Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;
Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee. Messiah is represented as having asked for the grace of God in behalf of sinners: this verse contains God the Father's favourable answer.
An acceptable time - `In a time of grace' (Hengstenberg): Hebrew, bª`eet (H6256) raatsown (H7522): in the time of God's goodwill. A limited time (Isaiah 61:2; 2 Corinthians 6:2). The time judged by God to be the best fitted for effecting the purposes of His grace by Messiah.
Have I heard thee - (Psalms 2:7-8; Hebrews 5:7.)
In a day of salvation - when "the fullness of time" (Galatians 4:4) shall have come. The day of salvation is "today" (Hebrews 4:7).
Have I helped thee - given thee the help needed to enable thee, as man, to accomplish man's salvation.
I will preserve thee - from the assaults and efforts of Satan to divert thee from thy voluntary death to save man.
Covenant of the people - (note, Isaiah 42:6.) "The people," in the singular (Hebrew, `am (H5971)), is always applied exclusively to Israel.
To establish the earth - rather, 'to restore the land,' namely, Canaan, to Israel. Spiritually, the restoration of the Church (the spiritual Israel) to the heavenly land forfeited by man's sin is also included.
To cause to inherit the desolate heritages - image from the desolate state of Judea during the Babylonian captivity. Spiritually, the Gentile world, a moral waste, shall become a garden of the Lord. Literally, Judea, lying desolate for ages, shall he possessed again by Israel (cf. Isaiah 61:7, "in their land they shall possess the double"). Jesus, the antitype of, and bearing the same name as, Joshua (Hebrews 4:8), shall, like him, divide the land among its true heirs (Isaiah 54:3; Isaiah 61:4).