Commentary - Isaiah 35:3-4

Bird's-eye view

This brief but potent passage from Isaiah is a shot of pure gospel adrenaline for a weary people. Dropped into a section of Isaiah's prophecies that oscillate between terrible judgments and glorious promises, these verses serve as a divine command to buck up and a divine promise to back it up. The prophet is addressing a people who are spiritually and emotionally exhausted, whose hands can no longer work and whose knees can no longer hold them steady in the path of righteousness. The command is not a simple "pull yourself up by your bootstraps." It is a communal charge: those who are standing are to minister to those who are falling. And the basis for this encouragement is not found in positive thinking, but in a bloody, glorious, historical reality. God is coming. He is not coming as a sentimental grandfather, but as a warrior King bringing both vengeance for His enemies and salvation for His people. This is the two-edged nature of the gospel: for those who are in Christ, the day of God's wrath is the day of our ultimate deliverance.

In essence, Isaiah 35:3-4 is a call to active faith in the face of debilitating fear. It diagnoses the spiritual paralysis that fear induces, limp hands and stumbling knees, and prescribes the only cure: a robust proclamation of God's character and His promised action. The anxious heart is to be settled not by platitudes, but by the proclamation of a God who judges, repays, and saves. This is a message for the church in all ages, a reminder that our strength comes not from within, but from the sure and certain hope of God's final, decisive intervention in history on behalf of those He has redeemed.

Outline

Context In Isaiah

Isaiah 35 is a burst of brilliant light after the darkness of chapter 34. Chapter 34 describes the Lord's furious judgment upon the nations, particularly Edom, using apocalyptic language of slaughter and desolation. It is a terrifying picture of covenantal wrath. Then, without missing a beat, chapter 35 pivots to describe the glorious restoration of God's people and His land. The desert will bloom, the blind will see, the deaf will hear, and the lame will leap like a deer. A holy highway, the "Way of Holiness," will appear for the redeemed to travel back to Zion with everlasting joy. Our passage, verses 3 and 4, serves as the hinge or the catalyst for this transformation. It is the message that must be delivered to the exiles, the fearful, the weary, in order to prepare them for the great reversal God is about to perform. The encouragement is not groundless optimism; it is the necessary preparation for witnessing the mighty acts of God described in the rest of the chapter. It tells the people how to stand and what to say while they wait for the desert to explode with flowers.

Key Issues

The Gospel's Two Edges

Modern evangelicals can sometimes get squeamish about the Old Testament, particularly passages that speak of God's vengeance. We like the parts about salvation, but the "recompense" bits feel a little harsh for our modern sensibilities. But to sever God's salvation from His vengeance is to gut the gospel of its power and its justice. The two are inextricably linked. For God to save His people, He must necessarily act in judgment against that which enslaves and oppresses them: sin, death, and the devil. The cross of Jesus Christ is the ultimate expression of this two-sided reality. At the cross, God's fierce vengeance against sin was poured out upon His own Son. And at the cross, God's glorious salvation was secured for all who believe. The same event is both wrath and mercy, both judgment and grace.

When Isaiah tells the anxious to "Behold, your God will come with vengeance," he is not trying to scare them. He is comforting them. He is telling them that the cosmic injustice under which they suffer has an expiration date. The bullies will not win forever. The accuser will be thrown down. The powers that hold them in bondage will be broken. God's vengeance is not the arbitrary fury of a pagan deity; it is the holy, righteous, and necessary act of a loving Father defending His children and setting His house in order. It is good news. The God who saves you is a God who fights for you, and you cannot have one without the other.

Verse by Verse Commentary

3 Strengthen limp hands, and give courage to the knees of the stumbling.

The prophet begins with a pair of commands. This is not a suggestion; it is a directive. And notice, it is in the plural. This is a community project. The body of Christ is responsible for the health of its members. The imagery is visceral. "Limp hands" are hands that have given up, that can no longer work, fight, or even hold on. They are hands that have let go of the plow. "Stumbling knees" (or feeble knees) represent a loss of stability and forward momentum. A person with weak knees cannot stand firm in the day of battle, nor can they walk the path of discipleship without wavering. This is a picture of profound discouragement, of people on the verge of spiritual collapse. The command is to intervene. Don't just offer a sympathetic platitude. Actively strengthen and give courage. This requires getting involved, speaking truth, and lending your own strength to your brother until he can stand on his own again. The author of Hebrews picks up this exact imagery, telling the church to "lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees" (Heb. 12:12), connecting it directly to the discipline of the Lord and the pursuit of holiness.

4 Say to those with an anxious heart, “Be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.”

Now we are told what to say. The ministry of strengthening is a ministry of the Word. We are to speak directly to the root of the problem, which is "an anxious heart." The Hebrew here is literally the "hasty of heart," those whose minds are racing, scattered, and panicked. And what is the message? First, a direct command: "Be strong, fear not." This is not a denial of the reality of their troubles, but a command to adopt a different posture in the face of them. And why should they? Because of what follows: "Behold, your God..." The cure for anxiety is a right view of God. Look away from your circumstances and look at your God.

And what will this God do? He "will come with vengeance; the recompense of God will come." This is the promise that God will settle all accounts. He will repay His enemies for the evil they have done. This is the promise of justice, and it is a profound comfort to the afflicted. God sees, He knows, and He will act. But the message doesn't end there, with the destruction of enemies. The ultimate purpose of His coming is positive and redemptive: "But He will save you." The vengeance and recompense are the means; the salvation of His people is the end. He comes to destroy your enemies so that He can save you. This is the shape of the gospel. God's judgment on sin in Christ is what makes our salvation possible. He comes, He judges, He saves. This is the bedrock truth that turns an anxious heart into a strong one.

Application

This passage has two primary points of application for us today. First, it is a charge to the church to be a community of genuine, robust encouragement. We live in an age of anxiety, and many in our pews have limp hands and stumbling knees. They are battered by the world, discouraged by their sin, and fearful of the future. It is not enough to simply note their condition. We are commanded to strengthen them. This means more than a quick "I'll pray for you." It means speaking the hard truths of Scripture to them. It means reminding them of the character of God. It means saying, out loud, "Be strong, fear not, for our God is a God of vengeance and salvation." It means helping them take their eyes off their own navels and fix them on the coming King.

Second, it is a personal prescription for our own anxious hearts. When fear begins to paralyze you, when you feel your resolve failing, this is the message you must preach to yourself. Do not look inward for strength you do not possess. Look outward and upward. Behold your God. Meditate on the fact that He is a God of justice who will not allow evil to have the last word. Remind yourself that the cross is the ultimate proof that He will come with vengeance against sin and with salvation for His people. The same God who turned the desert into a garden is the God who can turn your fear into faith. The promise is not that He will make your circumstances easy, but that He will come. And because He is coming to judge and to save, we have every reason to strengthen our hands, steady our knees, and stand firm to the end.