Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 27:3
I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest [any] hurt it, I will keep it night and day.
3. do keep it ] Better: am its keeper. For I will water I will keep, substitute I water I keep.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I the Lord do keep it – There is understood here or implied an introduction; as Yahweh said (compare Psa 121:3-5).
I will water it every moment – That is, constantly, as a vinedresser does his vineyard.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 27:3
I, the Lord, do keep it
The Lord the Keeper of His people
There is nothing to which we are naturally more prone, nothing more dangerous, nothing so difficult to eradicate as self-confidence.
And yet there is nothing so delightful as to feel that we have not anything in ourselves in which we can be confident. For the moment we have arrived at that experience we are prepared to turn to Him without whom we can do nothing.
I. IN WHAT SENSE THE LORD IS THE KEEPER OF HIS PEOPLE.
1. In one sense the Lord is the keeper of all; for in Him all live, and move, and have their being. And the Apostle Paul (1Ti 4:10) speaks of Him as the Saviour, or preserver, of all men, specially of those that believe.
2. He speaks of keeping them as a city from an enemy.
3. He speaks again of keeping them as a vineyard from foxes. In Son 2:15 we read, Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes. Those things which may appear gentle and innocent have a tendency to undermine the work of indwelling grace.
4. Again, the Lord speaks of keeping His people as the apple of His eye.
5. I might speak again of the fires of persecution, through which His people are called to pass. For here again the Lord is the Keeper of His people.
6. He not only defends and preserves His people, but He keeps them refreshed in seasons of drought by continual and plentiful supplies of mercy and grace. So in the text He says, I will water it every moment?
II. WHEN IS IT THAT HE KEEPS THEM? By day and by night. He watches over them continually, in the bright day of prosperity and in the dark night of adversity.
III. HOW IS IT THAT THE LORD KEEPS HIS PEOPLE?
1. By His angels (Heb 1:14).
2. By His ministers; by their warning voice in public; or by that advice and reproof, and instruction which they give in private.
3. By His providential dispensations.
4. By His own omnipotent arm. His people are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.
IV. WHAT WARRANT WE HAVE AS HIS PEOPLE TO EXPECT THAT THE LORD WILL BE OUR KEEPER.
1. The first plain proof of this is, that as His people we are not our own, but given to Christ.
2. Coupled with this, we may consider the faithfulness of Jesus (2Th 3:3).
3. Connect with this, the consideration of the love of Jesus for His people.
4. Indeed, we have as believers the warrant of the Triune Jehovah for believing that the Lord will be our keeper. Bear in mind that, until the time when knowledge shall be increased, and faith and hope end in sight and enjoyment, we shall never be aware of the full extent of our obligations to
Him as the Keeper of His people. Yet, while we thankfully lay hold of the comfort which this truth is calculated to give, let us remember that our own responsibility is not overthrown. On the contrary, it is increased. For though encouraged to trust in the Lord as our keeper, there is no excuse for neglect of duty on account of our own weakness; but rather encouragement to say with the apostle, I can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth me. (M. Villiers M. A.)
Gods care of His vineyard
God takes care–
I. Of the SAFETY of this vineyard. I, the Lord, do keep it.
II. Of the FRUITFULNESS of this vineyard. I will water it every moment, and yet it shall not be over watered. (M. Henry.)
The keeper of the vineyard
I. THE CONTINUAL KEEPING which the Lord promises to His vineyard.
1. Do I need keeping?
2. Can I not keep myself?
3. Do I enjoy this keeping?
II. THE LORDS CONTINUAL WATERING.
1. Do I need watering within as well as keeping without? Yes, for there is not a single grace I have that can live an hour without being divinely watered. Besides, the soil in which I am planted is very dry. Then, the atmosphere that is round about us does not naturally yield us any water. The means of grace, which are like clouds hovering over our heads, are often nothing but clouds. The beauty of the text seems to me to lie in the last two words: I will water it every moment.
2. Have we all realised, as a matter of experience, that the Lord does water us every moment? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Kept and watered
God is both a wall and a well to His people. (C. H.Spurgeon)
Gods vine needs keeping
1. There is the arch enemy; how he longs to lay the axe at the roots of Gods vines!
2. There is a wild boar of the woods, that would fain tear us up by the roots; I mean, that wild boar of unbelief that is constantly prowling around us. How does it seek with its sharp tusks to bark our vines and fig trees!
3. Then, the vine is often subject to injury from various kinds of insects. We have the fly of pride.
4. Then, the vine is subject to the attacks of the little foxes that Solomon speaks of,–I mean, false doctrine and sceptical teaching.
