For Sion’s sake I will not hold my peace, and for the sake of Jerusalem, I will not rest till her just one come forth as brightness, and her saviour be lighted as a lamp.

“For Sion's sake. Here he promises the people the honor of glory: and first the prophet's petition is set down; second, the Lord's promise: "the Lord has sworn." Concerning the first, two things: first he himself petitions; second he induces others to petition likewise, "you who remind." Concerning the first, again two things. First he himself petitions for this: the rising of the savior. "For Sion's sake," namely for her usefulness, or love, "I will not be silent" — from prayers before God; "the savior" — Cyrus; "as brightness" — in the glory of the kingdom. Mystically, "I will not be silent" — from the preaching of Christ, on account of contradiction; "Sion" — of the king; "Jerusalem" — of the priests; "the savior" — Christ. Dan. 10: his face was like an appearance. Second, he shows the fruit of the coming. First, as to the glory of the city, promising that same glory in three respects. In the dignity of a king: "and they shall see," admiring and venerating, "the just one" — Christ or Cyrus. Ps. 97: "all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God." In the newness of the name: "and it shall be called," after the custom of the ancients, who imposed new names from new events. And this name he will express afterward. Mystically, the Church, which before was the synagogue. Apoc. 2: "I will give him a stone." In the defense of divine protection: "you shall be a crown of glory," because "your God will glory in you," as a king glories in the crown of the kingdom in his hand, that is, in his protection. Wis. 5: "receiving a kingdom of beauty." Mystically, the Church is as it were the crown of God; the Son is crowned by the Father. And he excludes disgrace, in which likewise he expresses the new name: "you shall not be called." Ez. 36: "because they say of you, etc." Second, as to the joy of the inhabitants: as to children, "the young man shall dwell"; as to men of full age, "and they shall dwell"; and as to the married, "and he shall rejoice." Jer. 33: "there shall yet be heard in the place, etc." Mystically, the young man with the virgin, chastely, as Mary with Joseph; the bridegroom — Christ; the bride — the Church. Third, as to the diligent guarding of the buildings, which is expressed in 2 Esdras 4: "with one hand they built, and with the other they fought." "Upon the walls I will not be silent": he speaks according to the likeness of watchmen who guard a city; or by metaphor he designates the diligence of princes, who governed the people, or of preachers in the Church. Apoc. 4: "they had no rest, crying out: holy, holy." "You who remind." Here he induces others to a similar petition. "Do not be silent" — from prayer to him, to God. 1 Thess. 5: "rejoice always, pray without ceasing." "The Lord has sworn." Here the Lord promises to fulfill the petition: and first, as to the driving off of enemies, "if I shall give" — supply: do not believe me. Prov. 28: "who works the land, and does not eat the fruit from it." Second, as to the liberation of the captives. As to the preparation of the way: "pass through" — you messengers of Cyrus and Darius; "the stones" — the obstacles. Jer. 50: "take away the stones from the way." Or: you, guardians of the walls, the preachers. As to the granting of joy: "lift up a sign" — the edict of Cyrus that all should return, or the sign of the cross. Above, ch. 11: "he shall lift up a sign for the nations." And as to the recompense of justice: "say to the daughter" — to the people of the Jews; "the savior" — God or Cyrus; "the reward" — that good things be rendered to you, and evil to the enemies. Mystically, of the coming of Christ to judgment. Above, ch. 40, the same. Third, there, "and they shall call," he sets down the honor of the liberated, who were held in great fame of holiness on account of the benefits bestowed on them. Above, ch. 1: "after this you shall be called." Mystically, of the Church and the Christian people. Note, on that word, "for Sion's sake I will not be silent," that the saints are not silent: first, on account of enkindled desire. Jer. 20: "and the word of the Lord became in my heart as a burning fire." Second, on account of evident truth. Acts 4: "for we cannot... the things which we have seen." Third, on account of an enjoined office. 1 Cor. 9: "necessity lies upon me; for woe is to me if I do not preach the gospel." Fourth, on account of the reward awaited. Galatians, last chapter: "for let us not fail in doing good; for in due time we shall reap, if we do not fail." Likewise, on that word, "until he come forth as brightness," that Christ shines: first, as the image of the Father. Heb. 1: "since he is the brightness of glory, and the figure of his substance." Second, by the light of the saints. Ps. 109: "in the brightness of the saints, before the daystar I begot you." Third, by the fullness of glory. Matt. 17: "his face shone as the sun." Fourth, by the rightness of doctrine. Above, ch. 60: "the nations shall walk in your light, and kings in the brightness of your rising."”

