Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 12:2
Behold, God [is] my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH [is] my strength and [my] song; he also is become my salvation.
2. Behold, God is my salvation ] Better: Behold the God of my salvation (Psa 88:1).
The second half of the verse is repeated almost verbally from Exo 15:2 my song ] the personal suff. is omitted in Hebr., probably through defective writing.
the Lord JEHOVAH ] Hebr. Yah Yahveh, a combination only recurring in ch. Isa 26:4. Since LXX. and other versions have only one Divine name here it is possible that the second was added in explanation of the rarer contracted form “Jah.”
my salvation ] The word here used ( ysh ‘h) is not found in genuine prophecies of Isaiah (unless ch. Isa 33:2; Isa 33:6 be exceptions).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Behold, God is my salvation – Or, God is the author, or source, of my salvation. It has not been brought about by any human hands, but is to be traced directly to him. The value of a gift is always enhanced by the dignity and excellency of the giver, and it confers an inestimable value on the blessings of salvation, that they are conferred by a being no less than the infinite God. It is not by human or angelic power; but it is to be traced directly and entirely to Yahweh.
I will trust, and not be afraid – Since God is its author; since he is able to defend me, and to perfect that which he has begun, I will confide in him, and not be afraid of the power or machinations of any enemy. In his hands I am safe. God is the foundation of our confidence; and trusting in him, his people shall never be moved.
For the Lord Jehovah – This is one of the four places in which our translators have retained the original word Yahweh, though the Hebrew word occurs often in the Scriptures. The other places where the word Jehovah is retained in our version are, Exo 6:3; Psa 68:18; lsa. Psa 26:4. The original in this place is yah yehovah. The word yah is an abbreviation of the word Yahweh. The abbreviated form is often used for the sake of conciseness, particularly in the Psalms, as in the expression Hallelujah ( halelu–yah), that is, praise Yahweh (Psa 89:9; Psa 94:7, Psa 94:12; Psa 104:35; Psa 105:15; Psa 106:1, Psa 106:48; Psa 111:1; Psa 113:1, et al.) In this place, and Isa 26:4, the repetition of the name seems to be used to denote emphasis; or perhaps to indicate that Yahweh is the same always – an unchangeable God. In two codices of Kennicott, however, the name yah is omitted, and it has been conjectured by some that the repetition is an error of transcribers; but the best MSS. retain it. The Septuagint, the Chaldee, and the Syriac, however, omit it.
Is my strength and my song – The same expression occurs in the hymn that Moses composed after the passage of the Red Sea, in imitation of which this song is evidently composed; Exo 15:2 :
Jehovah is my strength and my song,
And he is become my salvation.
The word strength means, that he is the source of strength, and implies that all who are redeemed are willing to acknowledge that all their strength is n God. The word song implies that he is the proper object of praise; it is to celebrate his praise that the song is composed.
He also is become my salvation – This is also found in the song of Moses Exo 15:2. It means that God had become, or was the author of salvation. It is by his hand that the deliverance bas been effected, and to him should be the praise.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 12:2
Behold, God is my salvation
Rejoicing in God
These words are used by the prophet, in the name of the Church, to set forth the happiness and salvation of the Jews when they shall be gathered in with the fulness of the Gentiles.
They also express the experience of a believer–
I. WITH RESPECT TO HIS MORAL STATE. God is my salvation. Some would have the aid, the consolation, and the favour of God, but refuse His salvation, and remain in sin. This, however, is vain and impossible. The privileges of a believer are unspeakably great, but they all are founded on that change which the grace of God makes in his nature, here called salvation. Salvation is deliverance, and how does this show itself in a believer? He is delivered from darkness (2Co 4:6). From insensibility (Eze 36:26). From pride. From creaturely dependence. From a sense of condemnation (Rom 8:1). From slavery (JohnRo 6:22). He is delivered from misery, into union with God, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost; no longer a stranger and foreigner, but a fellow heir, rejoicing in Christ Jesus, and in the hope of His glory. Observe, to whom the believer refers us as the Author of this salvation–God.
II. WITH RESPECT TO HIS AID. The Lord Jehovah is my strength. If we have not yet learned that our own strength is weakness, and that we shall never be sufficiently strong until the Lord Jehovah Himself strengthens with all might in our inner man, we have learnt little of Christianity. But he who knows that God is his salvation, knows also that God is his strength.
Dost thou fall? Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. Art thou faint? He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increaseth strength. Art thou wounded? A touch of the Divine hand shall heal thee. Art thou buffeted by Satan? God shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. In one word, behold a Divine and almighty power everywhere, and always surrounding you, sufficient for all purposes to bless, support, deliver.
