No PressureSample

What’s striking in this verse is the level of confidence expressed by the prophet, considering the context. God’s people were in distress, facing trials and God's discipline. Yet the prophet not only says God can make, or will make, the way of the righteous level, but also states that their path is level. How are we to interpret this? Was the path of God’s people level? Is the path of the righteous really level?

The path of God’s people is not level from an earthly perspective. Isaiah knew Israel was in great distress and experiencing divine judgment. However, with the eyes of faith, the prophet was right to see the path of the righteous as actually level. In our darkest days, when we feel like the road is anything but level, we often pray for our circumstances to change. But that’s not the case with the people whom the passage of Isaiah 26:8 is about.

In their distress, they desired nothing but God Himself. In other words, the people of God took comfort in remembering who God is and what He has done. To want the name of the Lord is to be satisfied with knowing who God has revealed Himself to be: faithful, rock, redeemer, protector, friend. In their suffering and adversity, they “waited” for the Lord and desired more of Him. Waiting patiently, believing God will fulfill His promises in His own time—it’s a confession of one’s total inability to control and direct history.