Isaiah 51:7
Listen to Me, you who know what is right, you people with My law in your hearts: Do not fear the scorn of men; do not be broken by their insults.
Listen to Me
This phrase is a direct call from God, emphasizing the importance of paying attention to His words. In Hebrew, the word for "listen" is "שְׁמַע" (shema), which implies not just hearing but also obeying. This is reminiscent of the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4, a central declaration of faith in Judaism. The imperative form underscores the urgency and authority of God's message, inviting the audience to focus and respond with action.

you who know what is right
This phrase identifies the audience as those who have an understanding of righteousness. The Hebrew word for "know" is "יֹדְעֵי" (yodei), which suggests an intimate, experiential knowledge rather than mere intellectual assent. "What is right" refers to God's law and moral order, indicating that the listeners are those who have been taught and have internalized God's standards. This highlights the covenant relationship between God and His people, who are expected to live according to His righteous decrees.

O people with My law in your hearts
Here, God addresses those who have internalized His law. The Hebrew word for "law" is "תּוֹרָה" (torah), which encompasses teaching, instruction, and guidance. The phrase "in your hearts" suggests a deep, personal commitment to God's commandments, echoing the promise of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:33, where God writes His law on the hearts of His people. This internalization signifies a transformation that goes beyond external observance to a heartfelt devotion.

Do not fear the reproach of men
This exhortation encourages the faithful not to be intimidated by human criticism or opposition. The word "reproach" in Hebrew is "חֶרְפַּת" (cherpat), which can mean disgrace or scorn. The admonition reflects the reality that following God's ways often leads to conflict with worldly values. Historically, the people of Israel faced persecution and ridicule for their distinct identity and practices. This reassurance is a call to courage and steadfastness in the face of societal pressure.

or be dismayed by their insults
The term "dismayed" in Hebrew is "תֵּחָתּוּ" (techat), which conveys a sense of being shattered or broken. "Insults" refers to verbal attacks or mockery. This part of the verse acknowledges the emotional impact of such hostility but urges believers to remain unshaken. The encouragement is rooted in the understanding that God's approval is of greater value than human opinion. It is a reminder of the eternal perspective, where God's truth and justice ultimately prevail over temporal scorn.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Isaiah
A major prophet in the Old Testament, Isaiah is the author of the book that bears his name. He prophesied to the Kingdom of Judah during a time of moral and spiritual decline.

2. The People of Judah
The original audience of Isaiah's prophecy, they were facing external threats and internal corruption. Isaiah's message was both a warning and a promise of hope.

3. God
The speaker in this verse, God is addressing His people, offering them comfort and guidance amidst their trials.

4. The Righteous
Those who "know what is right" and have God's "instruction in [their] hearts." They are encouraged to remain steadfast despite opposition.

5. Opponents
Those who offer "reproach" and "insults" to the righteous, representing the worldly opposition to God's truth.
Teaching Points
Understanding Righteousness
Righteousness is not merely about external actions but involves having God's instruction in our hearts. This internalization of God's Word is crucial for standing firm in faith.

Fearlessness in Faith
Believers are called to be fearless in the face of human reproach. Our confidence should be rooted in God's approval, not man's opinion.

Endurance Amidst Opposition
The Christian journey involves facing opposition. We are encouraged to endure, knowing that our ultimate vindication comes from God.

The Role of God's Word
Having God's instruction in our hearts equips us to withstand external pressures. Regular engagement with Scripture is essential for spiritual resilience.

Identity in Christ
Our identity as God's people should be our primary focus, shaping how we respond to criticism and challenges from the world.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does having God's instruction in our hearts help us to know what is right, and how can we cultivate this in our daily lives?

2. In what ways can we practically overcome the fear of human reproach in our workplaces or communities?

3. Reflect on a time when you faced insults or opposition for your faith. How did you respond, and what might you do differently in light of Isaiah 51:7?

4. How can the encouragement found in Isaiah 51:7 be applied to current global or societal challenges facing Christians today?

5. What other biblical figures faced reproach for their faith, and what can we learn from their examples to apply in our own lives?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Matthew 5:10-12
Jesus speaks about the blessedness of those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, echoing the encouragement found in Isaiah 51:7.

Romans 8:31-39
Paul reassures believers that nothing can separate them from the love of God, encouraging them not to fear opposition.

