The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD [will be] the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
Ver. 16. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion] Out of his Church he shall terrify his enemies, as the lion doth the rest of the creatures by his dreadful roar; so that they are amazed thereat, and have no power to stir from the place. Lyra interpreteth it of that terrible Discedite, Go, ye cursed, that shall be uttered by Christ at the last day; a sentence that breatheth out nothing better than fire and brimstone, stings and sorrows, woe, and, alas! torments without end and past imagination.
And the heavens and the earth shall shake] The heavens with thunder, the earth with earthquake, to the terror of the wicked, but comfort of the godly, Haggai 2:6 .
For the Lord will be the hope (or, harbour) of his people] They shall have a good bush on their backs in the greatest tempest; they shall not be afraid, "though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be cast into the midst of the sea," Psalms 46:2 .
“ Si fractus illabatur orbis,
Impavidos ferient ruinae ”(Horat.).
O the force of a lively faith, and the privy armour of proof that believers have about their hearts! O the dignity and safety of God's people in the worst of times! Habakkuk 3:18,19 . "Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, the sword of thine excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shall tread upon their high places," Deuteronomy 33:29 .