Isaiah 63

10. vexed--grieved ( Psalms 78:40 , 95:10 , Acts 7:51 , Ephesians 4:30 , Hebrews 3:10 Hebrews 3:17 ).
he fought--rather, "He it was that fought," namely, the angel of His presence [HORSLEY], ( Lamentations 2:5 ).

11. remembered--Notwithstanding their perversity, He forgot not His covenant of old; therefore He did not wholly forsake them ( Leviticus 26:40-42 Leviticus 26:44 Leviticus 26:45 , Psalms 106:45 Psalms 106:46 ); the Jews make this their plea with God, that He should not now forsake them.
saying--God is represented, in human language, mentally speaking of Himself and His former acts of love to Israel, as His ground for pitying them notwithstanding their rebellion.
sea--Red Sea.
shepherd--Moses; or if the Hebrew be read plural, "shepherds," Moses, Aaron, and the other leaders (so Psalms 77:20 ).
put . . . Spirit . . . within him--Hebrew, "in the inward parts of him," that is, Moses; or it refers to the flock, "in the midst of his people" ( Numbers 11:17 Numbers 11:25 , Nehemiah 9:20 , Haggai 2:5 ).

12. The right hand of Moses was but the instrument; the arm of God was the real mover ( Exodus 15:6 , 14:21 ).
dividing the water--( Nehemiah 9:11 , Psalms 78:13 ).

13. deep--literally, "the tossing and roaring sea."
wilderness--rather, the "open plain" [HORSLEY], wherein there is no obstacle to cause a horse in its course the danger of stumbling.

14. As a beast . . . rest--image from a herd led "down" from the hills to a fertile and well-watered "valley" ( Psalms 23:2 ); so God's Spirit "caused Israel to rest" in the promised land after their weary wanderings.
to make . . . name--(So Isaiah 63:12 , 2 Samuel 7:23 ).

15. Here begins a fervent appeal to God to pity Israel now on the ground of His former benefits.
habitation of . . . holiness--( Isaiah 57:15 , Deuteronomy 26:15 , 2 Chronicles 30:27 , Psalms 33:14 , 80:14 ).
zeal . . . strength--evinced formerly for Thy people.
sounding of . . . bowels--Thine emotions of compassion ( Isaiah 16:11 , Jeremiah 31:20 , 48:36 , Hosea 11:8 ).

16. thou . . . father--of Israel, by right not merely of creation, but also of electing adoption ( Isaiah 64:8 , Deuteronomy 32:6 , 1 Chronicles 29:10 ).
though Abraham . . . Israel--It had been the besetting temptation of the Jews to rest on the mere privilege of their descent from faithful Abraham and Jacob ( Matthew 3:9 , John 8:39 , 4:12 ); now at last they renounce this, to trust in God alone as their Father, notwithstanding all appearances to the contrary. Even though Abraham, our earthly father, on whom we have prided ourselves, disown us, Thou wilt not ( Isaiah 49:15 , Psalms 27:10 ). Isaac is not mentioned, because not all his posterity was admitted to the covenant, whereas all Jacob's was; Abraham is specified because he was the first father of the Jewish race.
everlasting--an argument why He should help them, namely, because of His everlasting immutability.

17. made us to err--that is, "suffer" 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 Isaiah 6:10 , Psalms 119:10 , Romans 1:28 ).
Return--( Numbers 10:36 , Psalms 90:13 ).

18. people of . . . holiness--Israel dedicated as holy unto God ( Isaiah 62:12 , Deuteronomy 7:6 ).
possessed--namely, the Holy Land, or Thy "sanctuary," taken from the following clause, which is parallel to this (compare Isaiah 64:10 Isaiah 64:11 , Psalms 74:6-8 ).
thy--an argument why God should help them; their cause is His cause.

19. thine . . . never--rather, "We are Thine from of old; Thou barest not rule over them" [BARNES]. LOWTH translates, "We for long have been as those over whom Thou hast not ruled, who are not called by Thy name"; "for long" thus stands in contrast to "but a little while" ( Isaiah 63:18 ). But the analogy of Isaiah 63:18 makes it likely that the first clause in this verse refers to the Jews, and the second to their foes, as English Version and BARNES translate it. The Jews' foes are aliens who have unjustly intruded into the Lord's heritage.