Hebrews 10:32-36
The author reminds believers of their past endurance in the face of suffering, urging them to continue in faith.
A Bright Light in Deep ShadesIsaiah 51:1-8
A Humble Origin: John BunyanJ. A. Froude.Isaiah 51:1-8
Characters: Unhewn and HewnW. J. Acomb.Isaiah 51:1-8
ComparisonsW. J. Acomb.Isaiah 51:1-8
Instructions to the Spiritual IsraelE. Johnson Isaiah 51:1-8
Looking to BeginningsJ. Parker, D.D.Isaiah 51:1-8
Nature and GraceIsaiah 51:1-8
Seeking Souls DirectedJ. Irons.Isaiah 51:1-8
Spiritual StatuaryW. J. Acomb.Isaiah 51:1-8
The Benefit of ReflectionE. Cooper.Isaiah 51:1-8
The Lord's PeopleW. Birch.Isaiah 51:1-8
The Thrice HearkenF. B. Meyer, B.A.Isaiah 51:1-8
Christians Encouraged Against the Fear of ManE. Cooper.Isaiah 51:7-8
Futility of Human Opposition to the GospelIsaiah 51:7-8
Man's MortalityIsaiah 51:7-8
A Sure Criterion of Character, EtcW. Clarkson Isaiah 51:7, 8, 12,13
Fear, and Fear NotR. Tuck Isaiah 51:7, 12, 13
People
Isaiah, Rahab, Sarah
Places
Jerusalem, Rahab, Tigris-Euphrates Region, Zion
Topics
Affrighted, Afraid, Curses, Dismayed, Ear, Evil, Fear, Hearken, Heart, Hearts, Insults, Law, Listen, Reproach, Reviling, Revilings, Righteousness, Taunt, Terrified
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 51:7

     5362   justice, believers' lives
     8311   morality, and redemption
     8754   fear

Isaiah 51:7-8

     5951   slander

Library
August 25 Morning
Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.--ISA 51:1. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity.--None eye pitied thee but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the loathing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, Live. He brought me up . . . out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

January 26. "I Called Him Alone and Blessed Him" (Isa. Li. 2).
"I called him alone and blessed him" (Isa. li. 2). When we were in the East we noticed the beautiful process of raising rice. The rice is sown on a morass of mud and water, ploughed up by great buffaloes, and after a few weeks it springs up and appears above the water with its beautiful pale green shoots. The seed has been sown very thickly and the plants are clustered together in great numbers, so that you can pull up a score at a single handful. But now comes the process of transplanting. He first
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Awakening of Zion
'Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old.'--ISAIAH li. 9. 'Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion.'--ISAIAH lii. 1. Both these verses are, I think, to be regarded as spoken by one voice, that of the Servant of the Lord. His majestic figure, wrapped in a light veil of obscurity, fills the eye in all these later prophecies of Isaiah. It is sometimes clothed with divine power, sometimes girded with the towel of human weakness, sometimes
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Hearken and Look; Or, Encouragement for Believers
THE second verse contains my actual text. It is the argument by which faith is led to look for the blessings promised in the third verse. It is habitual with some persons to spy out the dark side of every question or fact: they fix their eyes upon the "waste places," and they study them till they know every ruin, and are familiar with the dragons and the owls. They sigh most dolorously that the former times were better than these, and that we have fallen upon most degenerate days. They speak of "shooting
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 27: 1881

A Prospect of Revival
THE pedigree of God's chosen nation Israel may be traced back to one man and one woman--to Abraham and Sarah. Both of them were well stricken in years when the Lord called them, yet, in the fulfilment of his promise, he built up of their seed a great nation, which, for number, was comparable to the stars of heaven. Take heart, brethren; these things are written for our example and for our encouragement. His Church can never sink to so low an ebb that he cannot soon build her up again, nor in our
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 62: 1916

"Sing, O Heavens; and be Joyful, O Earth; for the Lord Hath Comforted his People. " -- Isaiah 49:13.
"For the Lord shall comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." -- Isaiah 51:3. "Sing, O Heavens; and be joyful, O Earth; for the Lord hath comforted his people." -- Isaiah 49:13. A living, loving, lasting word, My listening ear believing heard, While bending down in prayer; Like a sweet breeze that none can stay, It passed
Miss A. L. Waring—Hymns and Meditations

