Isaiah 59:11

11 We are frightened and distressed. We long for God to save us from oppression and wrong, but nothing happens.

Isaiah 59:11 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 59:11

We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves
Some in a more noisy and clamorous, others in a stiller way, yet all in private: for the bear, when robbed of its whelps, goes to its den and roars; and the dove, when it has lost its mate, mourns in solitude: this expresses the secret groanings of the saints under a sense of sin, and the forlorn state of religion. The Targum paraphrases it thus,

``we roar because of our enemies, who are gathered against us as bears; all of us indeed mourn sore as doves:''

we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far
from us;
we expect that God will take vengeance on our enemies, and save us; look for judgment on antichrist, and the antichristian states, and for the salvation of the church of God; for the vials of divine wrath on the one, and for happy times to the other; but neither of them as yet come; the reason of which is as follows.

Isaiah 59:11 In-Context

9 The people say, "Now we know why God does not save us from those who oppress us. We hope for light to walk by, but there is only darkness,

10 and we grope about like blind people. We stumble at noon, as if it were night, as if we were in the dark world of the dead.

11 We are frightened and distressed. We long for God to save us from oppression and wrong, but nothing happens.

12 "Lord, our crimes against you are many. Our sins accuse us. We are well aware of them all.

13 We have rebelled against you, rejected you, and refused to follow you. We have oppressed others and turned away from you. Our thoughts are false; our words are lies.