Isaiah 32:1 - Meaning and Application

Here the prophet describes a thriving kingdom. “Blessed are you, O land, when it is like this,” when kings, princes, and people each stand in the right place and do the right work. This can serve as a guide for both rulers and subjects, showing what each should do. It can also be read as praise for Hezekiah, a good king of Judah, whose wise rule brought real blessing. The point is to make the people feel how happy they were under his government, how carefully they should use its benefits, and to direct them to look ahead to the kingdom of Christ and the reform it would bring.

The promise here is meant for the comfort of the church. First, rulers should do their duty, and their authority should serve the great purpose for which God appointed it (Isaiah 32:1, Isaiah 32:2). There will be a king and princes who rule as they should, because things do not go well when Israel has no king. The princes need a king over them as the highest authority, one in whom they can unite. The king also needs princes under him as officers through whom he acts (1 Peter 2:13, 1 Peter 2:14). Each should know his place and fill it. The king rules at the top, and the princes rule in a lower place, but all for the public good.

They will use their power according to law, not against it. They will rule with righteousness and justice, with wisdom and fairness, protecting the good and punishing the wicked. Christ approves such kings and princes, those who decree justice (Proverbs 8:15). Christ himself is that kind of King and Prince. He rules by right, and in righteousness he will judge the world (Isaiah 9:7; Isaiah 11:4).

Such rulers are great blessings to the people (Isaiah 32:2). A man, that man, the king who rules in righteousness, will be like a hiding place. When rulers are as they should be, the people are as they would wish. They protect people from harm, like shelter from a storm of injury and violence. They defend the poor and the fatherless, so they are not made prey by the powerful. When innocent people are attacked by lies or force, they can appeal to the magistrate as their hiding place, and he can set things right.

They also refresh and comfort people with many good gifts. A good ruler gives support to the poor and distressed, and he encourages everything that is right and good. He is like streams of water in a dry land, cooling, nourishing, and making the soil fruitful. He is like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, where a tired traveler can rest from the hot sun. It is deeply encouraging for a faithful person, who keeps doing right even when mocked and opposed, to be backed, favored, and openly approved by a good ruler. All this, and much more, the Lord Jesus Christ is to every willing and faithful subject of his kingdom.

When the greatest troubles come on us, even storms of guilt and judgment, they drive us to Christ. In him we are not only safe, but we know we are safe. In him we find streams of water for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, all the refreshment and comfort a needy soul could want. And his shade is not like the shadow of a tree, which wind or rain can break through, but like the shadow of a rock, a great rock that gives wide and strong shelter. Some have also noted that, just as the hiding place and the rock take the force of the storm themselves to protect those who shelter there, so Christ bore the storm himself to keep it from us.

Second, subjects should do their duty in their place. They should be willing to be taught and ready to understand things rightly. They must lay aside prejudice against their rulers and teachers, and submit to the light and power of truth (Isaiah 32:3). When this blessed work of reform begins and people do their part, God will do his. Then the eyes of those who see, the prophets and seers, will not be dim. God will give them fresh visions to share with the people. Those who read the written word will no longer have a veil over their hearts, but will see clearly. Those who hear the word preached will listen carefully and receive it willingly, instead of being dull of hearing. This is the work of God’s grace, especially gospel grace, for the Lord has made both the hearing ear and the seeing eye, and has made them new.

A great change will also take place in people through what they are taught (Isaiah 32:4). Their minds will become clear, and they will be able to tell things apart and judge rightly. The hearts of those who were rash and hasty, and could not stop long enough to think, will be cured of that fault and will understand knowledge, because the Spirit of God will open their minds. Christ did this for his disciples after his resurrection (Luke 24:45), showing what he would do for all his people when he gives them understanding (1 John 5:20). The wise plans of good rulers are likely to succeed when their people allow themselves to think carefully and judge things rightly.

They will also gain ready speech. The tongue of those who used to stumble when speaking of the things of God will become clear and ready, as of people who know what they are talking about, believe it, and therefore speak it. There will be such growth in clear, orderly knowledge of God’s truth that some who once seemed least likely will speak wisely about these things, to God’s honor and the good of others. Their hearts will be so full of good matter that their tongues will be like the pen of a skilled writer (Psalm 45:1).