“The prophet here tells us, I. What he will do for the church. A prophet, as he is a seer, so he is a spokesman. This prophet resolves to perform that office faithfully, Isa 62:1. He will not hold his peace; he will not rest; he will mind his business, will take pains, and never desire to take his ease; and herein he was a type of Christ, who was indefatigable in executing the office of a prophet and made it his meat and drink till he had finished his work. Observe here, 1. What the prophet's resolution is: He will not hold his peace. He will continue instant in preaching, will not only faithfully deliver, but frequently repeat, the messages he has received from the Lord. If people receive not the precepts and promises at first, he will inculcate them and give them line upon line. And he will continue instant in prayer; he will never hold his peace at the throne of grace till he has prevailed with God for the mercies promised; he will give himself to prayer and to the ministry of the word, as Christ's ministers must (Act 6:4), who must labour frequently in both and never be weary of this well-doing. The business of ministers is to speak from God to his people and to God for his people; and in neither of these must they be silent. 2. What is the principle of this resolution - for Zion's sake, and for Jerusalem's, not for the sake of any private interest of his own, but for the church's sake, because he has an affection and concern for Zion, and it lies near his heart. Whatever becomes of his own house and family, he desires to see the good of Jerusalem and resolves to seek it all the days of his life, Psa 122:8, Psa 122:9; Psa 118:5. It is God's Zion and his Jerusalem, and it is therefore dear to him, because it is so to God and because God's glory is interested in its prosperity. 3. How long he resolves to continue this importunity - till the promise of the church's righteousness and salvation, given in the foregoing chapter, be accomplished. Isaiah will not himself live to see the release of the captives out of Babylon, much less the bringing in of the gospel, in which grace reigns through righteousness unto life and salvation; yet he will not hold his peace till these be accomplished, even the utmost of them, because his prophecies will continue speaking of these things, and there shall in every age be a remnant that shall continue to pray for them, as successors to him, till the promises be performed, and so the prayers answered that were grounded upon them. Then the church's righteousness and salvation will go forth as brightness, and as a lamp that burns, so plainly that it will carry its own evidence along with it. It will bring honour and comfort to the church, which will hereupon both look pleasant and appear illustrious; and it will bring instruction and direction to the world, a light not only to the eyes but to the feet, and to the paths of those who before sat in darkness and in the shadow of death. II. What God will do for the church. The prophet can but pray and preach, but God will confirm the word and answer the prayers. 1. The church shall be greatly admired. When that righteousness which is her salvation, her praise, and her glory, shall be brought forth, the Gentiles shall see it. The tidings of it shall be carried to the Gentiles, and a tender of it made to them; they may so see this righteousness as to share in it if it be not their own fault. "Even kings shall see and be in love with the glory of thy righteousness" (Isa 62:2), shall overlook the glory of their own courts and kingdoms, and look at, and look after, the spiritual glory of the church as that which excels. 2. She shall be truly admirable. Great names make men considerable in the world, and great respect is paid them thereupon; now it is agreed that honor est in honorante - honour derives its value from the dignity of him who confers it. God is the fountain of honour and from him the church's honour comes: "Thou shalt be called by a new name, a pleasant name, such as thou wast never called by before, no, not in the day of thy greatest prosperity, and the reverse of that which thou wast called by in the day of thy affliction; thou shalt have a new character, be advanced to a new dignity, and those about thee shall have new thoughts of thee." This seems to be alluded to in that promise (Rev 2:17) of the white stone and in the stone a new name, and that (Rev 3:12) of the name of the city of my God and my new name. It is a name which the mouth of the Lord shall name, who, we are sure, miscalls nothing, and who will oblige others to call her by the name he has given her; for his judgment is according to truth and all shall concur with it sooner or later. Two names God shall give her: - (1.) He shall call her his crown (Isa 62:3): Thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, not on his head (as adding any real honour or power to him, as crowns do to those that are crowned with them), but in his hand. He is pleased to account them, and show them forth, as a glory and beauty to him. When he took them to be his people it was that they might be unto him for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory (Jer 13:11): "Thou shalt be a crown of glory and a royal diadem, through the hand, the good hand, of thy God upon thee; he shall make thee so, for he shall be to thee a crown of glory, Isa 28:5. Thou shalt be so in his hand, that is, under his protection; he that shall put glory upon thee shall create a defence upon all that glory, so that the flowers of thy crown shall never wither nor shall its jewels be lost." (2.) He shall call her his spouse, Isa 62:4, Isa 62:5. This is a yet greater honour, especially considering what a forlorn condition she had been in. [1.] Her case had been very melancholy. She was called forsaken and her land desolate during the captivity, like a woman reproachfully divorced or left a disconsolate widow. Such as the state of religion in the world before the preaching of the gospel - it was in a manner forsaken and desolate, a