5. Besides, when we have a few grapes that are beginning to ripen there are the birds that come and try to pick the fruit,–those dark-winged thoughts of worldliness and selfishness which come to us all. (C. H. Spurgeon)
God the Keeper of His vineyard
A vineyard will engross the whole of a mans time–perhaps the time of many men. The nourishing of the soil, the pruning of the branches, the syringing of the leaves, the thinning of the grapes, the support of the heavy clusters–all demand constant and assiduous care. There is a tendency in all cultivated things to go back to their original type. However it may be made to agree with the modern ideas of development and evolution, it is nevertheless a fact that the fairest results of human skill are not in themselves permanent; but tend ever backward to the rudest and simplest forms of their species–the apple tree to the crab, the vine of Sorek to the wild vine of the hills. Therefore the keeper of the vineyard is ever engaged in fighting every tendency towards deterioration with unwavering patience. With similar care, but with much more tenderness, God is ever watching over us. With eager eyes He marks the slightest sign of deterioration–a hardening conscience; a deadening spirituality; a waning love. Any symptom of this sort fills Him with–if I may use the words–keen anxiety; and His gentle but skilful hand is at once at work to arrest the evil, restore the soul, and force it onward to new accessions of that Divine life which is our only true bliss and rest. Let us not carry the responsibility of our nurture. It is too much for us. Better far is it to devolve the care of our keeping on our faithful Creator. (F. B.Meyer, B. A.)
God the great Preserver
It is not with God as it is with carpenters and shipwrights, who make houses for other men to dwell in, vessels for others to sail in, and therefore after they are made look after them no more; God, who made all things for Himself, looks after the preservation of all. (John Arrowsmith, D. D.)
Gods solicitude for His people
The tear water, constantly flowing over our eyes, removes the grit and dust that alight on them, impairing our power of vision. The eager mother shields her children from any polluting words or influences that might approach them from child companion or school fellow. The physician is eagerly solicitous that no germ of disease should enter an open wound, and lays his instruments in carbolic that they may carry no spore on their keen edge. And may we not count even more certainly on Him who says, I, the Lord, do keep it, etc. (Christian Endeavour.)
I will water it every moment
A refreshing promise
In warm climates irrigation is essential to fertility; hence travellers see on all sides pools and watercourses, wheels and cisterns, and channels for the water to flow in.
I. There is a great NECESSITY for the watering promised in the text.
1. This we might conclude from the promise itself, since there is not one superfluous word of promise in the whole Scriptures, but it becomes more evident when we reflect that all creature life is dependent upon the perpetual outgoing of Divine power.
2. Moreover, the truth is specially certain as touching the believer, for a multitude of agencies are at work to dry up the moisture of his soul.
3. Neither have we any other source of supply but the living God. All my springs are in Thee.
4. Our need of Divine watering is clearly seen when we consider what drought, and barrenness, and death would come upon us if His hand were withdrawn. Without watering every moment the most faithful among us would be cast forth, and be only fit for the fire; every prophet would become a Balaam, every apostle a Judas, every disciple a Demas.
II. THE MANNER in which the Lord promises to water His people–I will water it every moment.
1. Our first thought is excited by the perpetual act–every moment. Mercy knows no pause. Grace has no canonical hours, or rather all hours are alike canonical: yea, and all moments too.
2. The Lords watering is a renewed act. He does not water us once in great abundance, and then leave us to live upon what He has already poured out.