III. WITH RESPECT TO HIS CONSOLATIONS. And my song. Here is an allusion to the ancient custom of composing and singing sacred odes or songs upon occasions of any signal deliverance, or the communication of any peculiar blessing. Such were the songs of Moses and Miriam, when Pharaoh and his host were swallowed up in the Red Sea; of Moses, after he had brought the Israelites to the borders of the promised land; of many of the Psalms of David, etc. Observe, the subject of his song, the Lord Jehovah. His nature; His dispensations.
IV. WITH RESPECT TO HIS CONFIDENCE. I will trust, and not be afraid. (J. Walker, D. D.)
Salvation of the Lord
The physician may be the means of restoring to health, but it is God who performs the cure. The counsellor may give good advice, but it is God who guides by His counsel and conducts to glory. Soldiers may fight our battles, but it is God who crowns them with victory. Friends may try to assist, relieve, and comfort us, but their success depends entirely upon God. From providences and ordinances we may derive much benefit, but for this purpose it is absolutely requisite that they be accompanied with the Divine blessing. In this manner we are taught that salvation is of the Lord. (R. Macculloch.)
Salvation
The word salvation is too narrowly defined in many instances. People suppose that it means a kind of spiritual selfishness which, being expressed in more words, would run in some such fashion as this: Thank God I am safe, whatever may become of anybody else! Any man who can say that, or mean that, or be in any way under such a delusion, simply knows nothing whatever about the spirit of the Gospel. Salvation is one of the largest terms in human speech. Emancipation does not mean–you are now no longer under obligation to serve your old tyrant or your old master. That is but a negative aspect of emancipation. The true meaning is–you are invested with all the responsibilities of organised liberty; you have conferred upon you an opportunity of developing your whole manhood; you may now show the very best aspect of your character, and unless you do it, then slavery were for you better than freedom. It is so with the fullest meaning of this word salvation. Saved people are generous people, beneficent, charitable, anxious about others; nay, the only explanation of their anxiety about others is that they themselves are conscious of having been saved–not saved from fear only, but saved into life, liberty, and conscious possibility of doing great and small things. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The Old Testament interpreted by the New
Behold, God is my salvation. Jerome translates this, Behold, God is my Jesus. Jerome was right in going back to the Old Testament with the key of the New. In fact, we are entitled to begin at Genesis after we have perused the whole Gospel story with the profoundest interest and have received its spirit into our heart. The Gospels explain the Pentateuch. There are arithmetics which are awful in their initial hardness. They are all questions. Arithmetic is the most audacious interrogator I ever knew. But at the end of the arithmetic, in some cases, there is a key. What different reading! There is not a question in the whole key unless it be at the beginning of an answer, and who, having read the answer, does not feel how easy it was to have worked out the sum after all if one had only taken pains enough at the beginning? At the same time there is a strong disposition just to appropriate what the key says, and then, perhaps, to appear before the spectacled master as if we had never heard of such a thing as a key. That would be illegitimate in arithmetic. There have been young arithmeticians who have been guilty of that meanness. But we are called to look at the key in open day; we are referred to the key; we are invited and challenged to peruse it, and then to go back with the key in our hand to work out all the mystery of the lock. This is what Jerome did; so he did not hesitate to take out the word salvation in the second, verse and put in the word Jesus, and say with unction and thankfulness, Behold, God is my Jesus. His name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Salvation, the possession of God
If there is a man or a woman that thinks of salvation as if it were merely a shutting up of some material hell, or the dodging round a corner, so as to escape some external consequence of transgression, let him or her learn this the possession of God is salvation; that and nothing else. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
God our salvation
The prophet has been looking forward through times of darkness and captivity to the coming day of light and freedom; and in the hymn of which our text is the keynote he shows what will be the spirit of the new age, what the prevailing thoughts and emotions of the time. It is an exultant song, but without a word of self-congratulation. It is the keynote of the kingdom of heaven; and the regeneration of society for which ardent spirits long will not be reached until this old song become again a voice of the time.
1. We are far enough from it now. We have the song in our Bibles, we quote it in our pulpits, we sing it in our church services, but it is not in our modern life. There is nothing of it in the current literature. It is the function of the poet to give voice to the nobler thoughts and emotions of his time. Now can you imagine a poet of our times bursting out into a song like that; and if he did, would the editors of our first-class reviews be eager to glorify their pages with it? Instead of exultation in the name of God, there is all eagerness to avoid it. It is not that the age is indifferent: there is much real earnestness. The word salvation is not much in vogue; but the thing meant is by no means despised. If the spirit of earnestness now abroad had been foreseen fifty years ago, men would have thought that the kingdom of heaven was verily at hand at last. But now, here all around us, is the earnestness–philanthropic, moral, even spiritual, earnestness to a considerable extent; but where is the kingdom? Alas, it still seems very far away!
