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| 1 Alas! thou plunderer, when, thou, hadst not been plundered, And thou traitor, when they had not betrayed thee: When thou hast ceased plundering, thou shalt be plundered, When thou hast left off betraying, they shall betray thee. |
Thee that spoilest – We will know who is meant when the time of trouble is fully on, or nearly over. R2488:5
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| 2 O Yahweh! shew us favour,–For thee, have we waited,–Be thou their arm every morning, Yea our salvation in the time of distress. |
Be gracious unto us – The saints in the time of trouble. A338; R1470:5
Be thou their arm – The helper of all truth seekers, even though not overcomers. R1470:5
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| 3 At the noise of a tumult, the peoples retreated,–When thou didst lift thyself up, nations were scattered. |
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| 4 Then shall your spoil, be gathered, as the gathering of the caterpillar,–As the swift running of locusts, is he about to run upon them. |
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| 5 Exalted, is Yahweh, for he inhabiteth a height,–He hath filled Zion, with justice and righteousness. |
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| 6 So shall a wealth of deliverances, wisdom and knowledge, become the stability of thy times,–the reverence of Yahweh, the same, is his treasure. |
Fear of the LORD – Reverence. R1470:5
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| 7 Lo! their heroes, have cried out openly,–The messengers of peace, in bitterness, continue weeping [they say]: |
Shall cry without – Shall become discouraged and weep, powerless to stem the tide of anarchy. R1470:5
Verses 7 to 14 give a vivid description of the awful time of trouble. R5735:4
Ambassadors of peace – Those who are crying "Peace, peace" and predicting a Millennium of peace by arbitration. R1470:5
Shall weep bitterly – When the time of trouble brings their hopes to naught. R1470:5
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| 8 The highways, are deserted, The passer-by on the path, hath ceased,–He hath broken covenant, He hath despised cities, He hath made no account of men. |
The highways – Of commerce. R1470:6
The wayfaring man – The traveler. R1470:6
Broken the covenant – Contracts cease to be of value. R1470:6
Despised the cities – Which, because depending on commerce, will become very undesirable places. R1470:6
Regardeth no man – Principles of honor and manhood will no longer be regarded or trusted. R1470:6
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| 9 The land mourneth, languisheth, Lebanon, displayeth shame, is withered,–Sharon, hath become, as the waste plain, And Bashan and Carmel, are shaking off their leaves. |
The earth – Society in general. R1470:6
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| 10 Now, will I arise, Saith Yahweh, Now, will I lift myself up, Now, will I be exalted! |
Lift up myself – The appointed time to overthrow the present order of things and establish the Kingdom of God having come. R1874:2
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| 11 Ye shall conceive chaff, Ye shall bring forth stubble,–Your own breath, like fire, shall devour you. |
Ye – The "sinners in Zion." (Verse 14) R1874:3
Bring forth stubble – When you draw the worldly into the nominal church. R1874:3
Your breath – False doctrines of belief and policy. R1874:3
As fire – Shall set her on fire. R1470:6
Shall devour you – Lead to fearful trouble and destruction. R1874:3
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| 12 So shall, peoples, become, as the burnings of lime,–As thorns lopped off, with fire, shall they be burned. |
The people – Assembled as a religious union. R1874:3
Burnings of lime – An organization of such heterogeneous elements must, of necessity, be self-destructive. R1874:3
Like staking lime; the heat will be intensified as the water of truth is cast on, until the hardness of heart is all dissolved, bringing them into complete harmony with the laws of the Millennial Kingdom. R1470:6
As thorns – The coming religious union will be a union of thorns; each party will be a thorn in the flesh of the other. R1874:3; D552, D267
Cut up – Made ready. R1874:3
Burned in the fire – Consumed; have their opportunities for doing evil destroyed. R1470:6
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| 13 Hear–ye that are far off, what I have done, And know–ye that are near, my might: |
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| 14 Terror-stricken in Zion,–are sinners, Shuddering hath seized, the impious,–Who, among us can sojourn with a fire that devoureth? Who, among us can sojourn with burnings age-abiding? |
The sinners in Zion – In nominal spiritual Zion. D23
Who have forgotten, or failed to keep, their covenant with the Lord. C304
Wilfully blind leaders and their wilfully blind followers who love and prefer error. R1874:5
Are afraid – Of the clouds of the time of trouble. C304
The hypocrites – Those of the clergy who offer their own false reasonings along the lines of Evolution as superior to the Word of God. R1874:6
They are seized with the fear of sectarian fences, gates and bars; wild lest their hypocrisy be revealed. CR351:2; HG557:6
Who among us – A class who will not be consumed. R1470:6
