Isaiah 63:17

O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance. O LORD, WHY HAST THOU MADE US TO ERR FROM THY WAYS, (AND) HARDENED OUR HEART FROM THY FEAR? - i:e., suffered us to err and to be hardened in our heart. They do not mean to deny their own blameworthiness, but confess that, through their own fault, God gave them over to a reprobate mind (Isaiah 6:9; ; ). RETURN - ; .)...

17._Why didst thou cause as to wander, O Jehovah, from thy ways? _Because these modes of expression appear to be rough and harsh, some think that unbelievers are here introduced as murmuring against God and uttering blasphemies, with the rage and obstinacy of men who are in a state of despair. But the connection in which these words occur does not at all admit of that interpretation; for the Prophet points out the fruit that would result from the calamities and afflictions of the Jews, because, having been subdued and tamed, they no longer are fierce or indulge in their vices. They are therefore ashamed that in time past they departed so far from the right way, and they acknowledge their own fault. And indeed when they trace their sins to the wrath of God, they do not intend to free themselves from blame, or to set aside their guilt. But the Prophet employs a mode of expression which is...

15-19 They beseech him to look down on the abject condition of their once-favoured nation. Would it not be glorious to his name to remove the veil from their hearts, to return to the tribes of his inheritance? The Babylonish captivity, and the after-deliverance of the Jews, were shadows of the events here foretold. The Lord looks down upon us in tenderness and mercy. Spiritual judgments are more to be dreaded than any other calamities; and we should most carefully avoid those sins which justly provoke the Lord to leave men to themselves and to their deceiver. "Our Redeemer from everlasting" is thy name; thy people have always looked upon thee as the God to whom they might appeal. The Lord will hear the prayers of those who belong to him, and deliver them from those not called by his name....

Verse Isaiah 63:17. _WHY HAST THOU MADE US TO ERR_] A mere _Hebraism_, for why hast thou _permitted_ us to err. So, _Lead us not into temptation_; do not _suffer_ us to fall into that to which we are tempted....

O LORD, WHY HAST THOU MADE US TO ERR FROM THY WAYS? - Lowth and Noyes render this, ‘Why dost thou suffer us to wander from thy way?’ Calvin remarks on the passage, ‘The prophet uses a common form of speaking, for it is usual in the Scriptures to say that God gives the wicked over to a reprobate mind, and hardens their hearts. But when the pious thus speak, they do not intend to make God the author of error or sin, as if they were innocent - _nolunt Deum erroris aut sceleris facere auctorem, quasi sint innoxii_ - or to take away their own blameworthiness. But they rather look deeper, and confess themselves, by their own fault, to be alienated from God, and destitute of his Spirit; and hence it happens that they are precipitated into all manner of evils. God is said to harden and blind when he delivers those who are to be blinded to Satan (Satanae excaecandos tradit), who is the minister a...

SECTION IX.—THE JUDGMENT OF GOD ON IDUMAEA (Isaiah 63:1). EXPOSITION ISAIAH 63:1 A JUDGMENT ON IDUMAEA. Isaiah had already, in the first portion of his prophecy, announced" a great slaughter in the land of Idumaea" as resolved on in the counsels of God (Isaiah 34:5). He now recurs to the subject, and represents Jehovah ,as a warrior with blood-stained garments, fresh from the field of battle in Edom, where he has trodden down his foes and taken a fierce vengeance on them. The Idumaeans probably

O LORD, WHY HAST THOU MADE US TO ERR FROM THY WAYS, AND HARDENED OUR HEART FROM THY FEAR?.... These are the words, not of wicked men among the Jews, charging all their errors, hardness of heart, and wickedness they were guilty of, upon the Lord, as if he was the author and occasion of them, and led them into them; but of the truly godly, lamenting and confessing their wandering from the ways, commands, and ordinances of God, the hardness of their hearts; their want of devotion and affection for God; and their neglect of his worship; not blaming him for these things, or complaining of him as having done anything amiss or wrong; but expostulating with him, and wondering at it, that he, who was their loving and tender Father, that he should suffer them to err from his ways, and to wander from his worship, by withholding his grace and withdrawing his presence from them; by leaving them to th...

Isaiah 63:1. Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me; for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them into my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength...

FEAR (_ See Scofield) - (Psalms 19:9). _...

CHAPTER 63:7-19-64:12 The Great Intercessory Prayer 1. _Jehovah's loving kindness and power in the past remembered (Isaiah 63:7) _ 2. _Their deepest need (Isaiah 63:15) _ 3. _The cry of faith, Thou art our Father (Isaiah 63:16) _ 4. _The increasing plea (Isaiah 63:17) _ 5. _The prayer for Jehovah's manifestation (Isaiah 64:1) _ 6. _Confession and humiliation (Isaiah 64:5) _ 7. The cry for mercy and help ...