3. A personal act. I will water it.
III. THE CERTAINTY that the Lord will water every plant that His own right hand hath planted. Here a vast number of arguments suggest themselves, but we wilt content ourselves with the one ground of confidence which is found in the Lord Himself and His previous deeds of love. Our souls need supplies so great as to drain rivers of grace, but the all-sufficient God is able to meet the largest demands of the innumerable company of His people, and He will meet them to His own honour and glory forever. Here, then, we see His truth, His power, and His all-sufficiency pledged to provide for His chosen, and we may be sure that the guarantee will stand. If we needed further confirmation we might well remember that the Lord has already watered His vineyard in a far more costly manner than it win ever need again. The Lord Jesus has watered it with a sweat of blood, and can it be supposed that He will leave it now? Hitherto the sacred promise has been fully kept, for we have been graciously preserved in spiritual life. Droughty times have befallen us, and yet our soul has not been suffered to famish; why, then, should we question the goodness of the Lord as to years to come! One thing is never to be forgotten–we are the Lords. Therefore, if He do not water us, He will Himself be the loser. An owner of vine lands, if he should suffer them to be parched with the drought, would derive nothing from his estate; the vineyard would be dried up, but he himself would receive no clusters. With reverence be it spoken, our Lord Himself will never see of the travail of His soul in untended vines, nor in hearts unsanctified, nor in men whose graces droop and die for want of Divine refreshings. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 3. Lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day – “I will take care of her by night; and by day I will keep guard over her”] For pen yiphkod, lest any visit it, the Syriac read veephkod, and I will visit it. Twenty MSS. of Kennicott’s, fourteen of De Rossi’s, and two of my own, and six editions read ephkod, I will visit, in the first person.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I the Lord do keep it; I will secure it, that neither men, nor beasts, nor drought shall spoil it; which alone are the things that can hurt it. I will protect my church from all the assaults of her enemies, and supply her with all necessary provisions, with my ordinances, and with my Spirit and grace.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. lest any hurt itattack it[MAURER]. “Lest aughtbe wanting in her” [HORSLEY].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I the Lord do keep it,…. The vineyard, the church, not only by his ministers, called the keepers of it, So 8:12 but by himself, by his own power; for unless he keeps it, who is Israel’s keeper, the watchmen wake in vain; he keeps his church and people from sin, that it does not reign over them; and from Satan’s temptations, that they are not destroyed by them; and from the malice of the world, and the poison of false teachers, that they are not ruined thereby; and from a final and total falling away; the Lord’s preservation of his church and people will be very manifest in the latter day:
I will water it every moment; both more immediately with the dews of his grace, and the discoveries of his love; that being like dew, it comes from above, is according to the sovereign will of God, without the desert of man falls in the night, silently, gently, and insensibly, and greatly refreshes and makes fruitful, Ho 14:5 and more immediately by the ministry of the word and ordinances, by his ministers, the preachers of the Gospel, who water as well as plant, 1Co 3:6 these are the clouds he sends about to let down the rain of the Gospel upon his church and people, by which they are revived, refreshed, and made fruitful, Isa 5:6 and this being done “every moment”, shows, as the care of God, and his constant regard to his people, so that without the frequent communications of his grace, and the constant ministration of his word and ordinances, they would wither and become fruitless; but, by means of these, they are as a watered garden, whose springs fail not, Isa 58:11:
lest [any] hurt it; as would Satan, who goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour; and the men of the world, who are the boar out of the wood, and the wild beast out of the field, that would waste and destroy the vineyard; and false teachers, who are the foxes that would spoil the vines, 1Pe 5:8 but, to prevent any such hurt and damage, the Lord undertakes to keep the church, his vineyard, himself, which he repeats with some addition, to declare the certainty of it; or, “lest he visit it” m; that is, an enemy, as some n supply it; lest he should break down the hedge, and push into it, and waste it; or Jehovah himself, that is, as Gussetius o interprets it, while Jehovah the Father, Isa 27:1, is striking leviathan, or inflicting his judgments upon his enemies, Jehovah the Son promises to take care of his vineyard, the church, that the visitation does not affect them, and they are not hurt by it, but are safe and secure from it; which is a much better sense than that of Kimchi mentioned by him, I will water it every moment, “that not one leaf of it should fail”; the same is observed by Ben Melech, as the sense given by Donesh Ben Labrat:
I will keep it night and day; that is, continually, for he never slumbers nor sleeps; he has kept, and will keep, his church and people, through all the vicissitudes of night and day, of adversity and prosperity, they come into: how great is the condescension of the Lord to take upon him the irrigation and preservation of his people! how dear and precious must they be to him! and what a privilege is it to be in such a plantation as this, watered and defended by the Lord himself!
m “ne forte visitet eum”, Munster, Pagninus, Tigurine version. n So Munster, Pagninus, Vatablus, and Ben Melech. o Comment. Ebr. p. 668, 669.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
3. I Jehovah keep it. Here the Lord asserts his care and diligence in dressing and guarding the vine, as if he had said, that he left nothing undone that belonged to the duty of a provident and industrious householder. Not only does he testify what he will do, when the time for gladness and congratulation shall arrive, but he relates the blessings which the Jews had already received, that their hope for the future may be increased. Yet we must supply an implied contrast with the intermediate period, during which God appeared to have laid aside all care of it, so that at that time it differed little from a wilderness. This then is the reason why the Lord’s vineyard was plundered and laid waste; it was because the Lord forsook it, and gave it up as a prey to the enemy. Hence we infer that our condition will be ruined as soon as the Lord has departed from us; and if he assist, everything will go well.
