When the poor and needy seek water— Here, according to my hypothesis, says Vitringa, is described the state of the afflicted Christian church, after its happy beginning; particularly under Nero, who was the first public persecutor of the Christians. After the Israelites had departed from Egypt, and passed the Red Sea, wandering three days in the desert, they were in great want of water, wherewith God miraculously supplied them. Such was the case of the first Christian church: separated from the communion of the Roman empire, and of corrupt Judaism, that spiritual Egypt, they soon became exposed to a variety of evils and inconveniences, like the Jews after they had left Egypt. Alienated from the communion of Pagans and Jews, they seemed, as it were, about to perish in the wilderness; as the Israelites feared after they had departed from Egypt. And as the Red Sea was first presented to the Israelites, and seemed with its waves about to swallow them up, so also was it with the first Christians at the period alluded to; I mean the bloody persecution of Nero, which threatened total destruction to Christianity. At this time, it is no wonder that the minds of many were dispirited: in great anxiety and distress, wandering in this desert of the Gentiles, they found no water; that is to say, no comfort from the Roman state, or from the communion of the Jews. They were beset on all sides by enemies; exposed to their hatred, envy, and injuries, after the gate of persecution was once opened upon them. We have a parallel passage, Psalms 107:4; Psalms 107:43. This, therefore, is the meaning of the phrase, The poor and needy seek water, and there is none; which is not to be taken absolutely, but in a restrained sense; thus, "That they were reduced to such a state, that they could not enjoy the communion of Christ in their assemblies, with that freedom and comfort which they hoped for and wished." See Psalms 63:2. The phrase, their tongue faileth, or is dried up for thirst, denotes the great heat of afflictions which they endured at the period referred to, when God called his church to walk through the fire; ch. Isaiah 43:2. God promises to these, first, in general, that he would hear their prayers, and would not forsake them; Isaiah 41:17 and, secondly, that the church should not be destroyed by this and other persecutions, but should be supported by his providence and grace; so that, at length, the whole desert of the Roman empire, in which the church then wandered, thirsty, and persecuted, should be turned into a garden; that is to say, should embrace the Christian religion; and an abundance of believers should bring forth spiritual fruits. The prophet subjoins the effect of this work of grace, Isaiah 41:20.; which should be, an universal acknowledgment, that this work of changing the Roman empire into the church and garden of God, was the work of the Almighty. And who indeed can look at the completion of this prophesy in the conversion of Pagan Rome, without acknowledging that the hand of the Lord hath done this? See Vitringa.
Related Commentaries of Isaiah 41:17
Isaiah 41:17-20
17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:
20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.