331 Woe to you, destroyer, who yourself have not been destroyed; you treacherous one, with whom none has dealt treacherously! When you have ceased to destroy, you will be destroyed; and when you have made an end of dealing treacherously, you will be dealt with treacherously. 2 O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for thee. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble. 3 At the thunderous noise peoples flee, at the lifting up of thyself nations are scattered; 4 and spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers; as locusts leap, men leap upon it. 5 The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness; 6 and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is his treasure. 7 Behold, the valiant ones cry without; the envoys of peace weep bitterly. 8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceases. Covenants are broken, witnesses are despised, there is no regard for man. 9 The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is confounded and withers away; Sharon is like a desert; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves. 10 "Now I will arise," says the Lord, "now I will lift myself up; now I will be exalted. 11 You conceive chaff, you bring forth stubble; your breath is a fire that will consume you. 12 And the peoples will be as if burned to lime, like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire."
13 Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge my might. 14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: "Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?"
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 33:1-14
Commentary on Isaiah 33:1-14
(Read Isaiah 33:1-14)
Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength be. If God leaves us to ourselves any morning, we are undone; we must every morning commit ourselves to him, and go forth in his strength to do the work of the day. When God arises, his enemies are scattered. True wisdom and knowledge lead to strength of salvation, which renders us stedfast in the ways of God; and true piety is the only treasure which can never be plundered or spent. The distress Jerusalem was brought into, is described. God's time to appear for his people, is, when all other helpers fail. Let all who hear what God has done, acknowledge that he can do every thing. Sinners in Zion will have much to answer for, above other sinners. And those that rebel against the commands of the word, cannot take its comforts in time of need. His wrath will burn those everlastingly who make themselves fuel for it. It is a fire that shall never be quenched, nor ever go out of itself; it is the wrath of an ever-living God preying on the conscience of a never-dying soul.