2. We are better than we were. Year by year there is some improvement. But not nearly enough. The end will not be brought within sight till the spirit of this old song comes back to us; till the nation as a nation, not one here and there among the people, but the people as a people, look upwards to the hills from whence cometh their aid; till the inhabitant on every side cries out, Behold, God is my salvation.
3. Let it be remembered that trust in God does not mean neglect of ordinary means. We who believe in God are thoroughly with the humanitarians so far as they go. We believe with them in heredity and in its power for evil and for good; only we do not believe that there is any inheritance of evil so terrible that the grace of God cannot reach and save its victim, nor any inheritance of ancestral nobleness so excellent that the grace of God is not needed to make and keep pure, and to raise to still higher things. We believe in education, in refinement, in progress of all kinds, in all processes of evolution which are moving in the right direction, onwards and upwards; only we recognise that none of these, nor all of them together, quite meet the case, or mean salvation. There remain with us mystery, unsolved; sin, crying for forgiveness and cleansing; sorrow, scarce abated or diminished; death, with all its victory–mystery, sin, sorrow, death: all present, patent facts, not to be disputed, not to be conquered by the freest education, or the highest culture; and then there is judgment to come, to which the con science is a witness not in any case to be forever silenced, though it may be hushed and quieted for a time; and there is the great eternity, the thought of which God has put into our hearts. When we look at these things we see our need, not of education merely, but of salvation, and heart and flesh cry out for God.
4. But is not this the watchword of the Churches? Do not they sufficiently represent the Divine factor in the worlds salvation? Would that they did. Look, first, at the national Church. What is its great message? Is it, Behold, God is thy salvation? What we all want is to be so filled with the Spirit of God, and so thoroughly saved ourselves, that the keynote of every ministers sermon, and of every Christians life shall be, Behold, God is my salvation.
5. There is, indeed, a human side of Divine truth which is of very great importance. If God is to be my salvation, He must be in touch with me. If He show Himself to me, it must be in my likeness; if He speak to me, it must be in my language; if He act on me, it must be through my faculties and in accordance with the laws of my being. He is the God of nature as well as of grace. But important as it is to show the Gospel natural, it is far more important to hold fast to the supernatural. (J. Monte Gibson, D. D.)
God the souls salvation
A character in a modern book says, I said I would leave the saving of my soul to Him that made my soul; it was in right good keeping there Id warrant.
Mans Saviour Divine
Dr. Mason of America said–I need such a Saviour; for I would not trust my soul to the hands or heart of the brightest seraph that burns before the eternal throne.
Full assurance of salvation
Mrs. Edwards, wife of President Edwards, says, In 1742 I sought and obtained the full assurance of faith. I cannot find language to express how certain the everlasting love of God appeared; the everlasting mountains and hills were but shadows to it. My safety and happiness and eternal enjoyment of Gods immutable love, seemed as durable and unchangeable as God Himself. Melted and overcome by the sweetness of this assurance, I fell into a great flood of tears, and could not forbear weeping aloud. The presence of God was so near and so real that I seemed scarcely conscious of anything else. My soul was filled and overwhelmed with light and love and joy in the Holy Ghost, and seemed just ready to go away from the body. This exaltation of soul subsided into a heavenly calm and rest of soul in God, which was even sweeter than what preceded it.
I will trust, and not be afraid
Our liability to fear, and the power of faith to overcome it
Naturally any creature must be liable to fear. The finite nature, however exalted, must always feel itself transcended and surrounded by the infinite Unknown. There can be only one Being in the universe absolutely and forever free from that liability–He who knows everything, and who controls everything–who knows all beings, agents, facts, possibilities, and rules them. We are manifestly far more liable to the inroads of this fear than those creatures who have never fallen.
I. THE GREAT MYSTERIES OF EXISTENCE HAVE A TENDENCY TO PRODUCE FEAR. Something depends, of course, on the susceptibility of the individual; a strong practical nature is not so much affected by mysteries; but there are few thoughtful persons who do not sometimes feel the shadow of them on the path; and the continual contemplation of them does not irradiate or dissolve them; they become only more impenetrable and more densely dark, and then comes the fear lest this aspect of them should never be relieved, lest they should be unfathomable and unconquerable forever.
