November 9, 2025 - Isaiah 26:16-21 - "The Chastening of the LORD"

Isaiah 26:15-21

"Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth. LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them. Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD. We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain."

Isaiah 26 unfolds as a song of rejoicing that looks forward to a Great Deliverance worked by the LORD. It is a song born out of chastening, the kind of chastening that proves both the Love and the Sovereignty of God. Israel’s story unfolds beneath God's heavy hand of Divine correction — the ten tribes carried away by Assyria, Judah later taken by Babylon — yet none of it fell outside the LORD’s purpose. He was proving something greater: that His people, in themselves, were no better than the nations He used to judge them. The lesson remains — the heart of man is the same in every nation, and it is only Grace that makes the difference (Ephesians 2:4).

In the midst of judgment, the prophet sees Mercy. “Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD… thou art glorified.” The LORD did not chasten to destroy, but to purify, to glorify Himself in Mercy. His dealings were not for Israel’s merit but for His Son’s sake. The favored nation was chosen out and preserved so that Christ might come through it. So every stroke of Divine correction upon His people was not in wrath but Love, not punishment for sin, for Christ bore that, but chastening by means of sin, that we might be turned again unto Him. “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth” (Hebrews 12:6).

The prophet likens their pain to that of a woman in travail. It is not meaningless agony, but suffering that brings forth life. The pain is real — no one enjoys it, and no child of God seeks it — yet it is purposeful. The woman’s cry is not the end but the means to Joy. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). Through the throes of chastening, the LORD draws His own nearer. Every idol stripped away, every comfort taken, until the heart cries, “O Thou in whose presence my soul takes delight.” When there is nothing left but Christ, the soul finds Him all-sufficient.

The LORD’s chastening is a Mercy. To be left alone would be the greater terror. The absence of correction would mean the absence of sonship. Every chastening, painful though it is, bears the seal of Love. “Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). The Shepherd disciplines the sheep that wander, not in anger but in covenant affection. His aim is not destruction but restoration. The same Hand that smites is the Hand that binds the chastening wounds.

The people of God in captivity learned to “pour out a prayer” (v.16) when His chastening was upon them. This statement speaks not of empty words, but of the offering of the heart — a pouring out as a drink offering upon the altar, flowing from the only acceptable Sacrifice, the blood of Christ. True prayer, wrought in affliction, is shaped by Christ crucified at the cross. It comes not from formality but from need — from a soul brought low, taught to seek the LORD in secret. “In their affliction they will seek me early” (Hosea 5:15). That is the blessed Purpose of Divine correction — to bring the heart back to the place of dependence, to renew the cry of Grace.

The chastening of the LORD is both painful and needful. It is tailor-made for every one of His children. The LORD knows exactly how to deal with each soul to cause it to look to Christ. No book, no counsel, no human hand can remove what He has purposed. And yet, afterward, it yields “the peaceable fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11). Peace is not the absence of trial, but the Presence of Christ in the midst of it. “Thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us” (Isaiah 26:12). He ordains Peace through conflict, Righteousness through chastening, Rest through dependence upon His finished work.

All enemies that rise against His people are already conquered. “They are dead, they shall not rise” (v.14). For when Christ died, He destroyed every enemy — sin, law, and Satan alike. “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us… nailing it to his cross… and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly” (Colossians 2:14–15). The believer’s Security is found in that Victory. The law can no longer condemn; the accuser has no power to touch those hidden in Christ. Even when the LORD causes affliction through the hands of men, He uses them only as instruments to do His will, never to destroy His own.

And when the discipline is finished, He calls His people to rest: “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers… hide thyself… until the indignation be overpast.” It is a call by Christ to retreat into Christ Himself — the Chamber of Mercy, the place of Safety purchased by His blood. The world may be under judgment, but those sheltered in Him have Peace. “Seeing then that we have a great high priest… Jesus the Son of God… let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14–16).

Chastening drives the child of God into those chambers — away from self, into Christ. There the soul finds Defense, Comfort, and Quietness until the storm has passed. For the chastening of the LORD always ends in the same place — not despair, but Peace. The same Hand that wounds also heals His child. The same Love that corrects comforts. And in it all, the LORD glorifies Himself in His Son.

Thus, Isaiah’s song becomes the believer’s song: rejoicing not in the absence of trial, but in the God Who turns chastening into grace, affliction into fellowship, and pain into peace. “Thy dead men shall live… together with my dead body shall they arise” (v.19). Every correction, every sorrow, every stroke leads to that Resurrection Life where Christ and His people shall stand together in Glory, and the chastening of the LORD shall be forever past.