Isaiah 65:24

Isa 65:24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

Ver. 24. And it shall come to pass, that before they call I will answer.] Mirabilis certe promissio, a wonderful promise, verily, saith Scultetus. The prayers of the saints do sooner pierce from their hearts to heaven, than they can find way from their hearts to their mouths. So David found it; {Psa 32:5} and Daniel; {Dan 10:12} and that prodigal. {Luk 15:18; Luk 15:20} Our Saviour, who came out of the bosom of the Father, gives two reasons (1.) "The Father himself loveth you," {Joh 16:27} and love is liberal; (2.) "The Father knoweth before ye ask, that ye have need of all these things." {Mat 6:32}

And while they are yet speaking, I will hear.] Thus he heard those praying Israelites at the meet at Mizpeh, {1Sa 7:6} David, {Psa 6:8-9} Daniel, {Dan 9:21} Cornelius, {Act 10:3} and his company; {Act 10:44} Luther, when he came leaping out of his study, where he had been praying, with Vicimus! vicimus! in his mouth; the day is ours, we shall carry the cause.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa_65:24

And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer.

The Church in harmony with Gods will

The will of the Church of the new Jerusalem will be Jehovahs will to such a degree that he already hears and fulfils the slightest movement of prayer in the heart, the prayer but half-uttered. (F. Delitzsch, D. D.)

The Divine willingness to hear prayer.

I. MAN NEEDS TO CALL UPON AND SPEAK TO GOD. What is mans greatest need? To him who believes in a future world--eternal life. To whom shall he go for this? He must call upon God. This is shown--

1. From the consciousness of an existing want which cannot be supplied.

(1) By himself.

(a) From within.

(b) From without.

(2) By the world.

(a) Its inhabitants.

(b) Its wealth.

(c) Its pleasures.

2. From the fact that light, pardon, guidance, comfort, heaven, can only be had from God.

II. MAN IS ENCOURAGED TO CALL UPON AND SPEAK UNTO GOD. This is shown by four considerations of Gods dealings with man--

1. Opening the way of approach to Himself by His Word.

2. Teaching the way by His servants.

3. Directing in the way by His Spirit.

4. Distinctly promising to bless all who come in the way. But from the text we learn explicitly that man is encouraged to call upon and speak unto God. Before they call, I will answer. God perceives and realizes the desires of the Christian heart. Amid all the complex movements of the universe, He sees the unfolding of the praying heart, and, swifter than the lightning flash, the answer comes. David found it so (Psa_32:5), so did Daniel (Dan_10:12), and we have found it so (Mat_6:8). And while they are yet speaking I will hear. God is willing to listen to the articulated wish of the Christian hearts. Amid the clash of nations strife, the busy hum of struggling humanity, the hoarse cries for sensual pleasure, the blasphemies of the lewd, the groans of the crushed and disappointed, He listens to the speaking of His children, and hears the faintest whispered want. Illustrations: The Israelites at Mizpeh (1Sa_7:1-17.); Davids triumph over his enemies (Psa_6:8-9); Daniel and the seventy weeks Dan_9:21); Cornelius (Act_10:3). (J. E. Hargreaves.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa 65:24. Before they call I will answer — “Behold here,” says Vitringa, “a desirable blessing, the truest seal of divine favour and paternal love. The closest conjunction of heaven and earth, that is, of God and men, is expressed in this verse; seeing that God declares he will abundantly and immediately satisfy the desires of his people, which desires are here supposed to be just and conformable to his will; and that he will be of such goodness as of his own accord to prevent their requests, and even answer their prayers before they utter them.”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

SPEEDY BLESSING

Isa_65:24. Before they call I will answer.

Divine generosity outruns human petitions. The promise here so graciously given is illustrated practically by many instances recorded in Scripture. And many devout Christians can attest a similar readiness.

I. The condition of speedy blessing. From the language of the text it is plain that the promise is limited to those who—

1. Are conscious of need; and

2. Recognise that such need can be supplied only from a Divine source.

II. The character, &c. The language used is very simple and very human. We are assured that when the petition and its spirit are acceptable, God will—

1. Hear. This is something more than a statement of the Divine Omniscience. He will hear as a king hears the suit of a favourite or the petition of a suppliant, i.e., with an attentive and favourable disposition.

2. Answer. This means not by words merely, but by acts. The assurance is given that God’s providence will supply a want, or His grace remit a sin, or His Spirit impart needed strength or guidance.

III. The explanation, &c. If a human benefactor were in question, there would be something paradoxical in this promise. But this disappears when it is remembered who He is who makes this wonderful promise.

1. The perfect acquaintance which the Divine Benefactor has with the wants of the suppliant.

2. The spontaneous and abounding benevolence of the Divine heart hastens to anticipate the wants, to outrun the requests of those who have petitions to present and blessings to implore.—The Homiletical Library, vol. ii. pp. 157, 158.

I. Man needs to call upon and speak to God. II. Man is encouraged to call upon and speak unto God.—Lay Preacher.

Isa_65:23.

