591 Behold , the Lord'S hand is not so short That it cannot save ; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear . 2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God , And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear . 3 For your hands are defiled with blood And your fingers with iniquity ; Your lips have spoken falsehood , Your tongue mutters wickedness . 4 No one sues righteously and no one pleads honestly . They trust in confusion and speak lies ; They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity . 5 They hatch adders' eggs and weave the spider's web ; He who eats of their eggs dies , And from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth . 6 Their webs will not become clothing , Nor will they cover themselves with their works ; Their works are works of iniquity , And an act of violence is in their hands . 7 Their feet run to evil , And they hasten to shed innocent blood ; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity , Devastation and destruction are in their highways . 8 They do not know the way of peace , And there is no justice in their tracks ; They have made their paths crooked , Whoever treads on them does not know peace .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 59:1-8
Commentary on Isaiah 59:1-8
(Read Isaiah 59:1-8)
If our prayers are not answered, and the salvation we wait for is not wrought for us, it is not because God is weary of hearing prayer, but because we are weary of praying. See here sin in true colours, exceedingly sinful; and see sin in its consequences, exceedingly hurtful, separating from God, and so separating us, not only from all good, but to all evil. Yet numbers feed, to their own destruction, on infidel and wicked systems. Nor can their skill or craft, in devising schemes, as the spider weaves its web, deliver or save them. No schemes of self-wrought salvation shall avail those who despise the Redeemer's robe of righteousness. Every man who is destitute of the Spirit of Christ, runs swiftly to evil of some sort; but those regardless of Divine truth and justice, are strangers to peace.