of their salvation. That wisdom and knowledge come from God and His Word, giving steadiness amid upheaval and conflicting claims and a sure foundation for building character and finding happiness. Christ Himself is His people's life, strength, wisdom, holiness and righteousness throughout the history of the church, and those who walk righteously in response are secure, provided for, and enabled to see the King in His beauty. Reverent fear of the Lord is His people's treasure, and the highest wisdom is the knowledge of God and obedience to His commandments rather than human learning, power, wealth or mere book-knowledge. True education therefore refuses to let any method crowd out the Word of God, values goodness and noble character above information and ability, and seeks His wisdom before each step so that obedience safeguards integrity, family, society and nation.

Meaning and Promise of Verse

The promise belongs with the exaltation of the Lord because He dwells on high, and with His filling Zion with judgment and righteousness. That exalted rule is the setting for stability and salvation, for judgment and righteousness mark His government in Zion.

Wisdom and knowledge from God and from His Word give stability to life and to their times amid upheaval and conflicting claims. They are strength for salvation and for happiness, making the times stable for His people. In perplexity and competing claims, doing what God says is the sure rule, so that decisions are sure and guided by Him rather than made hastily or by old habits. They provide the sure foundation and guide for building character.

Christ Himself is His people's life and strength, efficiency and power, wisdom and holiness and righteousness. He supplies what the verse promises throughout the history of the church to those who heed His invitation. The verse is the prayer of sincere hearts that realize what Christ is to them and confess the Lord exalted on high.

Those who walk righteously in response are secure and provided for, and shall see the King in His beauty. Reverence for the Lord, the fear of the Lord, is His people's treasure. It is held as treasure alongside wisdom and knowledge rooted in the Lord.

Education and Faithful Living

The highest of all education and the highest wisdom is the knowledge of God and of His principles, not human learning or power. That same knowledge is set above wealth, above scientific learning, and above mere book-knowledge and information from books. Wisdom and knowledge from God and from above give stability in their time and strength for salvation, while reverence for the Lord is treasure, and they steady His people because the Lord exalted on high fills Zion with judgment and righteousness. No method of education should crowd out the Word of God, for human book-knowledge cannot replace wisdom from above, and learning that pushes God aside undermines the purpose of education. That purpose is to take in light in order to impart light in good works, and to gain fitness for heaven as doers of His Word, living by His righteousness and equipped with wisdom to serve Him.

True education therefore values goodness and noble character above information and intellectual ability. It teaches people to use all their powers and knowledge wisely, under steadfast principle and in their obligations to themselves, to the world, and to God, with wisdom and knowledge giving stability to life and strength in salvation. This wisdom consists in obeying God's commandments, for the wisdom and knowledge imparted by God's Word are the stability of life and the strength of salvation. In life's perplexities and competing claims, doing what God says is the sure rule and secure guide, providing the sure foundation for building character. Such obedience safeguards personal integrity, family purity, society's well-being, and national stability.

Wisdom and knowledge make the people's times stable and are strength for salvation when God's wisdom is sought before taking each step. Decisions then are sure and guided by Him rather than made hastily or by old habits.