1. Has not every thoughtful mind bowed and almost trembled before the great mystery into which so many others may be resolved–the existence of evil in the universe, under the government of an infinitely powerful and infinitely benevolent Being? We have, indeed, to consider that along with sin was introduced the Gospel–the glorious, all-sufficient remedy, by which sin is to be taken away and purity restored; but they exist together. The remedy, although we have the utmost confidence in its perfect sufficiency, does not destroy the disease in a moment; it struggles with it, and overcomes it only by slow degrees, and in some instances the disease seems to return with increasing virulence, and to reassert its supremacy after the cure has been more than half effected; while, in a multitude of other instances, the remedy never takes effect; at all, and whole generations of human beings are swept away by death, in a moral condition that augurs ill for any future happiness. He who can say that he has had no difficulties with such a subject, only shows that he has had no thoughts about it. And yet it is not at all desirable to be under the influence of this oppression of evil; it is very desirable, and quite possible, to rise superior to it. But how? I will trust, and not be afraid. Many have tried to reach the ground of satisfaction by knowledge. They have said, I will know, and not be afraid; but they have had no success.
2. There is great mystery also about the plan of Divine providence in this world. We see glimpses of Divine meaning shining out of the plan at intervals, and we make our way with certainty to some of the leading principles of that providence. We are sure, e.g., that God is the friend and protector of the righteous man, and yet, see how some righteous men are tried! And see, on the other hand, how ungodly men rise into influence sometimes. If we gaze upon Gods great providence in the hope of being able to scan its parts and explain all its movements, we shall be sadly disappointed. But if we cease from the vain attempt to understand the complexities of providence and, looking above all its visible movements, rest our faith on Him who conducts them all, we shall begin to have peace. It would be easy to mention many other providential mysteries which are very appalling and perplexing to the natural understanding. Do you say, It is all according to law? But are you not afraid as you see how stern and unrelenting law is? Where is your relief? Will you try to vanquish nature and providence by thought? Will you resist and seek deliverance by strength? Will you be wiser and trust? Ah, that is relief!
II. THERE ARE CERTAIN POSSIBILITIES, THE THOUGHT OF WHICH HAS A TENDENCY TO DARKEN THE SPIRIT WITH FEAR. Unsatisfied with past and present, we cast our hopes always within the veil of the great tomorrow; but our fears go with our hopes. And it is not merely that there are such bare possibilities in every mans future, but these are always shaping themselves into probabilities. Perhaps there is no one person who cannot fancy, and who is not sometimes almost compelled to expect, some particular form of ill, something which he shrinks from. What is the remedy? I will trust, and not be afraid. There is yet one dread possibility, the contemplation of which is more appalling than the very worst of earthly calamities–the possibility of spiritual failure, ending in a final exclusion from the presence of God and the joys of the blessed. There is but one way of grappling with and overcoming this great fear. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)
Trust in relation to the will
A Christian lady of my acquaintance was at one time in her life an apparently hopeless victim of doubts and fears. She knew she ought to trust the Lord, and longed to do it, but she seemed utterly unable. After a long period of suffering from this cause, she finally con tided her difficulties to a friend, who, as it mercifully happened, understood this secret concerning the will, and who told her that if in her will she would decide to trust, and, putting all her will power into trusting, would utterly ignore her feelings, she would sooner or later get the victory over all her doubts. The poor doubter listened in silence for a few minutes, and then, drawing a long breath, said with emphasis, Yes, I see it. If I choose in my will to trust, I really am trusting, even though all my feelings say contrary. I do choose to trust now. I will trust; I will not be afraid again. As she came to this decision, and thus deliberately put her will on the side of Gods will, all the darkness vanished, and her soul was brought out into the glorious light of the Gospel; a light which was never dimmed again, until her eyes were opened in the presence of the King. (Mrs. H. W. Smith.)
Trust in God
How do you know that you are ready to appear before God? was once asked of one dying; and the answer was, Sir, God knows that I have taken Him at His word. (Prof. Laidlaw, D. D.)
Trusting
I once illustrated the act of faith by the experience of a friend who was in an upper room of a hotel at night when the building took fire. He seized the escape rope that was in his room, swung out of the window, and lowered himself in safety to the sidewalk. He had a good opinion of that rope during the day when he saw it coiled up by his bedside, but it was only an opinion; when he believed on the rope, and trusted himself to the rope, it saved his life. (T. L. Cuyler, D. D.)
