They shall be turned back - The phrases, to be turned back, and to be suffused with shame, are frequently used in the Scriptures to denote a state of disappointment in regard to an object of trust or confidence, and especially of those who had trusted in idols (see Psalms 35:4; Psalms 70:3; Psalms 97:7; compare the notes at Isaiah 1:29; Isaiah 19:9; Isaiah 37:27; see also Ezekiel 16:52). The sense here is, that they should find no such protection in their idol-gods as they had hoped, and that they should be covered with conscious guilt forever, having trusted in them and given to them the homage which was due to the true God.
Related Commentaries of Isaiah 42:17
Isaiah 42:17
17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.