thing that no man looked after nor had any real concern for. [2.] It should now be very pleasant, for God would return in mercy to her. Instead of those two names of reproach, she shall be called by two honourable names. First, She shall be called Hephzi-bah, which signifies, My delight is in her; it was the name of Hezekiah's queen, Manasseh's mother (Kg2 21:1), a proper name for a wife, who ought to be her husband's delight, Pro 5:19. And here it is the church's Maker that is her husband: The Lord delights in thee. God by his grace has wrought that in his church which makes her his delight, she being refined, and reformed, and brought home to him; and then by his providence he does that for her which makes it appear that she is his delight and that he delights to do her good. Secondly, She shall be called Beulah, which signifies married, whereas she had been desolate, a condition opposed to that of the married wife, Isa 54:1. "Thy land shall be married, that is, it shall become fruitful again, and be replenished." Though she has long been barren, she shall again be peopled, shall again be made to keep house and to be a joyful mother of children, Psa 113:9. She shall be married, for, 1. Her sons shall heartily espouse the land of their nativity and its interests, which they had for a long time neglected, as despairing ever to have any comfortable enjoyment of it: Thy sons shall marry thee, that is, they shall live with thee and take delight in thee. When they were in Babylon, they seemed to have espoused that land, for they were appointed to settle, and to seek the peace of it, Jer 29:5-7. But now they shall again marry their own land, as a young man marries a virgin that he takes great delight in, is extremely fond of, and is likely to have many children by. It bodes well to a land when its own natives and inhabitants are pleased with it, prefer it before other lands, when its princes marry their country and resolve to take their lot with it. 2. Her God (which is much better) shall betroth her to himself in righteousness, Hos 2:19, Hos 2:20. He will take pleasure in his church: As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, is pleased with his relation to her and her affection to him, so shall thy God rejoice over thee: he shall rest in his love to thee (Zep 3:17); he shall take pleasure in thee (Psa 147:11), and shall delight to do thee good with his whole heart and his whole soul, Jer 32:41. This is very applicable to the love Christ has for his church and the complacency he takes in it, which appears so brightly in Solomon's Song, and which will be complete in heaven.”

“For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,.... By Zion and Jerusalem, the church in Gospel times is meant, as it often is in this book, and elsewhere; see Heb 12:22, for whose glory, prosperity, and safety, a concern is here expressed. Some take them to be the words of God himself, as the Targum and Kimchi; who seems to be silent and at rest, and even as it were asleep, when he does not arise and exert himself on the behalf of his people; but here he declares he would not be as one silent and at rest, nor let the kingdoms and nations of the world be at rest until the deliverer of his people was come, either Cyrus the type, or Christ the antitype: others take them to be the words of Israel in captivity, as Aben Ezra; though he afterwards observes they are the words of God, or of the church of God, soliciting her own restoration, prosperity, and glory: but they are the words of the prophet, expressing his great love and affection for the church, and his importunate desire of her happiness, intimating that he would never leave off praying for it till it was completed; not that he expected to live till the Messiah came, or to see the glory of the latter day, and of the church in it; but the sense is, that he would continue praying for it without ceasing as long as he lived, and he knew his prayers and his prophecies would live after he was dead; and that there would be persons raised up in the church that would succeed him in this work, till all the glorious things promised and prophesied of should be accomplished: until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness; meaning either till the church's innocence is made as clear as the brightness of the sun at noonday, and she is vindicated from the calumnies and reproaches cast upon her, and open vengeance is taken on her enemies by the Lord, from whom her righteousness is, and by whom her wrongs will be righted; or until the righteousness of Christ, which is by imputation her righteousness, is wrought out by him and revealed in the Gospel, and she appears to all to be clothed with it, as with the sun, Rev 12:1, which will be the case when to her shall be given to be arrayed openly with that fine linen, clean and white, which is the righteousness of the saints, and will be the time of her open marriage to the Lamb, Rev 19:7, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth; which gives light, and is seen afar off; her open deliverance from all her enemies, Pagan, Papal, and Mahometan; and her salvation by Jesus Christ, which will be more clearly published in the Gospel ministry in the latter day, and more openly seen and enjoyed in the effects of it. The Vulgate Latin version of this and the preceding clause is, "until her righteous one goes forth as brightness, and her Saviour as a lamp that burneth;'' meaning Christ the righteous, and the Saviour of his body the church, who in his first coming was as a burning and shining light, even like the sun, the light of the world; and whose spiritual coming will be in such a glorious manner, that he will destroy antichrist with the brightness of it, and is therefore very desirable, Th2 2:8. The Targum of the whole is, "till I work salvation for Zion, I will give no rest to the people; and till consolation comes to Jerusalem, I will not let the kingdoms rest, till her light is revealed as the morning, and her salvation as a lamp that burneth.''”