A definition of faith
An intensely interesting incident was related lately by Dr. J.G. Paten of a discovery of a term in the language of Aniwa for Faith. It seems that for a long time no equivalent could be found, and the work of Bible translation was paralysed for want of so fundamental and oft recurring a term. The natives apparently regarded the verb to hear as equivalent to belief. For instance, suppose a native were asked whether he heard a certain statement. Should he credit the statement he would reply, Yes, I heard it, but should he disbelieve it, he would answer, No, I did not hear it, meaning not that his ears had failed to catch the words, but that he did not regard them as true. This definition of faith was obviously insufficient–many passages, such as faith cometh by hearing, would be impossible of translation through so meagre a channel; and prayer was made continually that God would supply the missing link. No effort had been spared in interrogating the most intelligent native pundits, but all in vain; none caught the hidden meaning of the word sought by the missionary. One day Dr. Paten was sitting in his room anxiously pondering. He sat on an ordinary chair, his feet resting on the floor; just then an intelligent native entered the room, and the thought flashed to the missionary to ask the all-absorbing question yet once again in a new light. Was he not resting on that chair? Would that attitude lend itself to the discovery? Taea, said Dr. Paten, what am I doing now? Koihae ana, Misi (Youre sitting down. Misi), the native replied. Then the missionary drew up his feet and placed them upon the bar of the chair just above the floor, and, leaning back upon the chair in an attitude of repose, asked, What am I doing now? Fakarongrongo, Misi (You are leaning wholly, or, You have lifted yourself from every other support). Thats it, shouted the missionary, with an exultant cry; and a sense of holy joy awed him as he realised that his prayer had been so fully answered. To lean on Jesus wholly and only is surely the true meaning of appropriating or saving faith. And now, Fakarongrongo Iesu ea anea moure (Leaning on Jesus unto eternal life, or, for all the things of eternal life), is the happy experience of those Christian islanders, as it is of all who thus cast themselves unreservedly on the Saviour of the world for salvation.
The Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song
Jehovah the strength of His people
1. He is the strength of my understanding, whereby I discern and acknowledge the great mysteries of salvation, and am enabled to perceive the way in which I ought to go.
2. He is the strength of my heart, of which He takes the direction, working in me to will and to do of His good pleasure; giving the willing mind, which makes His work go forward with alacrity and cheerfulness.
3. He is the strength of my affections, which tie preserves from becoming languid and feeble, and fixes them upon the proper objects on which they ought to terminate.
4. He is the strength of my graces, who establisheth my faith, enliveneth my love, animateth my hope and patience; who enableth me to resist my spiritual enemies, to vanquish temptations, to mortify corruptions, to perform duties, to sustain afflictions, and to surmount all the obstacles that lie in the way to the kingdom of God. (R. Macculloch.)
The joy of the Gospel
At least twenty-one times in his letter to the Philippians, written in prison, does St. Paul use such words as joy, rejoice, gladness, while the whole letter is charged with the spirit of joy. This is the real spirit of the Gospel. (Great Thoughts.)
Rejoicing in God
When the poet Carpani asked his friend Haydn how it happened that his church music was so cheerful, the beautiful answer was: I cannot make it otherwise; I write according to the thoughts I feel. When I think upon God, my heart is so full of joy that the notes dance and leap, as it were, from my pen; and since God has given me a cheerful heart, it will be pardoned me that I serve Him with a cheerful spirit. (Great Thoughts.)
Jehovah His peoples song
The wife of Hawthorne, the American writer, said in a letter to her mother: Sunday afternoon the birds were sweetly mad, and the lovely rage of song drove them hither and thither, and swelled their breasts amain. I kept saying, Yes, yes, I know it, dear little maniacs, I know it! There never was such an air, such a day, such a God! I know it! I know it. But they would not be pacified. Their throats must have been made of fine gold, or they would have been rent with such rapture quakes. Human beings are compelled to declare in song the ecstasy which is at times in their souls because of the goodness of God. They cannot help being tunefully demonstrative when the Infinite Being comes into their souls, and makes Himself known as a gracious visitant by the plenitude of blessing He bestows. If the great visitation be to them on the week day, they give praise for it in the music which attested their jubilant enthusiasm on the Sabbath. If the great visitation comes to them on the Sabbath, they can scarcely tell whether they belong to earth or to the paradise never darkened by evening shadows, and in their singing they endeavour to emulate the voice of harpers, harping with their harps. (Gates of Imagery.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 2. The Lord JEHOVAH] The word Yah read here is probably a mistake; and arose originally from the custom of the Jewish scribes, who, when they found a line too short for the word, wrote as many letters as filled it, and then began the next line with the whole word. In writing the word Jehovah, the line might terminate with Yah, the two first letters; and then at the beginning of the next line the whole word Yehovah would be written. This might give rise to Yah Yehovah. The Yah is wanting here in two of Dr. Kennicott’s MSS., in one ancient MS. of my own, and in the Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic. See Houbigant and De Rossi.
