Isaiah 43:22

But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. BUT THOU HAST NOT CALLED UPON ME, O JACOB. The people of Israel, however, are not to think that these divine favours are due to their own piety toward God. So the believer (). THOU HAST BEEN WEARY OF ME - (Amos 8:5; .) Though 'I have not wearied thee' (), yet "thou hast been weary of me....

22._And thou hast not called on me. _He confirms by an indirect reproof what he said in the preceding verse, that it was not by any merits of his people that he was induced to act so kindly towards them. This deliverance, therefore, ought to be ascribed to no other cause than to the goodness of God. In order to prove this, he says, “Thou hast not called on me.” _Calling on _the name of God includes the whole of the worship of God, the chief part of which is “calling upon him;” and, therefore, following the ordinary manner of Scripture, he has put a part for the whole. But in other passages the Lord plainly shews that calling upon him is the chief part of his worship; for, after having said that he despises sacrifices and outward ceremonies, he adds, “Call upon me in the day of trouble.” (Psalms 50:15.) Hence also Scripture, when it speaks of the worship of God, chief

22-28 Those who neglect to call upon God, are weary of him. The Master tired not the servants with his commands, but they tired him with disobedience. What were the riches of God's mercy toward them? I, even I, am he who yet blotteth out thy transgressions. This encourages us to repent, because there is forgiveness with God, and shows the freeness of Divine mercy. When God forgives, he forgets. It is not for any thing in us, but for his mercies' sake, his promise' sake; especially for his Son's sake. He is pleased to reckon it his honour. Would man justify himself before God? The attempt is desperate: our first father broke the covenant, and we all have copied his example. We have no reason to expect pardon, except we seek it by faith in Christ; and that is always attended by true repentance, and followed by newness of life, by hatred of sin, and love to God. Let us then put him in reme...

Verse Isaiah 43:22. _BUT THOU HAST NOT CALLED UPON ME_] The connexion is: But thou, Israel, whom I have chosen, whom I have formed for myself to be my witness against the false gods of the nations; even thou hast revolted from me, hast neglected my worship, and hast been perpetually running after strange gods. The emphasis of this and the following parts of the sentence, on which the sense depends, is laid on the words ME, on MY ACCOUNT, c. The Jews were diligent in performing the external services of religion in offering prayers, incense, sacrifices, oblations; but their prayers were not offered with faith; and their oblations were made more frequently to their idols than to the God of their fathers. The Hebrew idiom excludes with a general negative, in a comparative sense, one of two objects opposed to one another: thus, "I will have mercy, and _not_ sacrifice,...

BUT THOU HAST NOT CALLED UPON ME - The design of this and the following verses, is to show them that they were indebted to the divine mercy alone for their deliverance from bondage. It was not because they had been either meritorious or faithful; it was not because they had deserved these favors at his hand, for they had been a people that had been distinguished for neglecting their God. On that account, these calamities had come upon them, and their deliverance, therefore, was to be an act of mere unmerited favor. THOU HAST BEEN WEARY - As a people, you have been weary of my service. They had accounted his laws grievous and oppressive; and they had groaned under what they regarded as burdensome rites and ceremonies (see Amos 8:5; Malachi 1:13

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 43:1 A RENEWED PROMISE TO ISRAEL OF PROTECTION AND DELIVERANCE. Severe rebuke (Isaiah 42:18) is followed, as so often in Isaiah (Isaiah 1:25-23; Isaiah 4:2; Isaiah 9:1, etc.), by comfort and consolation. Israel is assured that God has not cast him off, and promised the comfort of the Divine presence during the existing tribulation (verse 2), and. a speedy restorati

BUT THOU HAST NOT CALLED UPON ME, O JACOB,.... The Jews, though they were the posterity of Jacob, a praying person, yet did not tread in his steps, but were more like the Heathens that called not on the name of the Lord; though there is no necessity of restraining this to prayer, it may regard the whole worship of God, which is sometimes included in the invocation of his name; and so the Targum, "and ye come not to my worship, O ye of the house of Jacob.'' The Jews, in Christ's time, did not call upon his name, nor believe in him, nor receive his Gospel, nor submit to him and his ordinances; they rejected him and his service, therefore the Lord rejected them, and called the Gentiles, as before prophesied of: BUT THOU HAST BEEN WEARY OF ME, O ISRAEL: of the word, worship, and ordinances of God; see Malachi 1:13....

Isaiah 43:1. _But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine._ I cannot pause to comment upon each of the precious sentences here, but every word is full of marrow and fatness. Ask the Lord to enable you to feed upon each sentence as it passes before your mind. Isaiah 43:2. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou was precious in my sight, thou hast been hono

CHAPTER 43 Jehovah Speaks in Comfort to His People 1. _What Jehovah is and will be to Israel (Isaiah 43:1)_ 2. _Second address to the blind and deaf people (Isaiah 43:8)_ 3. _Jehovah deals with their enemies (Isaiah 43:14)_ 4. _Blessed things to come: They shall show forth My praise (Isaiah 43:18)_ 5. _Jehovah's loving appeal and promise to remember their sins no more (Isaiah 43:22) _ Chapter s 43-45 must be studied together. Jehovah speaks in these Chapter s as nowhere else in the prophetic Word. Note the man

ISAIAH 43:22 TO ISAIAH 44:5. YAHWEH'S INTERVENTION, NOT PURCHASED BY HIS PEOPLE BUT ENTIRELY OF HIS GRACE, SHALL BRING NEW LIFE TO ISRAEL. It is not that during the exile Israel has assiduously sought Yahweh's aid by prayer and sacrifice. Nor has He exacted gifts and incense. So far from requiring them to buy sweet-scented cane to make fragrant their choice sacrifices, He has been compelled to do service for them, in saving them from the consequences of their sins. (Of His grace He will pardon their sins. What plea can they advance?) Their ancestor, Jacob, and the prophets, the very men who should have mediated between Yahweh and Israel, sinned against Him; the princes profaned His sanctuary. So He had given His people to the ban. Yet He bids His chosen people, addressing them by the pet name Jeshurun the upri