Like the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace, coming out of the flames without even the smell of fire upon them. R2087:4*
Everlasting burnings – The trouble which threatens to last until the whole present order of things is consumed. R1875:2, R2087:4*
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| 15 He that walketh righteously, And speaketh uprightly,–He that refuseth the gain of exactions, That shaketh his hands free from holding a bribe, That stoppeth his ear from hearkening to deeds of blood, And shutteth his eyes from giving countenance to wrong, |
Walketh righteously – Who have no part nor lot with the workers of iniquity. R1875:2
Contrary to the course of this present world. R1875:4
Speaketh uprightly – Bold and fearless presentation of the truth. R1875:4
Gain of oppressions – Refusing to be profited by any unrighteous scheme. R2087:3*
Holding of bribes – Cannot be bribed to do evil. R2087:3*, R1875:5
Hearing of blood – Any scheme that might cost another's life, or wreck him morally, physically or financially. R1471:1, R2087:3*
From seeing evil – From beholding evil approvingly or with quiet acquiescence. R2087:3*
Determined opposition to sin in all its forms and a firm resistance to it. R3114:4
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| 16 He, the heights, shall inhabit, A stronghold of crags, shall be his refuge,–His bread, hath been delivered, His waters, have been made sure. |
He shall – The Church of Christ. Q270:T
Dwell on high – Above the fears, unrest and distress which will overwhelm the world. R1875:5
In the place of divine favor. R2087:4*
Munitions of rocks – The Rock of Ages. R1875:5
Bread – The Bread of life, spiritual and physical. R1875:5
"Give us this day our daily bread." (Matt. 6:11) R5202:4
Shall be given him – Whatever we have, we acknowledge our dependence upon the Lord for what he provides for us; and we ask for nothing beyond what he does provide. R5202:5
He who sustained Elijah can equally sustain us. R2326:3
His waters – The water of life, spiritual and physical. R1875:5
Many of nominal Israel are hungry and thirsty. In the meantime the Church of Christ is in the protected place. R5032:1
Shall be sure – The Lord has promised to provide for our temporal wants as well as our eternal welfare, not sumptuously, but nevertheless surely. R1313:1, R1745:2
This may have applied to the Jews at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and others who have put their trust in the Lord. R5031:6; Q269:8
"I shall not want." (Psa. 23:1) R1745:2
Bread, water, plain clothing; but what some fear is the loss of some of the comforts, the luxuries which God has not guaranteed us. R832:5
The saints have little to fear from financial disasters. R2274:5
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| 17 Of a king, in his beauty, shall thine eyes, have vision: They shall see a land that stretcheth afar. |
Thine eyes shall see – The eyes of faith shall catch the inspiration of the glory to be revealed. R2087:5* C304
The king in his beauty – The beauty of holiness. R2087:6*
Reigning in power and great glory. R2087:5*
A blessed and inspiring promise. R5863:1
The land – Paradise restored. C304
That is very far off – Beyond the vista of a thousand years. C304
Looking through the telescope of God's Word, it is a glorious vision. R2087:4*
"But he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off." (2 Pet. 1:9) R2097:6*
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| 18 Thy heart, may murmur in terror,–Where is the scribe? Where–the receiver? Where–he that maketh a list of the towers? |
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| 19 The fierce people, shalt thou not see,–The people, of too deep a lip to be understood, of too barbarous a tongue for thee to comprehend. |
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| 20 Look thou on Zion, the city of our appointed feast,–Thine own eyes, shall see Jerusalem–A home of comfort A tent which shall not be packed up–Whose pins, shall not be pulled out, for ever, And none of, whose cords, shall be broken. |
Shall see Jerusalem – Restored earthly Jerusalem and her priesthood. R35:4*
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| 21 But, there, shall Yahweh be our majestic, one, A place of rivers–streams broad on both hands, Wherein shall go no galley with oars, Neither shall majestic ship traverse it; |
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| 22 For, Yahweh, is our judge, Yahweh, is our lawgiver,–Yahweh, is our king, He, will save, us! |
The LORD is our king – Our esteem, homage and obedience must be to him whom the Lord has appointed, King Immanuel. R3219:4
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| 23 Loosed, are thy ropes,–They cannot strengthen the socket of their mast, They have not unfurled a sail, Now, can be apportioned spoil, in abundance, The lame, have captured prey! |
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| 24 Neither shall the inhabitant say, I am sick,–The people who dwell therein, have been forgiven iniquity. |
And the inhabitant – Of paradise restored. C304; R1072:6*
Not say, I am sick – The final results at the close of the Millennium. R1073:1
After the Redeemer shall, during the Millennium, have put away sin. R4587:2
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