My song] The pronoun is here necessary; and it is added by the Septuagint, Vulgate, and Syriac, who read zimrathi, as it is in a MS. Two MSS. omit Yah, see Houbigant, not. in loc. Another MS. has it in one word, zimrathyah. Seven others omit Yehovah. See Ex 15:2, with Var. Lect. Kennicott.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
God is my salvation; my salvation hath not been brought to pass by man, but by the almighty power of God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. Lord JEHOVAHJah, Jehovah. The repetition of the name denotesemphasis, and the unchangeableness of God’s character.
strength . . . song . . .salvationderived from Exo 15:2;Psa 118:14. The idea of salvationwas peculiarly associated with the feast of tabernacles (seeIsa 12:3). Hence the cry”Hosanna,” “Save, we beseech thee,” thataccompanied Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on that day (thefifteenth of the seventh month) (Mt21:9; compare with Psa 118:25;Psa 118:26); the earnest of theperfected “salvation” which He shall bring to His people atHis glorious second appearance at Jerusalem (Heb9:28). “He shall appear the second time without sin untosalvation.” Compare Re21:3, “The tabernacle of God is with men.”Compare Lu 9:33, “threetabernacles: one for thee,” c. (the transfiguration beinga pledge of the future kingdom), (Psa 118:15Zec 14:16). As the Jew wasreminded by the feast of tabernacles of his wanderings in tents inthe wilderness, so the Jew-Gentile Church to come shall call to mind,with thanksgiving, the various past ways whereby God has at lastbrought them to the heavenly “city of habitation” (Ps107:7).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Behold, God [is] my salvation,…. Or Saviour; that is, Christ, who is God, the great God, and so fit to be a Saviour, and is one, was appointed by the Father, provided in covenant, promised in the word, sent in the fulness of time, and is become the author of salvation, which a creature could not be; and this the church saw her interest in, and which was the ground of her comfort before declared; and to which she prefixed the word “behold”, as a note of asseveration, affirming him to be her Saviour; and of admiration, wondering at it; and of exclusion of all others from being concerned therein; and of attention and direction to others, pointing him out as the only one to look unto.
I will trust, and not be afraid; “trust” in Christ for salvation, be confident of enjoying it, and look upon myself safe and secure from all wrath and condemnation, and from every enemy; and not be “afraid” of sin, Satan, the world, death, hell, and wrath to come. The Targum joins this and the preceding clause together,
“behold, in the word of God my salvation I trust, and shall not be moved:”
for the LORD JEHOVAH [is] my strength and [my] song; the author of her spiritual strength; the “strength” of her life, and of her heart, which maintained the one, and supported the other; the strength of her graces, and of her duties, by which she exercised the one, and performed the other: and the subject matter of her “song” were his person, and the fulness and fitness of it, his righteousness, and salvation by him; this clause, and the following one, are taken out of
Ex 15:2:
he also is become my salvation; salvation is wrought out by Christ, and believers have it in him, and they know it, and believe it, and so are already saved in him.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
2. Behold, God is my salvation. Though it is proper to behold by faith the salvation of God in the midst of our afflictions, yet here Isaiah speaks of knowledge derived from experience; for he lays down a form of a joyful song, in which God shows by outward signs that he is pacified towards his Church. Such is also the import of the phrase הנה, ( hinneh,) Behold; for now the brightness of God’s countenance, which had been hidden for a time, shines forth, so that they can point to it as with the finger. Since, therefore, our punishments fill us with dread, and it is impossible for our minds not to be overclouded by our sins, as if we had no interest in God’s salvation, or as if it were withdrawn from us, the Prophet describes here a change of feeling, when God is reconciled to us. But this prediction relates chiefly to the coming of Christ, which first exhibited fully the salvation of God.
I will trust and not be afraid. He adds, that when we are fully convinced that salvation is laid up for us in God, this is a solid foundation of full confidence, and the best remedy for allaying fears. But for this we must have trembled, and been uneasy and distressed, and tortured by painful emotions. Hence, we conclude, that confidence proceeds from faith, as an effect from its cause. By faith we perceive that salvation is laid up for us in God, and a calm and peaceful state of mind arises from it; but when faith is wanting there can be no peace of conscience. Let us therefore know that we have made good progress in faith, when we have been endued with such confidence as the Prophet describes.
Besides, this confidence ought to have the chief place in our hearts, (Col 3:15,) so as to banish all fear and dread; not that we are free from all distress and uneasiness, but that assurance will at length be victorious. Yet we must keep in mind what I said, that the Prophet here speaks of the cheerfulness which believers, who had formerly been almost overwhelmed under the load of temptations, obtain, when God is reconciled to them.
For the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength. He states more clearly and more expressly that believers will have good reason to sing, because they will have known by experience that they are strong in their God, as indeed redemption was an illustrious display of the power of God. Since Isaiah does not describe the benefit of a single day, but that which God had determined to carry forward till the coming of Christ, it follows that there are none who sincerely and heartily sing the praises of God, but those who, convinced of their weakness, seek to obtain strength from God alone in answer to prayer. Nor is he here called a part or an aid of our strength, but our complete strength; for we are strong, so far as he supplies us with strength.
