Isaiah 63:5

5 I looked around for someone to help - no one. I couldn't believe it - not one volunteer. So I went ahead and did it myself, fed and fueled by my rage.

Isaiah 63:5 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 63:5

And I looked, and there was none to help
As, in the first redemption and salvation by Christ here on earth, there were none among the angels, nor any of the sons of men, to help him and assist him therein, none but Jehovah the Father; so, in this latter salvation, the church and people of God will be reduced to such a low, helpless, and forlorn condition, that there will be none to lend an assisting hand; their deliverance will appear most manifestly to be the sole work of almighty power: and I wondered that there was none to uphold;
not the Saviour and Redeemer, he needed none; but his people under their sufferings, trials, and exercises, and his sinking, dying, cause and interest: this is spoken after the manner of men, and to make the salvation appear the more remarkable, distinguishing, and great, and solely his own work; for otherwise expectation and disappointment, consternation and amazement, as the word F18 signifies, cannot be properly ascribed to this great Redeemer: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me;
to himself, his mystical self, his church and people, and for his own glory; a salvation which his own omnipotent arm could only effect; (See Gill on Isaiah 59:16), and my fury it upheld me;
his zeal for his church and people, and his indignation against their enemies, excited his almighty power on their behalf, and carried him through the work of their deliverance and salvation he engaged in; see ( Isaiah 9:7 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F18 (Mmwtvaw) "et obstupui, Musculus; stupefactus sum", Vatablus; "et obstupesceban", Cocceius; "stupebam", Vitringa.

Isaiah 63:5 In-Context

3 "I've been treading the winepress alone. No one was there to help me. Angrily, I stomped the grapes; raging, I trampled the people. Their blood spurted all over me - all my clothes were soaked with blood.
4 I was set on vengeance. The time for redemption had arrived.
5 I looked around for someone to help - no one. I couldn't believe it - not one volunteer. So I went ahead and did it myself, fed and fueled by my rage.
6 I trampled the people in my anger, crushed them under foot in my wrath, soaked the earth with their lifeblood." All the Things God Has Done That Need Praising
7 I'll make a list of God's gracious dealings, all the things God has done that need praising, All the generous bounties of God, his great goodness to the family of Israel - Compassion lavished, love extravagant.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.