1. The characters described. II. Their happiness. A blessing upon their toil. Upon their children.

Isa_65:25. I. Some types of human nature. II. Their harmonious combination. Altered feelings, tastes, habits—all harmonised. III. The power by which this change is to be effected. IV. The happy issue. Peace, love, righteouness. V. The signal contrast. In the serpent and his seed.—J. Lyth, D.D.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

65:24 God will be present with his people (see also 19:22; 30:19; cp. 1:15; 59:2).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Contrast Isa 64:7, "none . . . calleth," &c.; and see on Isa 65:12, "I called, ye did not answer." MAURER translates, "They shall hardly (literally, "not yet") call, when (literally, "and") I will answer; they shall be still speaking, when I will hear" (Psa 32:5; Dan 9:20-21).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 24. Before they call, I will answer] I will give them all they crave for, and more than they can desire.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(24) Before they call . . .—In man’s experience of men, often, as things are now, in his relations with God, there is an interval between prayer and the answer. In the new Jerusalem the two would be simultaneous, or the answer would anticipate the prayer.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. Cf. Dan_9:21.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer,.... The sense is, should they be attacked by any enemy, or fear that they shall be disturbed by them, and so bethink themselves of making application to the Lord for help; while they are preparing for prayer, stirring up one another to it, and appointing a season for it, to meet together on that account; before they are able to put up one petition in a regular way, the Lord will appear for them, and give an answer of peace:

and while they are yet speaking, I will hear; while they are praying to him, he hears and answers, and grants their requests, and more, as he did Daniel. This shows the readiness of the Lord to help and assist his people in any time of trouble, or when they may fear an enemy; and is a great encouragement to attend the throne of grace constantly.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Before they call, I will answer - That is, their desires shall be anticipated, God will see their needs, and he will impart to them the blessings which they need. He will not wait to be applied to for the blessing. How many such blessings do all his people receive at the hand of God! How ready is he to anticipate our needs! How watchful is he of our necessities; and how rich his benevolence in providing for us! Even the most faithful and prayerful of his people receive numerous favors and comforts at his hand for which they have not directly asked him. The prayer for the supply of our daily food, ‘Give us this day our daily bread,’ God had anticipated, and had prepared the means of answering it, long before, in the abundant harvest. Had he waited until the prayer was offered, it could not have been answered without a miracle. Ever watchful, he anticipates our necessities, and in his providence and grace lays the foundation for granting the favor long before we ask him.

And while they are yet speaking, I will hear - So it was with Daniel (Dan 9:20-21; compare Psa 32:5). So it was with the early disciples when they were assembled in an upper room in Jerusalem, and when the Spirit of God descended with great power on the day of Pentecost Act 2:1-2. So when Paul and Silas, in the prison at Philippi, ‘prayed and sang praises to God,’ he heard them and came for their rescue Act 16:25-26. So it has often been - and especially in revivals of religion. When his people have been deeply impressed with a sense of the languishing state of religion; when they have gone unitedly before God and implored a blessing; God has heard their prayers, and even while they were speaking has begun a work of grace. Hundreds of such instances have occurred, alike demonstrating the faithfulness of God to his promises, and suited to encourage his people, and to excite them to prayer. It is one of the precious promises pertaining to the blessings of the reign of the Messiah, that the answer of prayer shall be immediate - and for this his people should look, and this they should expect. God can as easily answer prayer at once as to delay it; and when the proper state of mind exists, he is as ready to answer it now as to defer it to a future time. What encouragement have we to pray! How faithful, how fervent should we be in our supplications! How full of guilt are we if one single blessing is witcheld from our world that might have been imparted if we had prayed as we ought; if one single soul shall be lost who might have been saved if we had not been unfaithful in prayer!

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

God promised, Isa 58:9, to answer them when they called; here he promiseth to be so ready to answer, as to answer the words as soon as they should be formed in their hearts, before they should get them out of their lips, Psa 32:5; Dan 10:12; yea, while they were speaking, Dan 9:20,23; Ac 10:44. Nor doth God say only they shall have the things they would have, (for so wicked men may sometimes have from the bountiful hand of Divine Providence,) but they shall have them as an answer or return unto their prayers.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

24. Before they call, I will answer — With unclouded consciousness of union with God, they shall realize certain possession of blessings, without need or occasion of calling for them. Such is the character of the faith of Christian adoption — a state covering the whole scope of ever-advancing religious life.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Before they call, I will answer. God is always "more ready to hear than we to pray." In the "new Jerusalem" he will be prompt to answer his people"s prayers almost before they are uttered. It is involved in this, as Delitzsch notes, that the will of the people shall be in harmony with the will of Jehovah, and that their prayers will therefore be acceptable prayers.

The Divine readiness.

Man is slow to respond.

