“O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.”
Amen. He approves of God’s judgments (Haydock) against Jerusalem. (Worthington)
“For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.”
City; Jerusalem, or rather Babylon, (chap. xxi.; Calmet) or every city (Haydock) in the world. (Menochius) — Strangers: the temples of idols.
“Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.”
People; the Chaldeans, or their conquerors.
“For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.”
Poor; Juda, whom Nabuchodonosor’s fury could not exterminate.
“Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.”
Away. Cyrus (Calmet) shall reduce Babylon the great. (Haydock)
“And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.”
Mountain of Sion, a figure of the Church, and of heaven. The Jews shall feast: yea, some of all nations shall partake of the blessed Eucharist, and obtain heaven. The expressions are too grand for a corruptible feast. (Calmet) — Wine. Literally, “of vintage,” (Haydock) on which occasion great rejoicings were made. (Hesiod, Hercul. 297.) — Protestants, “of wines on the lees.” (Haydock) — In the East, the wines were very thick, Psalm lxxv. 9. (Calmet) — On the rejection of the Jews, the Gentiles were converted. (Worthington)
“And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. destroy: Heb. swallow up cast: Heb. covered”
Tied. He will open their eyes to the truth of the gospel. They shall be no longer as criminals, expecting death, or mourning.
“He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.”
Ever. Hebrew, “he shall swallow up death in victory,” 1 Corinthians xv. 54. Christ, by dying, conquered death, and rescued us from its power, if we do not voluntarily subject ourselves to it again. This was faintly represented by the liberation of the captives.
“For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill . trodden down under: or, threshed, etc trodden down for: or, threshed in Madmenah”
Mountain: the Church. (Calmet) — Moab. That is, the reprobate, whose eternal punishment, from which they can no way escape, is described under these figures. (Challoner) — The Machabees probably executed this vengeance on Moab, 1 Machabees v. 6.
“And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands.”
Hands. All his exertions and fury will prove useless. (Haydock) — Moab shall lie prostrate.