Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.
Call to prayer to Yahweh, as contrasted with the idol-worship which had brought judgments on the princes and people. Blessings promised in answer to prayer:
(1) Their rulers shall be of themselves;
(2) The conquest of their enemies.
(3) The restoration and establishment of both Israel and Judah in their own land in lasting peace and piety.
Ask ye of the Lord rain - on which the abundance of grain promised by the Lord (Zechariah 9:17) depends. Yahweh alone can give it, and will give it on being asked (Jeremiah 10:13; Jeremiah 14:22).
Rain in the time of the latter rain - i:e., the latter rain in its due time-namely, in spring, about February or March (Job 29:33; Joel 2:23). The latter rain ripened the grain, as the former rain in October tended to fructify the seed. Including all temporal blessings; these, again, being types of spiritual ones. Though God has begun to bless us, we are not to relax our prayers. The former rain of conversion may have been given, but we must also ask for the latter rain of ripened sanctification. Though at Pentecost there was a former rain on the Jewish Church, a latter rain is still to be looked for when the full harvest of the nation's conversion shall be gathered in to God. The spirit of prayer in the Church is an index at once of her piety and of the spiritual blessings she may expect from God. When the Church is full of prayer, God pours out a full blessing.
So the Lord shall make bright clouds - rather, lightnings, the precursors of rain (Maurer).
And give them showers of rain, [mªTar geshem] - literally, rain of heavy rain. In Job 37:6 the same words occur in inverted order (Henderson).
Grass - a general term, including both grain for men and grass for cattle.