The Great Divine Paradox: God High and With Us Text: Isaiah 57:14-21
Introduction: The Two Addresses of God
Our modern world is desperately confused about God, and this is because it is desperately confused about where He lives. On the one hand, you have the sentimentalists who imagine God as a sort of cosmic therapist, always near, always affirming, never judging. He is a God who is all immanence, no transcendence. He is so close He is basically indistinguishable from our own feelings. On the other hand, you have the deists and the atheists who, if they grant God any existence at all, shove Him off to the far corners of the universe. He is a God who is all transcendence, no immanence. He is the absentee landlord of the cosmos.
Both are profound and damning errors. Both are heresies that gut the Christian faith of its power. The God of the Bible, the only true God, does not have one address. He has two. And this passage in Isaiah gives us both of them with breathtaking clarity. He is the "One high and lifted up Who dwells forever," and He is also the one who dwells "with the crushed and lowly of spirit." He inhabits eternity, and He inhabits the hearts of humble men.
This is not a contradiction. It is a glorious paradox that sits at the very heart of reality. It is the foundation of the gospel. If God were only transcendent, we would be crushed by His holiness, with no hope of approach. If He were only immanent, He would be a cozy idol of our own making, with no power to save. But because He is both, because the infinitely high God condescends to dwell with the lowly, we have salvation. This passage is a roadmap that shows us how God clears the way for this fellowship, what qualifies a man to receive it, and the stark, eternal difference between those who walk with this God and those who rage against Him.
Isaiah is writing to a people who had turned away. They were guilty of idolatry, of greedy gain, of following the stubborn ways of their own hearts. They were spiritually bruised and battered, not by God's arbitrary harshness, but by the natural consequences of their own sin. And into this mess, God does not just shout condemnations from a distance. He announces a highway construction project. He declares His intention to move in. And He draws a sharp, clear line in the sand between two kinds of people: the crushed who will be revived, and the wicked who will be like a perpetually churning, muddy sea. There is no middle ground.
The Text
And it will be said, “Build up, build up, prepare the way, Remove every stumbling block out of the way of My people.” For thus says the One high and lifted up Who dwells forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the crushed and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the crushed. For I will not contend forever, Nor will I always be angry; For the spirit would grow faint before Me, And the breath of those whom I have made. Because of the iniquity of his greedy gain I was angry and struck him; I hid My face and was angry, And he went on turning away, in the way of his heart. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and pay him and his mourners in full with comfort, Creating the praise of the lips. Peace, peace to him who is far and to him who is near," Says Yahweh, “and I will heal him.” But the wicked are like the tossing sea, For it cannot be quiet, And its waters toss up refuse and mud. “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
(Isaiah 57:14-21 LSB)
Preparing the Highway for God (v. 14)
The passage opens with a divine command, an echo of what we see elsewhere in Isaiah. This is a call for radical preparation.
"And it will be said, 'Build up, build up, prepare the way, Remove every stumbling block out of the way of My people.'" (Isaiah 57:14)
This is the language of royal procession. When a great king was to visit a province, roads were built, smoothed, and cleared of all obstacles. Here, the King is God Himself, and He is preparing to come to His people. But who is doing the building? The command is given, "it will be said." This is a divine passive. God is the one ultimately issuing the order and ensuring the work gets done. This is the work of salvation. God is clearing the road back to Himself.
What are these stumbling blocks? In the immediate context, they were the idols, the foreign alliances, the proud self-reliance that had caused Israel to trip and fall into exile. More broadly, these are anything that obstructs fellowship with God. Our sin is the ultimate stumbling block. Our pride is a boulder in the road. Our self-righteousness is a mountain that must be leveled. This is precisely the language John the Baptist would later pick up, quoting from Isaiah 40: "Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight." John's ministry was one of repentance, of clearing the debris of sin out of the hearts of the people so the Messiah could enter in.
This is a postmillennial task. We are called to be road builders. As the gospel goes forth, we are to be about the business of removing stumbling blocks. We preach the law to break up the hard soil of pride. We preach the gospel to remove the guilt of sin. We build Christian institutions, families, and cultures that make it easier for people to walk in the ways of God and harder for them to stumble. God commands it, and by His grace, it will be done.
The High God and the Humble Heart (v. 15)
Verse 15 is one of the most magnificent descriptions of God in all of Scripture. It gives us His two addresses.
"For thus says the One high and lifted up Who dwells forever, whose name is Holy, 'I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the crushed and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the crushed.'" (Isaiah 57:15 LSB)
First, we see His utter transcendence. He is "high and lifted up." This is the vision Isaiah had in the temple in chapter 6. God is not one of us. He "dwells forever," inhabiting eternity itself. He is outside of and sovereign over the timeline He created. His name, His very character, is "Holy." This means He is set apart, distinct, morally perfect, and utterly other. He lives in a "high and holy place," inaccessible to sinful man on his own terms.
If the verse stopped there, we would have every reason for terror and despair. But it doesn't. The great conjunction "And also" bridges the infinite gap. This infinitely holy God also dwells "with the crushed and lowly of spirit." Notice the qualification. God does not dwell with the proud. He does not cohabitate with the arrogant. He makes His home with those who have been brought low, those who have been pulverized by the law, those who recognize their own spiritual bankruptcy. The word for "crushed" is the word for something ground into dust. This is what the law does to a man's pride. It leaves him with nothing.
And what is God's purpose in dwelling there? "In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the crushed." He doesn't come to condemn the crushed, but to bring them back to life. He moves into the wreckage of a repentant heart in order to rebuild. This is the gospel. God's holiness demands that sin be crushed. God's grace moves Him to revive the sinner who agrees with this verdict on his sin. The entrance requirement into the kingdom of God is to be a spiritual casualty.