Of Inward Silence
Of Inward Silence "The Lord is in His Holy Temple, let all the earth keep silence before him" (Hab. ii. 20). Inward silence is absolutely indispensable, because the Word is essential and eternal, and necessarily requires dispositions in the soul in some degree correspondent to His nature, as a capacity for the reception of Himself. Hearing is a sense formed to receive sounds, and is rather passive than active, admitting, but not communicating sensation; and if we would hear, we must lend the ear
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

Of Rest in the Presence of God --Its Fruits --Inward Silence --God Commands it --Outward Silence.
The soul, being brought to this place, needs no other preparation than that of repose: for the presence of God during the day, which is the great result of prayer, or rather prayer itself, begins to be intuitive and almost continual. The soul is conscious of a deep inward happiness, and feels that God is in it more truly than it is in itself. It has only one thing to do in order to find God, which is to retire within itself. As soon as the eyes are closed, it finds itself in prayer. It is astonished
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

Lii. Manna. Exodus xvi. 4.
I.--Manna like salvation, because undeserved. The people murmured at the very first difficulty. If they had been grateful they would have said, "The God who brought us out of Egypt, and through the Red Sea, will not allow us to die of hunger." But instead of this they accused Moses of being a murderer. And in answer to this God said, "I will rain bread from heaven." What an illustration of Romans v. 8. II.--Manna like salvation, because it saved the people from perishing. Nothing else would
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread

Early Battles
Six months of joyous service amongst the Welsh miners was cut short by a telegram announcing to the sisters the serious illness of Mrs. Lee. Taking the news to their Divisional Commander, they were instructed to Headquarters. It was found that the illness was due to shock. The income from investments of the little estate left by Mr. Lee had dwindled; it now had disappeared altogether. Captain Lucy faced the matter with her usual practical decision. 'Mother, darling, there are two ways out. Either
Minnie L. Carpenter—The Angel Adjutant of "Twice Born Men"

Stedfastness in the Old Paths.
"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls."--Jer. vi. 16. Reverence for the old paths is a chief Christian duty. We look to the future indeed with hope; yet this need not stand in the way of our dwelling on the past days of the Church with affection and deference. This is the feeling of our own Church, as continually expressed in the Prayer Book;--not to slight what has gone before,
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

An Appendix to the Beatitudes
His commandments are not grievous 1 John 5:3 You have seen what Christ calls for poverty of spirit, pureness of heart, meekness, mercifulness, cheerfulness in suffering persecution, etc. Now that none may hesitate or be troubled at these commands of Christ, I thought good (as a closure to the former discourse) to take off the surmises and prejudices in men's spirits by this sweet, mollifying Scripture, His commandments are not grievous.' The censuring world objects against religion that it is difficult
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Ci. Foretelling his Passion. Rebuking Ambition.
(Peræa, or Judæa, Near the Jordan.) ^A Matt. XX. 17-28; ^B Mark X. 32-45; ^C Luke XVIII. 31-34. ^b 32 And they were on the way, going up to Jerusalem [Dean Mansel sees in these words an evidence that Jesus had just crossed the Jordan and was beginning the actual ascent up to Jerusalem. If so, he was in Judæa. But such a construction strains the language. Jesus had been going up to Jerusalem ever since he started in Galilee, and he may now have still be in Peræa. The parable
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Work of Jesus Christ as an Advocate,
CLEARLY EXPLAINED, AND LARGELY IMPROVED, FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL BELIEVERS. 1 John 2:1--"And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." By JOHN BUNYAN, Author of "The Pilgrim's Progress." London: Printed for Dorman Newman, at the King's Arms, in the Poultry, 1689. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. This is one of the most interesting of Bunyan's treatises, to edit which required the Bible at my right hand, and a law dictionary on my left. It was very frequently republished;
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Thirdly, for Thy Actions.
1. Do no evil, though thou mightest; for God will not suffer the least sin, without bitter repentance, to escape unpunished. Leave not undone any good that thou canst. But do nothing without a calling, nor anything in thy calling, till thou hast first taken counsel at God's word (1 Sam. xxx. 8) of its lawfulness, and pray for his blessings upon thy endeavour; and then do it in the name of God, with cheerfulness of heart, committing the success to him, in whose power it is to bless with his grace
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Death Swallowed up in victory
Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory! D eath, simply considered, is no more than the cessation of life --that which was once living, lives no longer. But it has been the general, perhaps the universal custom of mankind, to personify it. Imagination gives death a formidable appearance, arms it with a dart, sting or scythe, and represents it as an active, inexorable and invincible reality. In this view death is a great devourer; with his iron tongue
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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