I will water it every moment. He next mentions two instances of his diligence, that he “will water it every moment,” and will defend it against the attacks of robbers and cattle and other annoyances. These are the two things chiefly required in preserving a vineyard, cultivation and protection. Under the word water he includes all that is necessary for cultivation, and promises that he will neglect nothing that can carry it forward. But protection must likewise be added; for it will be to no purpose to have cultivated a vineyard with vast toil, if robbers and cattle break in and destroy it. The Lord, therefore, promises that he will grant protection, and will not permit it to suffer damage, that the fruits may ripen well, and may be gathered in due season. Though the vine may suffer many attacks, and though enemies and wild beasts may assail it with great violence, God declares that he will interpose to preserve it unhurt and free from all danger. Moreover, since he names a fixed day for singing this song, let us remember that, if at any time he cease to assist us, we ought not entirely to cast away hope; and therefore, if he permit us to be harassed and plundered for a time, still he will at length shew that he has not cast away all care of us.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(3) I the Lord do keep it.The words imply a distinct reversal of the sentence passed in Isa. 5:1-7. Instead of abandonment, there is constant care. Instead of the clouds being commanded to give no rain, the vineyard is watered whenever it requires watering. Instead of being wasted by the wild boar or by spoilers, Jehovah tends it both by day and night.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 27:3-5. I the Lord do keep it We have in these verses a fine testimony of the divine grace and clemency towards the church, of God’s constant care and continued affection to it. This elegant period contains a declaration of God’s gracious purpose toward his church, Isa 27:3 and the reason of it: the declaration of his gracious purpose, considered under the emblem of a vineyard of pure and red wine, comprehends three benefits; the care of it, the watering of it, and the protection of it, which God himself promises to discharge. The other part of this period, which explains the reason of the divine purpose, begins with the words, wrath or fury is not in me: the meaning is, that God is not ill-disposed to his spiritual church, but, on the contrary, most tenderly inclined to it: If, therefore, at any time he may seem to have been severe against it, this is not the effect of anger and fury, but of love and true affection towards it; and the reasons of his providence are to be sought for from those more sublime causes which are principally approved by God, and in that way which tends chiefly to the manifestation of his glory. But, lest any one should take this for an absolute declaration, and so turn it into an argument of error, it is added, “But if at any time I exercise my wrath and fury tending to the destruction of men, that fury burneth not but against the thorns and briars, useless and hurtful wood; that is, the enemies and adversaries of myself and my people; the impenitent, unfruitful, barren, profane and hypocritical, who claim to themselves the name of the vineyard, that is to say, of the church, though they pertain not to it, and are the true objects of my punitive justice, that it may burn and consume them, and which cannot be delivered from my wrath, unless they seek by true repentance a protection in my favour, and are reconciled to me. God is here introduced as an enraged enemy, about to consume the thorns and the briars, that is, the impious transgressors of his law, unless they make peace with him.” The clause will be more clearly understood if read thus: Anger is not in me [towards my church]; yet, who would oppose thorns and briars against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together. Isa 27:5. Unless he should take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; I say, that he may make peace with me. Take hold of my strength, alludes to the laying hold of the horns of the altar. See 1Ki 1:50 and Vitringa.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 897
GODS CARE FOR HIS CHURCH
Isa 27:3. I the Lord do keep it: I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.
GOD has provided abundant consolation for his Church in seasons of the greatest trial: and he calls upon her to enjoy her privileges and to celebrate them in a responsive song [Note: Isiah 27:2. should rather have been translated, Sing ye to the beloved vineyard a responsive song.], in firm expectation of safety, amidst the most awful and desolating judgments.
The first part of the song, which is begun by Jehovah himself, leads us to shew,
I.
Whence the Church derives her security
The Church, like a vineyard, is set apart in order to a more careful cultivation
[This idea is elsewhere more fully opened by the same prophet [Note: Isa 5:1-2.]: and it well illustrates the care taken to separate the Church from the world at large, and the exertions made to render her fruitful in the fruits of righteousness.]
At the same time she also resembles a vineyard, in that she is exposed to the assaults of many who would destroy her
[A vineyard, however carefully fenced in, may have its fences broken down, and its plants destroyed, if it be not watched and guarded [Note: Isa 5:5-6. Psa 5:8-12.]. And the Church is open to the incursion of numerous and potent enemies, who would soon destroy her, if she were not protected from their assaults.]
