Isaiah 57:14-21·~1 min

Healing for the Repentant

A voice commands that the way be built up and every obstacle removed for God's people, because the One who inhabits eternity and whose name is Holy dwells not only in the high and holy place but also with the contrite and lowly in spirit. Though He was angry because of greedy sin and struck His people as they stubbornly turned to their own way, He declares that He will not accuse forever, lest the spirits He made collapse beneath unending wrath.

A¹⁴nd it will be said, ¹⁵For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, ¹⁶For I will not accuse you forever, ¹⁷I was enraged by his sinful greed,

The LORD says He has seen His people's ways and yet will heal them, lead them, and restore comfort to them and to those who mourn, creating praise on their lips and speaking peace to those far and near. But that promise does not flatten moral reality, because the wicked are like the tossing sea that cannot be quiet and keeps casting up mire and dirt, so the chapter closes with God's verdict that there is no peace for the wicked.

¹⁸I have seen his ways, ¹⁹bringing praise to their lips. ²⁰But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, ²¹“There is no peace,” says my God,

Section summaryThe final movement announces that the path is to be prepared and obstacles removed for God's people, because the One who is high, lifted up, and eternally holy also dwells with the contrite and lowly to revive them. Though He was angry over greedy sin, He promises not to contend forever but to heal, lead, comfort, and create songs of peace for those near and far, while ending with the uncompromising declaration that the wicked remain like a troubled sea and have no peace.

Role in the chapterThis section reveals the holy God's restoring compassion toward the humble while preserving a final distinction between the repentant and the wicked.