Isaiah 57:13 - Meaning and Application

Here, God shows how unable idols and creatures are to help those who worship and trust them (Isaiah 57:13). When you cry out in your distress and anguish, when you complain of your misery and ask for help, let your companies deliver you, your idol gods and the many helpers you have gathered to yourself. Let them rescue you if they can. You should expect no other help from them than what they can truly give.

God said the same thing to Israel when they were in trouble and called on him, “Go and cry to the gods you have chosen; let them deliver you” (Judges 10:14). But it is useless to hope for salvation from idols. The wind will carry them all away, the wind of God’s wrath, the breath of his mouth that destroys the wicked. They have made themselves like chaff, so the wind will naturally blow them away. They are empty, and they will be taken away in emptiness. They will be reduced to nothing, and nothing will be the reward of both the idols and those who worship them.

God also shows that he himself is fully enough for the comfort and rescue of all who trust him and come to him. Their safety and joy are the more complete because their hopes end in real blessing, while those who look elsewhere are disappointed. He that trusts in me alone, he says, will be happy in soul and body, in this life and in the next.

In general, those who trust God’s providence, his wise care for their lives, take the best path for their earthly good. They will possess the land, as much of it as is right for them, and what they have will come from a good hand and be held by a good title. “Dwell in the land, and enjoy safe pasture” is the promise of (Psalm 37:3). Those who trust God’s grace take the best path for their spiritual good. They will inherit my holy mountain. They will enjoy the church’s blessings on earth and, at last, the joys of heaven, and no wind will carry them away.

More particularly, the captives who trust in God will be set free (Isaiah 57:14). They shall say, that is, the messengers of God’s providence will say in that great work, “Build up, build up, prepare the way.” When God’s time for deliverance comes, the road to it will be made clear and easy. Obstacles will be removed. Hard things that seemed impossible will be quickly overcome, and everything will work together to speed their return and make it easier. See (Isaiah 40:3-4). This also points to what the gospel and its grace have prepared for our safe passage through this world to a better one. The way of religion is now made open. It is a highway. Ministers are to guide people in it and help them over the discouragements they face, so that nothing may trip them up.

The broken-hearted who trust in God will be renewed, too (Isaiah 57:15). Those who looked to idols and creatures for help went after outward show and pleasures (Isaiah 57:9). But here God shows that those who may expect help from him are the ones who are cut off from the world’s show and from the pleasures of the senses. God’s glory shines very brightly here.

First, it shines in his greatness and majesty. He is the high and lifted up One, the One who lives forever. This should fill us with a very high view of the God we deal with. His being and his perfections are infinitely above every creature, not only above what creatures possess, but also above what they can even think about him. He is far above all blessing and praise (Nehemiah 9:5). He is the high and lofty One, with no creature like him and none to compare with him. This also shows his ruling authority over all, and his unquestionable right to give both law and judgment to all. He is higher than the highest, higher than the highest heavens (Ecclesiastes 5:8; Psalm 113:4).

It also means that with God there is no beginning or end, and no change with time. He alone has immortality, that is, endless life that never dies out (1 Timothy 6:16). He has it from himself, and he has it always. He lives in it, and no one can remove him from it. We will soon move into eternity, but God always lives there.

It also means there is perfect righteousness in his nature, complete harmony in himself, and a steady purpose to bring glory to himself in everything he does. This is shown in everything by which he has made himself known, for his name is holy. Anyone who wants to know him must know him as a holy God. It also means that the special dwelling place and display of his glory is in the bright and blessed places above: “I dwell in the high and holy place.” Whoever has business with God must come to him as their Father in heaven, for there he dwells.

These great truths are given to stir up holy reverence, to strengthen our trust, and to magnify God’s mercy and kindness toward us. Though he is so high, he still looks with favor on the lowly. He who rides on the heavens by his name JAH stoops to care for poor widows and fatherless children (Psalm 68:4-5).

Second, God’s grace and mercy shine here. He has tender pity for the humble and contrite, the lowly and broken-hearted. If they belong to him, he will not ignore them, even if they are poor, low in the world, and despised and mistreated by people. Here, though, the focus is on their inward state. He gives careful attention to those who, in their affliction, accept their condition and bring their hearts into agreement with it, however low, sad, or wounded it may be. He especially cares for those who truly repent of sin, who mourn over it in secret, who fear the wrath of God they have brought on themselves, and who submit to all his discipline.

With such people God will dwell. He will visit them graciously and speak with them through his Word and Spirit as one does with family. He will stay near to them and be present with them. The One who lives in the highest heavens also lives in the lowest hearts and dwells in sincerity as surely as he dwells in eternity. He takes delight in them.

He will also revive their hearts and spirits. By the Word and Spirit of his grace, he will speak and work in them what gives life again, like a strengthening drink to someone near fainting. He will give them fresh joys and hopes strong enough to outweigh the griefs and fears that crush them. He dwells with them, and his presence gives life.

Those with whom he contends, if they trust in him, will also be helped and brought back into favor (Isaiah 57:16). He will revive the heart of the contrite, for he will not keep contending forever.

Nothing breaks a sinner’s heart more than God’s opposition, and nothing restores it more than when he stops contending. That is why this verse gives a gracious promise. God does not promise that he will never be angry with his people, because their sins still grieve him. He also does not promise that he will never discipline them, because they must expect correction.

Still, he will not contend forever, and he will not stay angry forever. As he is not quick to anger, so he is not slow to calm down. He will not always rebuke. Even when he convicts them of sin, he will not keep doing so forever, but will give them the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit who brings them into God’s family instead of fear and slavery. He may wound, but he will also heal.

The same is true when he corrects them through trouble in life. His discipline will not last endlessly, and it will not last longer than needed, than they can bear, or than it takes to do its work (1 Peter 1:6). Even if a believer’s whole life is filled with sorrow, his end will be peace, and so will his eternity.

This promise rests on a very tender reason: “If I kept contending forever, the spirit would grow weak before me, even the souls I have made.” God is the Father of spirits (Hebrews 12:9). The souls he will not always contend with are the ones he has made, both by creation and by new birth through regeneration, which means giving new spiritual life.

God cares about the body, but he is concerned above all for the soul, so that the spirit does not fail, along with its graces and comforts. When troubles go on for a long time, even good people are tempted to grow weary. They may begin to think badly of God, feel that serving him is useless, push comfort away, and lose hope of relief. Then the spirit fails.

For that reason, God will not contend forever. He will not give up the work of his own hands, and he will not spoil the purchase made by his Son’s blood. This is based not on our worthiness, but on our weakness. He remembers that we are flesh (Psalm 78:39), and that flesh is weak.