1. His limited intelligence makes him slow to apprehend what is needed.

2. His imperfect sensibility makes him slow to feel the urgency of the need.

3. His feebleness of execution makes him slow to interpose and to effect. God is not under these limitations. His perfect readiness is seen in

I HIS ANTICIPATION OF OUR NECESSITIES. Providing this world for our habitation; preparing its soil and its seed; storing its coal and its metals, etc.; providing for our wants in sunshine and in rain, etc., which come without our asking for them; having all kinds of truth and knowledge ready for our inquiry; etc.

II HIS ANSWERS TO OUR PRAYERS.

1. Sometimes literally granting our requests at the very time of our asking. (Dan_9:20, Dan_9:21)

2. Always virtually meeting us with an immediate response; for when hedoes not grant us all we ask instantly, as he could not do with any regard to our real and spiritual interests, he does hear us and heed us, and determine in what way he will bless us.

III HIS RESPONSE TO OUR APPEAL IN SORROW AND IN PENITENCE. There are two things in regard to which the words of our text are emphatically true.

1. When in sorrow we ask for his sympathy. When the cares, anxieties, disappointments, losses, separations of life, overtake us, then the stricken heart of man turns and looks for the healing hand of God, then the troubled child goes to his heavenly Father; and never vainly. For in the very act of an appeal, while we are yet upon our knees, before we have left the sanctuary, God has laid his kind hand upon us, Jesus Christ has spoken "peace" to our agitated spirit.

2. When in penitence we ask for his pardon. When, away in the far country of unbelief, or of wrong-doing, or of irreligion, or of unfaithfulness and Backsliding, or of indecision and procrastination, we hear the summons from the Father"s home, and when we say, "I will arise and return," what happens then? A Divine readiness to receive us, even as the great Teacher has shown us. Then the Father of souls does not wait to be convinced, and to be induced to pardon and reinstate us. He comes forth to meet us; he anticipates our action; he breaks in upon our confession with his words of forgiving and accepting love; (Luk_15:21, Luk_15:22) he overwhelms us with the proofs of his Divine affection. C.

Swift answers to prayer.

The answer comes even when the prayer is but a thought, is only a sigh; for God is the Infinite Thought-reader. "Prayer is the burden of a sigh, The failing of a tear; The upward glancing of an eye. When none but God is near.

One of the wonderful revelations of the day that is coming will be God"s showing us the many answers he sent to prayers of ours that never took shape in human words, that were no more than the outlook and uplook of our souls. The point impressed by the prophet here is that, by reason of man"s sinfulness, delays in answering his prayers are often necessary, delay doing a very essential disciplinary and corrective work. But if a man were holy in fall harmony with God"s will there would never be any question about his prayers, never any need for delay in answering them. God could respond at once. "In man"s experience of men, often, as things are now, in his relations with God, there is an interval between prayer and answer. In the new Jerusalem the two would he simultaneous, or the answer would anticipate the prayer." God"s present method in relation to prayer may be illustrated from Dan_9:23 Luk_18:1-7 2Co_12:8.

I WHAT IS IT IN US THAT MAKES ANSWER TO PRAYER SLOW AND EVEN UNCERTAIN. It is certain that God is more willing to hear than we are to pray. He has made large and firm promises of answer if we pray; and yet sometimes his answer is a refusal, and at other times it is a delay, and at yet other times the gift of something which we did not desire. The explanation is in us; we either ask for wrong things, or else we ask in. a wrong spirit. We need rebuff, or we need correction. Art unanswered prayer should always set us upon "examining ourselves.

II WHAT IS IT IN US THAT MAKES ANSWER TO PRAYER. COME SWIFTLY? The conformity of our desires with God"s will, and the offering of ourselves in the spirit of submission, dependence, and trustful love, which becomes obedient children. "Lord, teach us how to pray aright. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Before they call - God promised, chap. lviii, 9, to answer them, when they called: here he promises to answer the words, as soon as they should be formed in their hearts before they could get them out of their lips. While - Yea, while they were speaking.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

All prayer will be heard then. "And it will come to pass: before they call, I will answer; they are still speaking, and I already hear." The will of the church of the new Jerusalem will be so perfectly the will of Jehovah also, that He will hear the slightest emotion of prayer in the heart, the half-uttered prayer, and will at once fulfill it (cf., Isa 30:19).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

“And it shall be (or come to pass), that they shall not yet have called and I will answer, yet (shall) they (be) speaking and I will hear.” A strong expression of God’s readiness to hear and answer prayer, not a mere promise that it shall be heard (like that in Jer 29:12; Zec 13:9), but an assurance that it shall be granted before it is heard. The nearest parallel is Mat 6:8, where our Lord Himself says, ‘Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.’ (Compare Isa 30:19; Isa 58:9; Psa 145:18-19).

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Yahweh continues speaking about his faithful people.

holy mountain

See how you translated this in Isaiah 11:9.

translationWords

call

wolf

lamb

lions

cow

serpent

holy

Yahweh

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

טרם I think that it means yet, and with the preposition ב before. The meaning of the passage is: I shall readily give them all that they shall ask of me.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.