21 "Present your case ," the Lord says . "Bring forward your strong arguments," The King of Jacob says . 22 Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place ; As for the former events, declare what they were, That we may consider them and know their outcome . Or announce to us what is coming ; 23 Declare the things that are going to come afterward , That we may know that you are gods ; Indeed , do good or evil , that we may anxiously look about us and fear together . 24 Behold , you are of no account , And your work amounts to nothing ; He who chooses you is an abomination . 25 "I have aroused one from the north , and he has come ; From the rising of the sun he will call on My name ; And he will come upon rulers as upon mortar , Even as the potter treads clay ." 26 Who has declared this from the beginning , that we might know ? Or from former times , that we may say , "He is right !"? Surely there was no one who declared , Surely there was no one who proclaimed , Surely there was no one who heard your words . 27 " Formerly I said to Zion , 'Behold , here they are.' And to Jerusalem , 'I will give a messenger of good news .' 28 "But when I look , there is no one , And there is no counselor among them Who, if I ask , can give an answer . 29 "Behold , all of them are false ; Their works are worthless , Their molten images are wind and emptiness .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 41:21-29
Commentary on Isaiah 41:21-29
(Read Isaiah 41:21-29)
There needs no more to show the folly of sin, than to bring to notice the reasons given in defence of it. There is nothing in idols worthy of regard. They are less than nothing, and worse than nothing. Let the advocates of other doctrines than that of salvation through Christ, bring their arguments. Can they tell of a cure for human depravity? Jehovah has power which cannot be withstood; this he will make appear. But the certain knowledge of the future must be only with Jehovah, who fulfils his own plans. All prophecies, except those of the Bible, have been uncertain. In the work of redemption the Lord showed himself much more than in the release of the Jews from Babylon. The good tidings the Lord will send in the gospel, is a mystery hid from ages and generations. A Deliverer is raised up for us, of nobler name and greater power than the deliverer of the captive Jews. May we be numbered among his obedient servants and faithful friends.