But she is preserved by an invisible, but almighty Protector
[Jehovah himself interposes on her behalf. He preserves her, as the bush in the midst of the flames, burning, but not consumed [Note: Exo 3:2.]. He protects his Church in general, that the gates of hell may not prevail against her; and he keeps all her members in particular, that none may be ever plucked out of his hand [Note: Mat 16:18. Joh 10:29. Psa 46:5.].]
Nor shall we tremble for her future welfare, when we consider,
II.
What prospect she has of continued preservation
The same Jehovah who says, I do keep her, adds also, I will. He promises (still keeping up the metaphor of a vineyard),
1.
Culture
[In a country that had only periodical rains, pools or reservoirs of water were indispensably necessary for the preservation of the vines in a season of drought. The Church too, and all the plants that are in it, need to be watered by Gods word [Note: 1Co 3:6. Deu 32:2.], and Spirit [Note: Isa 44:3-4.]. Now God promises that he will take this care upon himself, and execute the work, as it were, with his own hands. Yea, inasmuch as we need fresh supplies of grace, not only every day, like a vineyard, but every moment, (as we need the light of the sun,) God suits his promise to our necessities, and tells us he will water us every moment.]
2.
Protection
[Our care in cultivating a vineyard would be in vain, unless we also protected it from those who would destroy it. Thus the Church, and every individual believer, would in vain receive the culture, if it did not enjoy also the protection, of heaven. But God promises to afford his people continual, and effectual protection. He will guard them night and day (for he neither slumbers nor sleeps) and will keep them, not only from destruction, but from any real injury: No weapon formed against them shall ever prosper [Note: Isa 54:17.].]
We learn from hence,
1.
Where to look in the midst of national calamities [Note: This is proper for a time of war: and if it be not used, the latter head may be changed thusWe have here matter, 1. For grateful recollectionthat we have been preserved amidst so many enemies: 2. For humble confidencethat, though God may prune us, no trial shall come, but what he judges necessary, 1Pe 1:6 and shall work for our good, Rom 8:28.]
[God has, in this laud, a remnant, over whom he watches with the tenderest care, and for whose sake we trust he will spare the whole nation. At all events we may be sure that he will provide a hiding-place for his Church; so that, whatever be the fate of others, it shall not be overwhelmed [Note: Isa 26:20-21.]. Let us not then trust in fleets and armies, but in the living God, who is omnipresent to behold, and almighty to defeat, the plots of our enemies: and let our supplications be made with increased frequency and fervour to him, whose past interpositions we have such abundant reason to acknowledge [Note: Psa 124:1-6.].]
2.
Where to look in the midst of personal troubles
[That which alone we ought to desire, is, that nothing may hurt us. As for the pruning, which may render us more fruitful [Note: Joh 15:2.], it should be received with submission and gratitude. The evils that tend to our destruction, we may deprecate, with an assurance that our prayer shall be heard and answered. We need not fear the drought which occasions God to water us, nor the weapons that call forth his effectual interposition. Only let us render him fruits suited to the culture bestowed upon us; and nothing shall come upon us without necessity [Note: 1Pe 1:6.]; nothing which shall not eventually work for our good [Note: Rom 8:28.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 27:3 I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest [any] hurt it, I will keep it night and day.
Ver. 3. I the Lord do keep it. ] And then it cannot but be well kept. The matter is well amended with God’s vineyard since Isa 5:5 the Lord is with you while ye are with him. 2Ch 16:7 “The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.” Ezr 8:12 Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, &c. As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, &c. Psa 125:4-5
I will water it every moment.
Lest any hurt it.
a In Philip.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I the: Isa 46:4, Isa 46:9, Isa 60:16, Gen 6:17, Gen 9:9, Eze 34:11, Eze 34:24, Eze 37:14, Eze 37:28
do keep: Deu 33:26-29, 1Sa 2:9, Psa 46:5, Psa 46:11, Psa 121:3-5, Joh 10:27-30, Joh 15:1, Joh 15:2
water: Isa 5:6, Isa 35:6, Isa 35:7, Isa 41:13-19, Isa 55:10, Isa 55:11, Isa 58:11
Reciprocal: Num 6:24 – keep thee Psa 12:7 – thou shalt Psa 80:8 – a vine Psa 121:4 – he that Psa 127:1 – except Son 3:8 – all Isa 5:1 – touching Jer 48:1 – Moab Joh 17:11 – keep 1Co 3:9 – ye are God’s Rev 7:1 – the wind
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Yahweh had been its keeper, faithfully meeting its needs and vigilantly warding off its enemies (cf. Isa 5:1-4; Psa 121:4-5; Mat 21:33; Joh 10:11-13).