And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.
The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick. Smith thinks the allusion is to the beginning of the pestilence by which the Assyrians were destroyed, and which, while sparing the righteous, affected some within the city ("sinners in Zion"). It may have been the sickness that visited Hezekiah, (Isaiah 38:1-22.)
The people that dwell therein (shall be) forgiven (their) iniquity. In the Jerusalem to come there shall be no 'sickness,' because there will be no "iniquity," it being forgiven (Psalms 103:3). The latter clause of the verse contains the cause of the former (Mark 2:5-9).
Remarks: The violent are repaid with retribution in kind. The 'spoiler' is sure at last to be "spoiled" by death; and often even before it God leaves the wicked, like the Assyrian, to develop fully their gratuitous wickedness, and then makes it and them together to "cease" for ever from tormenting His people. It is the cry of prayer which brings down the "gracious" interposition of Yahweh. When in our "time of trouble "we have waited for" the Lord continually He will be our "arm" of "salvation," each day as it comes. As 'the Lord dwelleth on high,' so will He cause His children to 'dwell on high.' "The fear of the Lord" is true "wisdom and knowledge." Such "wisdom and knowledge" are the true 'stability of the times' of any dynasty, and are the only solid and lasting "treasure." Material wealth often corrupts a people, and prepares the way for their decay; but this treasure purifies and invigorates, and lays the basis for permanent endurance.