331 Wo, spoiler! and thou not spoiled, And treacherous! and they dealt not treacherously with thee, When thou dost finish, O spoiler, thou art spoiled, When thou dost finish dealing treacherously, They deal treacherously with thee. 2 O Jehovah, favour us, for thee we have waited, Be their arm, in the mornings, Yea, our salvation in time of adversity. 3 From the voice of a multitude fled have peoples, From thine exaltation scattered have been nations. 4 And gathered hath been your spoil, A gathering of the caterpillar, As a running to and fro of locusts is he running on it. 5 Set on high is Jehovah, for He is dwelling on high, He filled Zion 'with' judgment and righteousness, 6 And hath been the stedfastness of thy times, The strength of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge, Fear of Jehovah—it 'is' His treasure. 7 Lo, 'Their Ariel,' they have cried without, Messengers of peace do weep bitterly. 8 Desolated have been highways, Ceased hath he who passeth along the path, He hath broken covenant, He hath despised enemies, He hath not esteemed a man. 9 Mourned, languished hath the land, Confounded hath been Lebanon, Withered hath been Sharon as a wilderness, And shaking are Bashan and Carmel. 10 Now, do I arise, saith Jehovah, Now I am exalted, now I am lifted up. 11 Ye conceive chaff, ye bear stubble, Your spirit!—fire devoureth you. 12 And peoples have been 'as' burnings of lime, Thorns, as sweepings, with fire they burn.
13 Hear, ye far off, that which I have done, And know, ye near ones, My might. 14 Afraid in Zion have been sinners, Seized hath trembling the profane: Who doth dwell for us—consuming fire, Who doth dwell for us—burnings of the age?
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 33:1-14
Commentary on Isaiah 33:1-14
(Read Isaiah 33:1-14)
Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength be. If God leaves us to ourselves any morning, we are undone; we must every morning commit ourselves to him, and go forth in his strength to do the work of the day. When God arises, his enemies are scattered. True wisdom and knowledge lead to strength of salvation, which renders us stedfast in the ways of God; and true piety is the only treasure which can never be plundered or spent. The distress Jerusalem was brought into, is described. God's time to appear for his people, is, when all other helpers fail. Let all who hear what God has done, acknowledge that he can do every thing. Sinners in Zion will have much to answer for, above other sinners. And those that rebel against the commands of the word, cannot take its comforts in time of need. His wrath will burn those everlastingly who make themselves fuel for it. It is a fire that shall never be quenched, nor ever go out of itself; it is the wrath of an ever-living God preying on the conscience of a never-dying soul.