And my song. The reason why he is called The song of the godly is, that he bestows on them so much kindness for the purpose of exciting them to perform the duty of thankfulness. Hence we conclude that the beginning of joy springs from the favor of God, and that the end of it is the sacrifice of praise. (Psa 50:23.) Thus, the hearts of the godly ought to be trained to patience, that they may not cease to bless God; but in a state of joy and prosperity their mouth is opened, so that they loudly proclaim God’s benefits. But since the ungodly freely indulge in despising God, and, having laid their consciences asleep, riot like brutes in drunken mirth, and never awake to praise God, Christ justly curses their joy.
Wo to you that laugh, for ye shall mourn; your joy shall be turned into grief, and your laughter into qnashing of teeth. (Luk 6:25.)
And he hath become my salvation. (194) If it be thought better to take this clause in the past tense, the meaning will be, that believers sing joyfully, because God hath saved them. But it will be most appropriate to take it in the future tense, and he will become my salvation; that is, God not only hath been salvation to his people, but will be so to the end; for believers ought not to confine their attention to the present benefit, but to extend their hope to the uninterrupted progress of his favor.
(194) Bogus footnote
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) Behold, God is my salvation . . .The words admit of the rendering, Behold the God of my salvation. In either construction salvation is taken, as in the New Testament (Joh. 4:22; 1Pe. 1:9-10), as meaning more than mere deliverance from danger, and including the highest spiritual blessings.
The Lord Jehovah . . .The Hebrew here and in Isa. 26:4 presents the exceptional combination of the two Divine Names (Yah Yahveh). (See Psa. 68:4.) With this exception the second clause of the verse is a verbal reproduction of Exo. 15:2.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. I will not be afraid The reason given is, The Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. In the Hebrew it is, Jah Jehovah. The word “Jah” is prefixed to intensify, to denote the extraordinary. It is but a fragment of Jehovah, and, according to Furst, simply serves this office for it. Used again by Isaiah only at Isa 26:4. The meaning is, The very great Jehovah is my song. Exo 6:3.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Reader! take especial notice of what the hymn expresseth; namely, that the Lord God is the sinner’s salvation. It is not enough to say, or sing, that the Lord hath brought us to salvation, but that he himself is our salvation; not that we have salvation from him, but salvation in him. He himself is the whole of it. Reader! observe the twofold name upon this occasion; Jah, and Jehovah. I do not presume to say as much, but may it not, with reverence, be asked, Is it not to intimate the whole persons of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as God, and Jesus Jehovah as Mediator? And how can any child of God who sings this song with the Spirit, and the understanding also, say otherwise, than I will trust and not be afraid? W hat can they have to fear, who have Jehovah in his threefold character of person for their salvation?
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 12:2 Behold, God [is] my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH [is] my strength and [my] song; he also is become my salvation.
Ver. 2. Behold, God is my salvation. ] Let such take notice of it as said when time was, there is no help for him in God; salvation itself cannot save him. “Behold,” and “My”: there is much matter in this adverb and that pronoun, saith an interpreter. a Behold, God is my Jesus; so Jerome readeth it. According to that of old Simeon “Mine eyes have seen thy salvation.” And in this and the next verse salvation is thrice mentioned, so sweet it was to those that thus sang of it. See Trapp on “ 1Co 1:8 “
I will trust, and not be afraid.
For the Lord is my strength.
a Oecolamp.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
GOD. Hebrew El. App-4.
trust = confide in. Hebrew. batah. App-69.
THE LORD. Hebrew Jah. App-4.
JEHOVAH. One of the four passages where Jehovah is transliterated instead of being translated (Exo 6:3. Psa 83:18, and Isa 26:4). Also one of several words where different type is used. See App-48.