The difference between good and evil, virtue and vice, will be kept clear, and no one will confuse them as those do who call darkness light and light darkness (Isaiah 32:5). The vile will no longer be called liberal. Bad men will no longer be promoted by the prince. When a king rules justly, he will not place in honor and power people who are base, selfish, and willing to do harm as long as they can get what they want. Such men, like Antiochus, the evil ruler mentioned in Daniel 11:21, are sometimes called generous when they are advanced. They are even called benefactors (Luke 22:25). But it will not always be that way. As the world grows wiser, people will be promoted according to their true worth, and honor, which is not fitting for a fool (Proverbs 26:1), will no longer be wasted on such men.

Bad men will no longer be honored among the people, and vice will no longer be dressed up as virtue. No one will call a Nabal, that is, a greedy fool like Nabal, by a noble title, or flatter a selfish man as though he were a great lord or a rich man. Only those who are rich in good works will truly count as rich. It is a good thing for a people when men are judged by their virtue, usefulness, and kindness to others, not by their money or titles of honor.

Whether this was partly fulfilled in Hezekiah’s reign, or whether it points forward to the kingdom of Christ, we do not say. But it gives a fine rule for both rulers and people: respect men according to their true worth. To make this plain, the prophet describes the vile person and the generous person. When we compare them, we see such a wide difference that we would have to forget ourselves to give the same honor to the vile man that belongs only to the generous one.

A vile person and a selfish man will do harm, and the harm grows worse if he is given power. His honors only make him worse, not better, as Isaiah 32:6, 7 says. Such men are always plotting some wrong. They work up evil in their hearts, and their minds are busy with it. Sin takes effort, and sinners often put real work into their wicked plans. The more planning and strategy there is in sin, the more Satan shows in it.

They also carry out their plans by trickery and hypocrisy. While they are thinking out evil, they pretend to be upright, as in Luke 20:20. The worst crimes are often hidden under fair-sounding words about devotion to God, concern for people, or the public good. The vilest people are those who mean the worst while speaking sweetly.

They also speak with wickedness. When they are angry, their ugly speech shows what they really are, and it is unworthy of men of rank or honor. Or when they give a verdict or judgment, they twist the truth and dress injustice up in fine words. They insult God, who is righteous and loves what is right. They bring out error against the Lord, and this is a kind of open disrespect. They give an unjust judgment and then use God’s name to support it, as if their false decision were God’s own, since judgment belongs to him (Deuteronomy 1:17). Nothing is more bold against God than using his name to back up evil.

They also abuse other people, especially those they ought to help. Instead of supplying the needs of the poor, they leave them empty and hungry. They take away what little food they have, or refuse them the help they need and should have received. They also make the thirsty go without drink, cutting off relief people once had and still needed. Such people are truly vile, because they rob the needy of mercy.

Instead of helping the poor when they come before them, they try to ruin them in court. They use lying words to favor the rich, to whom they are clearly partial. Even when the needy speak the truth and their case is clear, these judges are ruled by bribes, not justice. Such selfish and vile men always have servants and helpers ready to carry out their evil plans. Their instruments are wicked, and that is no surprise. But we may take comfort in this, they can do no more harm than God allows.

A truly generous person, one who deserves that name, makes it his business to do good to everyone as far as he is able, as Isaiah 32:8 says. He thinks ahead about how to help. Just as the selfish man plans how to keep everything for himself, the kind man plans how to use what he has in the best way for others. Charity must be guided by wisdom. Good intentions should be carried out carefully, so that the help is not wasted. When a generous man has done all the good he can, he also encourages others to do good as they are able.

There is comfort and benefit in doing good. By generous deeds a man will stand firm, or be established. God’s providence rewards liberality with steady prosperity and a settled reputation. God’s grace also gives a person inward joy and lasting peace. What troubles others will not shake him, because his heart is fixed. This is the reward of charity (Psalm 112:5, 6). Some understand this to mean that a prince, or honorable man, will take honorable courses, and by such noble conduct he will stand firm. It is a good sign for a land when its honored people are truly people of honor, and when its king is truly noble.