The Limit of Wrath, The Motive of Grace (v. 16-18)
God now explains why He condescends in this way. His anger, though righteous, is not His final word to His people.
"For I will not contend forever, Nor will I always be angry; For the spirit would grow faint before Me, And the breath of those whom I have made." (Isaiah 57:16 LSB)
God's wrath is not an uncontrolled, capricious rage like that of the pagan gods. It is a holy, measured, and purposeful response to sin. But here, He says He puts a limit on it for the sake of His people. Why? Because we are frail. We are the creatures "whom I have made." If He were to pour out the full measure of His wrath on us forever, we would simply be extinguished. This is an astounding statement of God's covenantal mercy. He remembers that we are but dust. His ultimate purpose is not destruction, but restoration.
He then diagnoses the root of the problem that provoked His anger in the first place.
"Because of the iniquity of his greedy gain I was angry and struck him; I hid My face and was angry, And he went on turning away, in the way of his heart." (Isaiah 57:17 LSB)
The sin was covetousness, "greedy gain." This is the essence of idolatry, wanting something more than God. God's response was twofold: He "struck him" with judgment and He "hid My face," withdrawing the sense of His presence. This is a terrible combination. And what was Israel's response? Repentance? No. "He went on turning away, in the way of his heart." This is the picture of total depravity. Left to ourselves, even under God's discipline, we only dig in our heels and go further into sin. We are stubborn rebels to the core.
This is what makes the next verse so shocking and so glorious.
"I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and pay him and his mourners in full with comfort," (Isaiah 57:18 LSB)
God says, "I have seen his ways." What ways? The stubborn, rebellious, backsliding ways of verse 17. And the logical conclusion should be, "...and therefore I will destroy him." But that is not what our God says. He says, "I have seen his ways, BUT I will heal him." This is grace in its purest form. It is unmerited, unconditional, sovereign grace. The reason for salvation is not found in us, our repentance, or our potential. The reason is found entirely in God. He sees our sickness and determines to be our physician. He will lead us out of the wilderness we ran into. He will comfort not just the repentant sinner, but "his mourners" also, those who have grieved over his sin and rebellion.
The Fruit of Healing: Praise and Peace (v. 19-21)
God's sovereign healing produces a necessary result. It creates worship and establishes peace.
"Creating the praise of the lips. Peace, peace to him who is far and to him who is near," Says Yahweh, “and I will heal him.” (Isaiah 57:19 LSB)
Notice that praise is not something we drum up on our own. God is the one "Creating the praise of the lips." The Hebrew is literally "creating the fruit of the lips." When God heals a sinner, the reflexive response is praise, just as a healthy apple tree produces apples. This is why the author of Hebrews tells us to offer a "sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name" (Heb. 13:15). True worship is the fruit of divine regeneration.
And with that praise comes peace. "Peace, peace." The repetition signifies a deep, abiding, perfect peace. This is shalom. It is not just the absence of conflict but the presence of wholeness, righteousness, and flourishing. And this peace is offered to "him who is far and to him who is near." In the immediate context, this meant the Jews scattered in exile and those who remained in the land. But the apostle Paul picks up this exact phrase in Ephesians 2 and applies it to the Gentiles ("who once were far off") and the Jews ("who were near"). The gospel of peace is for the whole world. And the promise is sealed with God's own signature: "Says Yahweh, 'and I will heal him.'" The healing is the basis of the peace.
But the chapter ends with a stark and necessary warning. This peace is not universal. It is not for everyone.
"But the wicked are like the tossing sea, For it cannot be quiet, And its waters toss up refuse and mud. 'There is no peace,' says my God, 'for the wicked.'" (Isaiah 57:20-21 LSB)
The contrast could not be more clear. The healed saint has shalom, shalom. The wicked have perpetual, restless turmoil. They are like a chaotic sea, never at rest, constantly churning up the "refuse and mud" of their sin. This is a profound psychological and spiritual diagnosis. A life lived in rebellion against the God of order is a life of internal chaos. There might be temporary pleasure, there might be distraction, but there is no peace. There cannot be, because peace is a fruit of righteousness, and the wicked have rejected the very source of righteousness.
The final statement is a divine decree. "There is no peace... for the wicked." This is not a suggestion. It is a statement of fundamental reality, like the law of gravity. You cannot be at war with the Creator of the universe and be at peace in your own soul. It is an impossibility. To seek peace while clinging to your sin is like trying to find dryness at the bottom of the ocean.
Conclusion: The Highway of the Cross
So where is this highway that God builds? How does the infinitely high God come to dwell in the hearts of crushed sinners? The answer is the cross of Jesus Christ. The cross is the ultimate highway project, the bridge that spans the infinite chasm between a holy God and sinful man.
At the cross, the great paradox of our text finds its ultimate expression. There, the "One high and lifted up" was made low. The one who inhabits eternity entered time. The Holy One was made sin for us. He was the one who was truly "crushed" for our iniquities. God did not waive His anger against our greedy gain and stubborn hearts; He poured it out in full upon His own Son. He contended with Him, so that He would not have to contend with us forever.
Because Jesus was crushed, we who are crushed by our sin can be revived. Because He was forsaken, we can be welcomed. He took our turmoil so we could receive His peace. The stumbling block of our sin was removed because He became a stumbling block to the proud and the self-righteous.
Therefore, the call to you is simple. Do you want this peace? Do you want to be revived? Then you must come to God on His terms. You must allow His law to do its work, to crush your pride and self-sufficiency. You must agree with God's verdict on your sin. You must stop your restless churning and admit that you are helpless, lost in the mud of your own making. And you must look to the One who is both high and lifted up, and who was also crushed for you. The highway is open. The stumbling blocks are removed. The King is waiting to come in.