my strength and my song. Reference to Pentateuch (Exo 15:2).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
trust
(See Scofield “Psa 2:12”)
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
God: Isa 7:14, Isa 9:6, Isa 9:7, Isa 45:17, Isa 45:22-25, Psa 27:1, Jer 3:23, Jer 23:6, Jon 2:9, Mat 1:21-23, Luk 2:30-32, Rom 1:16, 1Ti 3:16, Rev 7:10
the Lord: Isa 26:4, Exo 15:2, Psa 83:18, Psa 118:14, Hos 1:7
Reciprocal: Gen 26:24 – fear Exo 28:12 – the shoulders Lev 26:12 – will be Num 21:17 – sang Deu 10:21 – thy praise Deu 26:17 – avouched Deu 33:29 – saved Jos 8:1 – Fear not 1Sa 2:1 – I rejoice 2Sa 7:24 – art become 2Sa 22:3 – my saviour 1Ch 16:24 – General Est 9:22 – the days Job 11:16 – as waters Job 13:16 – my salvation Psa 13:5 – But Psa 18:1 – my Psa 18:46 – the God Psa 24:5 – God Psa 28:7 – strength Psa 32:10 – but Psa 34:4 – from Psa 35:3 – say Psa 37:39 – salvation Psa 38:22 – O Lord Psa 50:23 – salvation Psa 51:14 – thou God Psa 59:9 – his strength Psa 60:10 – Wilt Psa 62:1 – from Psa 68:20 – our God Psa 88:1 – Lord Psa 91:2 – in him Psa 106:21 – God Psa 118:21 – and art Psa 118:28 – my God Psa 138:3 – strengthenedst Psa 140:7 – the strength Pro 3:5 – Trust Pro 22:19 – thy Son 2:11 – General Isa 10:25 – For yet Isa 17:10 – the God Isa 25:9 – we will Isa 33:22 – he will Isa 40:9 – Behold Isa 41:10 – Fear Isa 43:11 – General Isa 45:15 – O God Isa 46:13 – salvation Isa 63:8 – so he Dan 3:17 – our God Joe 2:23 – rejoice Mic 7:7 – wait Hab 3:18 – the God Hab 3:19 – my strength Zep 3:17 – is mighty Mat 1:23 – God Mat 24:6 – see Luk 1:47 – God Luk 6:21 – ye shall laugh Joh 4:22 – for Joh 14:1 – ye Joh 14:27 – afraid Joh 16:22 – and your Eph 1:12 – who Phi 1:28 – and that Phi 3:1 – rejoice 1Ti 1:1 – God 1Ti 4:10 – because 1Ti 5:5 – trusteth 2Ti 1:12 – believed Tit 1:3 – God Tit 2:10 – God Heb 2:3 – so Heb 2:13 – I will Heb 6:19 – both Heb 13:15 – the sacrifice 1Pe 1:6 – ye greatly 2Pe 1:1 – of God and our Saviour
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
FEARLESS TRUST
I will trust, and not be afraid.
Isa 12:2
Naturally any creature must be liable to fear.
I. The great mysteries of existence have a tendency to produce fear.(1) Has not every thoughtful mind bowed and almost trembled before the great mystery into which so many others may be resolvedthe existence of evil, sin, misery, in the universe, under the government of an infinitely powerful and infinitely benevolent Being? (2) There is great mystery also about the plan of Divine providence in this world. Where is your relief? I will trust, and not be afraid. To God there is no mystery, no miscalculation, no loss. He is reaping perpetual harvest, gathering the wheat into His garner, linking on the sorrowful present to the glad future.
II. There are certain possibilities, the thought of which has a tendency to darken the spirit with fear.(1) We all look forward, we all struggle on to the future with more or less of expectation or desire. But our fears go with our hopes, our apprehensions keep close company with our anticipations. In proportion as men have suffered, they feel that there is a possibility of suffering being continued or renewed in coming days. Through the fear, not of death alone, but of a multitude of other things, some are all their life subject to bondage. Now what is the remedy? I will trust and not be afraid. Faith leans upon the Lord. He knows our walking through this great wilderness.
III. There is yet one dread possibility, the contemplation of which is more appalling than the very worst of earthly calamitiesthe possibility of spiritual failure, ending in a final exclusion from the presence of God and the joys of the blessed.
Illustration
I will trust, said St. Peter, and the sea became as rock beneath his feet. I will trust, said the Syro-Phnician woman, though the disciples said, Send her away, and her daughter was healed. I will take, said Balaam, and became rich for a day, accursed for ever. Let me live, said Jonah, and was cast into the sea. I will trust, said he afterward, and all Nineveh bowed at his word. I will trust, said Daniel, and was delivered. I will save my life, said Peter, and denied his Lord. I will trust, said he afterward, and laid him down to sleep; then came the angel of the Lord, and brought him forth from prison. What mean ye to weep and to break my heart? said Paul; I will trust.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
12:2 Behold, God [is] my {b} salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD [is] my strength and [my] song; he also is become my salvation.
(b) Our salvation stands only in God, who gives us an assured confidence, constancy and opportunity to praise him for the same.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The focus of this song is God Himself. Finally the Israelites express their commitment to trust in Him rather than in other people (cf. Isa 8:12 to Isa 9:1). They acknowledge Him as their salvation, their strength, and their song (cf. Exo 15:2; Psa 118:14), not just as the provider of these blessings. Song is the natural expression of a free spirit. None of these things come apart from Him. Isaiah had tried to get King Ahaz to trust and not fear (Isa 7:2-9), but he would not believe that God was with him.